Minamiboso Winter Travelogue 1

While planning my winter holiday in December, I considered somewhere not too far away with ocean breezes and beautiful vistas. So I settled on a second trip to the southern part of Chiba Prefecture.

Back in 2022, I explored the region on a bicycle. This time, considering the winter chill, I thought I'd bundle up for mostly train rides and walks.

Minamiboso City’s neighbor, Tateyama City, is a summer destination for surfing, swimming, and chilling out. As you can imagine, winter’s quiet with few visitors. So why go here in the off-season? I’ll share with you a few gorgeous sights.

The crisp winter air and blue skies mean that views of Mount Fuji across Tokyo Bay are spectacular from Tateyama Station. At the west exit, the station’s huge window facing west provides a good view of Mt. Fuji beyond a boulevard lined with palm trees.

I strolled down to the water to Tateyama City’s version of a Michi no Eki, a roadside station. This plaza riffs on the idea, calling it Nagisa no Eki, a beachside station, with an aquarium that gives you a close-up view of the sealife that lives offshore of Hojo Beach. Next door, Nagisa Museum shows off traditional textiles including the spectacular maiwai, a stenciled kimono made to celebrate bumper fish catches. There’s also a tribute to Sakana-kun, the Fish Guy. The ichthyologist’s illustrations, memorabilia, and the “Gyobot” are displayed. I'm a sucker for Japanese portmanteaus. This one is a mashup of the word gyo, fish, and robot.  

I gave the on-site seafood restaurant a miss this time and had a leisurely lunch across the street at Tsumugi, an Asian cuisine cafe. The menu items, all about 1400 yen a plate, include Thai, Indonesian, and Japanese classics. I opted for taco rice which reminded me of Okinawa trips. 

I checked in that evening at a "micro-hotel", Higoro, in a reconditioned commercial building. It's a cross between a B&B and a hostel with cozy rooms, a shared bath and toilet, and a common room where guests can cook a meal. It's an innovative space with a craft gin distillery on the first floor. Higoro is diverse with business incubation, accommodation, and other projects.  

Higoro provided a map that directs visitors to shopping, sights, and dining. I picked the closest izakaya. I was in for a few surprises.

The first one is that the master is not Japanese. He's a Turkish restauranteur who relocated from upscale Aoyama to open his izakaya, Fuga. The menu was a treat with Turkish dishes. I took a gamble on "Turkish gyoza", a variety of dumplings called manti in Central Asia. I felt a wave of nostalgia with the first bite as my Ukrainian-born grandmother often made a variation on the dish. Like hers, the meat dumplings were slathered with yogurt sauce, but in the Turkish style with olive oil. 

The master and the other guests and I chatted over drinks and I got a sense of the economic and social situation in the city. Unsurprisingly, Tateyama has a dearth of young people. We talked about the attempts at business revival in the face of the pull of Tokyo so close by. It was a good insight into how the city's businesses are responding.

I had a good rest at Higoro and in the morning, I took my time in the common space with the sun shining and the pour-over coffee offered to guests. 

Have you been to the southern Boso Peninsula? Are you planning to visit?