Yesterday, Matsuzaki held its 12th annual Taiko Festival. It was awesome! (or "saiko"  pronounced psycho in Japanese) 4 taiko groups, 2 dancing dragons, a bamboos flute, smashing symbols and gongs were accompanied by torches of fire, candles in bamboo holders, and the sound of waves lapping on the beach. When the sun disappeared under the sea in front of us, the nearly full harvest moon came up behind us. Nothing short of spectacular! Please join us next year for the  13th annual Taiko Festival in beautiful Matsuzaki!

Last night we filled the van with guests and drove to the west coast to see the sunset. It was kinda cloudy so besides some stunning views of Izu's rocky west coast, there wasn't much to see. After that we headed to the southern most tip of the peninsula for fireworks in Yumi-ga-hama. Fireworks exploded above and were shot from the ocean, explosions and flashes of color reverberating through the starless sky. Looking forward to the next fire and light spectacle celebrating the Bon Festival on August 13th. Check out our calendar here for a listing of upcoming events in southern Izu.

On August 6th, 7th, and 8th, Shimoda held its second annual Candle Cafe. Which is not actually a cafe but a small festival with 1000s of candles lighting up the already beautiful Perry Road. Draft beer, cocktails and snack food was sold on the street. A good sound system oozed out smooth Jazz like Sade's "Your Love is King". There were plenty of places to sit and enjoy the ambience with a drink in hand. If you have yet to enjoy this classy festival of lights, don't miss it next year!

It's Golden Week here in Japan which means a lot of people are enjoying a whole bunch of holidays. Children's Day is on May 5th and the Koi (carp) streamers are here to help us celebrate. Families throughout town have strung their own families of fish but the town also raises a long set of streamers over the river across the street from tabi-tabi. I love their reflections!