由比？ゆい？YUI!!!

"So many things I dream about
When I look far away.
Things I know, things I wonder
Things I'd like to say"

Back on the road again after a mostly full night of sleep, we headed out of Fujinomiya at about 6AM heading south towards the ocean. Just early enough to get out of the city before rush hour, but not quite early enough to make it through Fuji City before getting stuck in some traffic, but overall, it wasn't long before we found ourselves riding along the Fuji river (Fujikawa) through the very nice little town of Kanbara and then the even nicer little town of Yui.

Inside joke alert: Yui is a Japanese singer/songwriter whose music I very much like. I was figuring we would just get a picture of the train station with her name on it and call it a day. But when we were biking through Yui, we came across several really cool things. First was Yui-shuku, an old, traditional inn that was used by traveling daimyo when heading to and from Edo(Tokyo) during the Shogun era. There are 53 posts along the Tõkaidõ, the East Sea Road, which is what we are following, and all of them contained at least one shuku, or inn . History lesson aside, the shuku themselves are quite fascinating for those who love old architecture and culture. Back to Yui-shuku, there was a small canal that circled the compound, which was normal. What wasn't normal was the large number of turtles who called that canal home.

"What are YOU looking at?"

 The shuku itself was renovated and, had we been there later in the day, offered guided tours of the compound. We weren't going to wait the two hours before they opened, but enjoyed looking at the structures themselves.

Guard towers were not unheard of in shuku to keep bandits and
rival families from attacking the visitors at night.

Yui-shuku was located on an old-fashioned street called Yuisakuraebidõri.

Gesundheit. 

Broken down, the name means Yui Sakura Shrimp Road. Sakura Shrimp are a smaller type of shrimp this area is known for.

Yuisakuraebidõri

I didn't think much of it until

O...K...then

Leaving the main part of town, our route guide had us avoiding the main, busy thoroughfare and taking a scenic mountain pass called the Satta Pass, which heads out the southern end of Yui. The first thing we had to do was climb a narrow road on a hill with a, no kidding, 15% grade.

Don't let go of the bike, or you'll be chasing it for a long way

There were several signs that must have dated back to the '60s with dire warnings

Even the rock looks scared. Look closely and you will notice
a mikan orange also falling.

As we were climbing, we noticed that we were surrounded by mikan trees! This road was apparently a traditional farming area for the local mikan farmers. There were many trees with individually hand-wrapped immature mikans that the farmers were nurturing. I'm sure come harvest time, this whole area must smell like oranges! When we finally reached the top (about 150 meters of steady climbing at that awful grade), we were treated to a wonderful view of the ocean from atop the ridge we were on.

Mikans? Ocean? Not impressed.

Also at the top were signs of the old farming tracts still in use

These stairs worked their way up the cliff to more and more trees

These "Mono-Carts", used to transport goods up the steep cliff faces date back
 to the '30's. Some of them are still used today.

Oh, yeah. We DID get a picture of the train station

After rejoining the main road, we worked our way through Okitsu and Shimizu to the Pacific coast. Along this particular coastline is a road called the Strawberry Beach Line. While Yui is known for its Mikan, the towns along the coast are known for their strawberries. We weren't quite in season yet, so there was little traffic. During harvest time, there are traffic jams all along the road for miles. 

As we approached the coastal highway, we noticed a few things. 

1) We were RIGHT on the coast

Wasn't planning on swimming today...

2) While we were checking out the coast and the water, I turned around to see

Fuji-san is watching...

It was amazing how far away we were, and yet how Fuji-san still dominated the landscape.

3) As we made our way along the coast, on a bike path literally built on the shore, all this talk of strawberries made Sumi decide she wanted strawberry ice cream. So we headed into the nearest town (which in this area meant heading one block north from the ocean) and the smell of strawberries was everywhere. This town, Negoya, was very quiet, as it was off-season, but large greenhouses lined the streets heading up the mountain and the strawberry theme was everywhere. We ordered two cones.

I liked the cone holder

They were awesome. Whole strawberries embedded in strawberry soft cream. An excellent way to fuel up for hungry cyclists!

After our short break, we headed back on the road through a number of small towns that seemed to blended into one another. As we neared the town of Fujieda, we came across another of the shuku inns along the Tõkaidõ, Mariko-shuku. This inn still had a traditional grass roof, which is, as one could guess, difficult to maintain and not at all common to see these days.

Mariko-shuku

These posts are outside each shuku, showing where you are along the
Tõkaidõ and the nearest shuku in either direction.

While cycling through Fujieda, we hit the next shuku, Okabe, in Fujieda and the Kashibaya Museum. Long story short, this inn was owned and occupied up until about 20 years ago by an old woman whose family had owned it before her. After she passed, the city government purchased and renovated the magnificent building and turned it into a museum. The tour guide promised to give us an "easy Japanese" tour, and was wonderful.

Kashibaya

Hangin' with Yaji-san and Kita-san 

The guide put it on me before I could run away. Sumi is still laughing. 

A miniature recreation done entirely in paper. Even the rocks on the ground
are made of paper.

The Samurai room was spacious, airy and contained some amazing
pre-Meiji era artifacts

Being able to walk through and see the cleverness of the old-style architecture and tools was really a treat. But we spent so much time there, we barely had enough time to make it to our hotel in Shimada and get dinner before it got dark. I was hoping to see some castle ruins in Fujieda and Shimada, but that will have to wait until tomorrow...