Japan is heaven for travel enthusiasts and foodies. During my twelve days in the country in January of 2019, I was blown away by the mind-blowing beauty of its natural, historical, and cultural sites. The history here is long and rich and was so fascinating to learn about, and the food culture is out of this world! Come along with me as I continue exploring the gorgeous country of Japan!
I started off in the resort city of Atami in the Shizuoka Prefecture, which is about a 40-minute drive south from Tokyo. This city is known for its salted fish and its famous cherry blossoms, which bloom months earlier than most other cherry blossoms in the country because the climate is warmer.
Atami has a similar feel to beach towns I’ve visited in Europe. There are palm trees and gardens. It’s warmer here and there’s lots of greenery. We passed by lots of hotels and residential buildings on our way to see the cherry blossoms.
The cherry blossoms are gorgeous! There were about 60 blossom trees in full bloom near the river. They bloom from mid-January to mid-February. While you can see them in the spring, it’s a lot more expensive to come to Japan during that time. If you want to see cherry blossoms in Japan and want to save money, come in January!
After seeing the cherry blossoms, I grabbed an iced black coffee with espresso from a vending machine for 140 Yen/roughly $1.26. Then it was time for lunch at a small and cozy French restaurant!
We started with tomato soup with bread. It was nice and thick and was served piping hot. It almost tasted like an onion soup as well!
My main course was grilled sea bass with potatoes, vegetables, and a nice, creamy sauce, which was also served with rice. The sea bass was lightly battered and was super tasty! I loved it!
I had limited time in Atami, so I quickly finished my lunch and went on a solo exploration of Atami Ginza, the city’s shopping district. On the way, I stopped at a hot spring across the street from the restaurant and a guide to the area’s seven hot springs. Nearby, there’s also a shop that sells dried fish like sardines, shrimp, and squid, as well as wasabi and other items.
Atami Ginza is a long street that has lots of shops, restaurants, and craft beer shops. At another shop, I saw lots of dried fish and other seafood including shrimp, eel, barracuda, fish cakes, scallops, and oysters. It all looked amazing, but I couldn’t try any of it, because it’s meant to be taken home and cooked. Atami is by the water, so seafood is abundant here!
I decided I wanted a craft beer, so I visited Maruya Guesthouse, which is a hostel that sells food and beer. I bought an Atami Dramatic Roman Pale Ale. It was fantastic and the people there were so nice!
I hope you enjoyed coming along with me to see the winter cherry blossoms in Atami and for joining me for my amazing French food and craft beer lunch! If you did, please give it a thumbs up, leave me a comment, and subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss any of my upcoming travel/food adventures!
About Me: My name is David Hoffmann and for the last decade I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food and history! Since starting Davidsbeenhere in 2008, I have traveled to 71 countries and over 1,000 destinations, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube Channel, blog and social medias.
I focus a great deal on food and historic sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, whether it’s casual Street food or gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning the local history and culture.
Thank you, thank you, arigatou, arigatou, arigatou, disamash, disamash, disamash.
Hey, what's up guys? David Hoffman here from David's Bin here in beautiful Atami, Shizuola Prefecture, Japan.
This town is a resort town about 40 minutes drive south from Tokyo, and they're famous for a few things.
So they're famous for salted fish, but they're also famous for having cherry blossoms in January.
Yes, cherry blossoms in January. It's one of the only places you can see it at this time of year.
Cherry blossoms usually bloom in March and April here in Japan, but this city is a little hotter, so it actually blooms now.
We're going to go see that right now, and then after that we're going to go have some French food in Japan.
I'm very excited about that.
We're going to explore the Atami Ginza, which is like a shopping district.
There's shops, there's craft breweries, there's a lot of different things there.
So you guys ready? Let's go explore Atami.
This feels more like a beach town in Europe.
As you can see, lots of cool buildings.
Got some palm trees over here, and we're walking through a garden as you can see right here.
Lots of different plants.
The sun's come out. I'm starting to get really hot. I'm going to take off my sweater.
