Izu: Tokyo's Best Kept Escape

Most people who visit Japan stay in Tokyo and don't make it to Izu. That's a shame, because Izu might be the most quietly beautiful place in the country.

The Izu Peninsula stretches south of Tokyo into the Pacific, a rugged coastline of volcanic cliffs, forested mountains, and small fishing towns that feel a world away from the city you left that morning. It's where Tokyoites go to breathe — weekends at a ryokan, evenings in an onsen with the ocean visible from the bath, mornings that move at a different pace entirely.

The coastline is dramatic in a way that surprises you. Rocky headlands drop into clear water, sea caves open into coves where almost nobody goes. Inland, the mountains are laced with hiking trails, waterfalls, and wasabi farms fed by the cold spring water that runs through the valleys. In early spring, Kawazu — a small town on the eastern coast — bursts into bloom two to three weeks before the rest of Japan, its famous pink sakura drawing visitors from across the country before February is even finished.

And then there are the onsen. Izu is one of Japan's great hot spring regions, and soaking in a rotenburo — an outdoor bath — with mountain or ocean views after a day of hiking is one of those simple pleasures that becomes genuinely difficult to give up.