了仙寺宝物館/黒船美術館

The Ryosenji Treasure Museum and Kurofune Art Gallery in Shimoda on the Izu Peninsula is the main place in town dedicated to the historic landing of Commodore Perry's Black Ships (kurofune) in Shimoda back in the 1850s.

Located near to the main buildings and garden of Ryosenji Temple, the two storey museum has a video introduction to the momentous event of Perry's unannounced arrival in Japan, contemporary paintings and sketches by both Japanese and foreign eye-witnesses and numerous authentic objects from the period including weapons, uniforms and maps.



The museum also covers the story of Okichi, a local woman who was supposedly forced by the shogunate to become a maid servant to Townsend Harris, America's first consul in Japan.

Facts surrounding the story of Okichi, who later became a bitter alcoholic and committed suicide, are decidedly murky and often contradictory, but this poignant vignette in early US-Japan cross-cultural relations is a pantomime story readily propagated throughout Shimoda. Think Nottingham and Robin Hood for a comparison.

An excellent 12-page English  introduction to the exhibits including the complete text of President Milliard Fillmore's open letter to the Emperor of Japan is available free of charge. Ask at the counter.

"I am desirous that our two countries should trade with each other, for the benefit both of Japan and the United States."


Ryosenji Treasure Museum
Ryosenji 3-12-12
Shichiken-cho, Shimoda
415-0023
Tel: 0558 22 0657

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玉泉寺

The fascinating Gyokusenji Temple in Shimoda is a must-see for visitors to this historic town situated in Tokyo Bay on the Izu Peninsula. Located a little distance from Shimoda Station, the temple was chosen as the site of the first US consulate that opened in Japan in 1856.


Originally a small Shingon sect temple dating from the 14th century, Gyokusenji Temple was enlarged after it became a Soto sect place of worship in the 1580s.

The main hall dates from 1848 and it was on the grounds of this scenic, tranquil temple that members of Commodore Perry's delegation to Japan in 1854 were allowed to stay during the negotiations to sign the Shimoda Treaty. Bodies of dead American sailors from Perry's squadron were buried here, along with Russian sailors who were killed in a tsunami off the coast in 1854.


In 1856, the first American consul general Townsend Harris and his secretary-interpreter Henry Heusken took up residence as the Stars & Stripes were raised and the temple became the first ever foreign consulate established in Japan.

A plaque commemorating this historic event displays these prescient words from Harris: "At last get a reinforcement from the ship, flag staff erected. Men form a ring round it, and half past two pm of this day I hoist the first Consular flag ever seen in this empire. Grave reflections, ominous of change, undoubted beginning of the end. Query - if for real good of Japan."

Harris and Heusken stayed for just under three years before the consulate moved to Edo (Tokyo), where Heusken was later assassinated by swordsmen opposed to the country's opening to the West.


The Townsend Harris Museum (400 yen for entrance) preserves everyday articles from Harris and Heusken's stay at the temple, including a pipe, a broken wine glass and numerous pieces of furniture, wax models of Harris and his maid Okichi, plus daguerreotypes and documents from the period.

The grounds of Gyokusenji Temple contain the gravestones of the Russian sailors drowned in 1854, a monument to the visit of US President Jimmy Carter in 1979 and a sign detailing the milking and later slaughter of the first cow in Japan for human consumption.


Gyokusenji Temple
31-6 Kakizaki, Shimoda, Shizuoka
Tel: 0558 22 1287

Walk approx 25 minutes east from the station along Route 136 or take a Suzaki/Tsumekizaki bound bus and get off at Kakizaki-jinja-mae.

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紫陽花



The hydrangea is known in Japanese as the ajisai. Of its over 70 species, most of them are native to China, Korea, and Japan.

It is hydrangea season in Japan now. On a weekend visit to the seaside town of Shimoda, on the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka prefecture, there was a profusion of hydrangeas lining the town’s lanes and coloring its temple grounds, parks, and gardens.

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下田海中水族館

The Shimoda Floating Aquarium, south of Izukyu Shimoda Station, is located right on the coast in a dramatic setting.



The aquarium features dolphin and penguin shows as well as feeding sessions with seals.

The various tanks also hold a vast variety of aquatic life found off the Izu coast, including jelly fish, sharks and small fish that eat the dead skin from your fingers.

There is a souvenir shop and a rather over-priced restaurant at the main entrance.

The bus from bus stop 7 just outside the railway station runs to the aquarium at 10 and 40 minutes past the hour. You can get a reduction on the entrance fee by buying your ticket at the information center inside the station.


Shimoda Floating Aquarium
22-31, 3-chome, Shimoda, Shizuoka 415-0023
Tel: 0558 22 3567

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