But yeah, I mean, I'm sure the fish here is outstanding.
The water is literally right there.
Everything's in Japanese.
But I'm guessing these are like hotels.
Maybe some residential buildings here as well.
Lots of commercial on the ground levels.
Yes, the Atami is known for hot springs, the town.
And now we are heading for the cherry blossom.
This cherry blossom is called the Atami Cherry Blossom.
And it starts blooming starting from the middle of January.
So now is the best time to see. So let's take a look.
Okay, so the Atami is also famous for the dried fish.
So you have a mackerel.
That's the way how they dry the fish.
So if you dry the fish, the taste is more intense.
So you have a much more rich flavor.
Oh wow.
And there you have it.
If you're in Tokyo in January, come down to Atami.
It's a short drive.
And check out the cherry blossoms.
Wow.
There's around 30 or 40 cherry blossom trees right here along the river.
And we can actually go down.
Wow.
We can just go down here and see them from the bottom.
Definitely got to be careful because it's a little slippery.
Let me go through here.
Oh man, it's amazing.
Oh my god, this is super slippery.
Really cool.
I actually think it's better to see them from above.
Right here, I mean, it's nice but it's not the same thing.
Being really up close to them is a lot better.
Okay, so now we are in the Atami and you see the main cherry blossom.
And on this river, there is about 60 cherry blossom.
Starting bloom from the middle of January until the middle of February.
So if you happen to be here, please join us.
Yeah, so if you happen to be in Tokyo, short drive.
This is gorgeous.
As you can see, this tree is huge.
This is after the second street in.
Look at that.
Oh wow.
So pretty.
Because Atami's climate is quite warm.
So that's why it's...
Actually, it's the first cherry blossom you see the year.
It's starting from here.
That's the reason why cherry blossoms bloom in January here.
It's because it's so warm.
Obviously, we're next to the sea.
It's not cold at all.
I'm sweating with this sweater.
Wow, look.
Here's a way better view.
Oh, this is the shot right here.
If you're thinking about coming to Japan and you want to come to see the cherry blossoms,
I highly recommend coming in January and coming here to Atami.
The problem with coming in March and April is that you'll be able to see cherry blossoms everywhere in Japan.
But the biggest issue is that it's going to be super, super expensive.
That's when everybody wants to come to Japan.
That's when the hotels are completely booked.
If you are in Japan in January, come out to Atami.
It's really quick from Tokyo.
Look at this. This is stunning.
This is incredible.
Wow, it's beautiful.
Hi, David.
What do you think?
I love cherry blossoms.
They are very peaceful and they're so timid.
They come around so infrequently.
So it's nice to be able to come here whenever they're in full bloom.
This is something I love about Japan.
There are 2.4 million liquid vending machines throughout the country.
Right here, there were two of them.
I haven't had my coffee for the day, so I'm having coffee.
Black espresso.
This is amazing.
It cost me $1.40.
The only problem is whenever you have trash in Japan, it's so hard to find a trash can.
It's impossible.
The best thing to do is drink the coffee next to the vending machine because there was a trash can there.
Now we're off to lunch.
We're going to have French food.
Here's the restaurant.
It looks good.
Tomato soup, French style here in Japan.
What is that?
Nice bread on top.
It looks too hot.
What?
I have to wait.
It's too hot.
Yummy.
As you saw, this restaurant is very cozy, very small.
I think it's a 6-table restaurant.
First time trying French food in Japan.
I love French food.
It's been a while.
Tomato soup.
It's fantastic.
It's still really hot.
It almost tastes like an onion soup as well.
Look at that.
Places like the bamboo forest.
It's still too hot.
Our main course is sea bass.
I think you got beef, right?
You got beef?
I got beef and there's really good root vegetables.
A lot of vegetables here.
Got some potatoes.
Got a nice creamy sauce.
Arigato.
Got some rice as well.
A grilled sea bass that has some batter on it.
It's amazing.
The food envy.
You should have got this one.
We're right next to a waterfront.
I should have gotten this.
I love the batter they use on this.
It's super tasty.
