Shimoda
Shimoda is a harbor town at the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, where modern Japan can fairly be said to have begun. Commodore Perry's Black Ships anchored here in 1854, and the treaty that opened the country was signed at the town's Ryosen-ji temple.
Follow the canal along Perry Road past old stone and lattice-walled houses, and ride the ropeway up Mount Nesugata to frame the harbor where the ships once waited. The town's other identity is beach resort: Shirahama's white sand draws surfers and swimmers all summer, with calmer snorkeling coves at Sotoura.
Hot springs feed the inns, and kinmedai snapper defines dinner along this coast. The Izukyu line ends in Shimoda, a scenic ride down the peninsula from Atami, and late spring brings the Black Ship Festival's parades. Summer is peak beach season, so book ahead.
