About 2 hours south of Tokyo lies the resort town of Atami in Shizouka-ken. It's a small town built in a cove and on the cliffs above that cove.
Atami dates back to the 8th century as a hot springs resort town. Hotels line the small beach, while shops line the train station on the hill above. There's a little bit of everything here, just enough to recharge your batteries before having to head back to the daily grind.
Over the years my wife had mentioned going there, but the stars hadn't aligned, until a few weeks ago that is.
After finishing up our gem and mineral show in Kobe I had promised to take my wife and daughter to Atami. My wife picked out the hotel, Micuras, because of it's infinity pool onsen(hot spring). Unfortunately for me I couldn't use the onsen due to some regretful artwork on my body. If you have visible tattoos you are not allowed to use most onsen.
Anyway, we arrived at Micuras just before 5pm after driving for 6 hours from Kobe.
Atami is reminiscent of Guam or Hawaii, a tropical beach town whose beach is lined with large hotels. Most of the hotels were empty as summer vacation had just ended and it was a weekday. The hotel was fantastic with a beautiful view.
The room was quite nice and designed very differently from a normal hotel room.
It felt refreshing, like you really are on a vacation.
We dropped our belongings off and headed over to the beach before grabbing dinner.
On the other side of the beach is a small marina with a nice boardwalk.
The whole town is wonderful for walking because it's not that big, but has quite a variety of scenery.
As we explored the town we came upon a busy seafood restaurant that our hotel concierge had mentioned to us, Osakana Shokudo. It ended up being perfect as it had lots seafood choices for my wife and enough fried foods for me to enjoy.
The quality was good too.
After dinner my wife & daughter headed back to the hotel to go in the infinity onsen, while I strolled along the beach to take in the night scene.
The next morning the weather had improved so my daughter and I went swimming in the ocean.
Looking towards our hotel, center blue building next to the brown hotel.
After an hour playing in the water it was time to head back and check out. Then we would go up to the station where there are two pedestrian streets, shoutengai, filled with shops & restaurants.
Car parking was readily available so we parked across the street and went out to explore.
The majority of businesses are eateries or local gift shops. There were other attractions like this guy though.
Another sought after attraction is sushi ice cream! When my wife mentioned she wanted some I said have fun because I don't want any. Then she came back with this.
She made me beg for a bite. It was actually really delicious. No ice cream, just minced tuna & rice. Cost $5
Nearby there was a gatcha capsule machine where you could win up to 10 grilled fish for $5!
I passed.
Wandering a back street we came across a shop with no staff.
Simply pick what you liked and drop the money in a box. This is how honest people are in Japan.
When we came out of the back street onto the other main street we stopped for some cheesecake at Atami Milcheese
We ordered a basque cheesecake and headed upstairs to eat it. Lucky for us the second floor was empty because it was a gem of a relaxing space. Designed around an onsen theme it was a treat in itself.
They had done a great job at designing and marketing their shop, but how was the cheesecake? Well, I didn't have a chance to take a picture because it was so good we ate it right away! I'm not sure what the basque means, but it was a delicious cheesecake. Total cost was about $3.80.
Our final stop would be yet again another eatery. This was Ebisuya, a kinda of giant octopus senbei bar/cafe. They also serve apple candy(candied apple), which my daughter wanted, so we stopped in.
We ordered a takoyaki & cheese senbei and got my daughter the sliced apple candy. Both were really good! Cost about $10.
And that concluded our stay in Atami. We took our time driving up the coast back home. It was a nice, scenic drive with the ocean always in sight.
My thoughts on Atami. It's a nice, little town that saw it's peak about 20 years ago. If you are looking for excitement then the summer months would be the best time to go. If you're just looking to enjoy Japan then any time of the year is probably nice due to all the onsen. I'd definitely like to visit again someday and stay for an extra day to relax on the beach or check out Hatsushima island in the bay. I'm sure there are a lot of things I missed so going back some day is definitely in the cards.
Thanks for reading!