Food was delicious but I have limited time so I want to show you.
Right here, we have a shop that has dried fish.
So many different fish.
You got sardines.
You have wasabi.
You have seaweed.
Hello again.
Everything looks amazing.
You got shrimp, squid.
Nothing to try?
I can't try anything?
No?
Nothing to try?
It's unfortunate.
The problem here is that everything is to take home and cook.
But so many good things.
Lots of fish.
Seafood.
Seafood, seafood.
Right here, we have a little table area for seating.
Let's go to the Ginza.
Luckily, it's not as cold as other places I've been in Japan.
Everywhere else has been really, really frigid.
I mean, the coldest place I've been was Osaka.
Maybe Kyoto.
I mean, Kyoto was like 20-something Fahrenheit every day.
And right here, we have Atami Ginza.
This is a shopping district.
As you can see, it's a long street.
Lots of restaurants, shops.
We have souvenir shops.
We have a lot of salted fish.
And we also have some craft beer right here.
Let's go see if we can try a craft beer.
This shop right here sells dried fish right at the door.
As you can see, all the dried fish right here.
They also have a lot of other things.
You got shrimp.
You got scallops.
You have oysters.
I mean, so many things.
Fish cakes.
Wow, this looks incredible.
Yummy, yummy.
Everything looks so good.
Can I try anything?
Anything to try?
Or everything ziplocked?
That's the only problem here is that you have to buy stuff and take it home to cook.
But I mean, look how many things they got.
They have never ending amount of things.
They got some eel.
Wow, that looks so good.
What else do they got?
Well, they have like a mini barracuda right here.
I don't know.
Maybe I should buy something.
Eat it later.
Maybe.
Incredible amount of seafood here.
I mean, obviously, we're by the water.
So, lots of seafood.
And I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to post up right here.
I'm going to get myself a craft beer.
Yes, craft beer.
Great.
What do you have?
Pale ale.
Pilsen.
Red ale.
Can I try this one?
Pale ale?
Perfect.
One pale ale.
So, I'm trying this craft beer from Atami Dramatic and it's a pale ale.
Oh, it's really good.
Really good.
Fantastic, actually.
And something really cool about Japan is that you can actually have an open container out
on the street.
So, I can drink this and just walk around the city.
So, they're telling me that this place is actually called Marue.
It's a guest house of Maria.
So, it's actually a hostel and this is the terrace area.
So, they have craft beer and they also have food.
So, you have food as well?
Mackerel sandwich is the best.
Mackerel sandwich is the best?
Yeah.
Come and eat mackerel sandwich.
Yay.
Thank you.
Arigato.
Isamasu.
Wow, this street is awesome.
Those people at that hotel, the guest house Marue, which is guest house of Maria.
Really nice people.
Great beer.
They also have amazing food.
It looks like they have amazing food.
So, if you're going to come by here, definitely stay there.
I mean, it's on the strip to be.
A lot of dry fish.
Like, incredible amounts of dry fish.
They have everything.
Like, literally any type of seafood you want, they got it.
And, I mean, such a beautiful place.
I like that it's a little cold right now.
Probably be really epic during summer.
Guys, I hope you enjoyed this video.
It was awesome.
Cherry blossoms in January.
This is probably one of the only places in the country, in Japan, where you can see them.
So, definitely come to Japan in winter and come here to Atami and see the cherry blossoms.
The French food was freaking amazing.
You know, I was a little skeptical because, you know, I personally only want to eat Japanese food when I'm in Japan.
But it was really good.
And then going to Atami Ginza was just like awesome.
I mean, thank God that I made time to go over there and see it.
Saw a lot of fried fish.
Tried an amazing beer.
Amazing craft beer from there.
These are the places I love.
Places that are undiscovered.
And now you guys know about Atami.
So next time you travel to Japan, come to Atami.
Only a 40-minute drive from Tokyo.
And if you love this video, give me a thumbs up.
Leave me a comment below.
And subscribe to my channel for more awesome travel content.
I'll see you on the next travel food adventure in Japan.
Peace!
