Izu, Home of the Wasabi

The train ride took us to Izu. This is an area famous for the Wasabi farms. One of the main tourist attractions in the area is this big hill that you can ride a cable car up to and take a view of the whole valley.



Below is Kevin. Kevin is afraid of heights. Deathly afraid. Can you tell???



At the top of the mountain was a guy selling Mochis. These are made from Rice and are kind of like a sticky cake. They are pink because the flavoring of it is Sakura or Cherry Blossoms! (From the trees I posted earlier). It has a unique flowery flavor. We had to try one of course!

You can walk around the rim of the hill. I think it's probably a 1.5km walk. There is actually a "Bowl"in the middle like a volcano. Below is a picture of the bowl.

But if you look closely into the bowl... you realize that there's an archery range there! Sweet! I kind of wanted to give it a shot.

This is how you get into the bowl. You have to carry your arrows, your bow, down these stairs. And then when you're done you have to walk back up! It is a long way down! The group decided that they did not want to do this :).

Below is a picture of me at the top of the hill. Behind me is the valley and the coast line. The wind was blowing strong and it was COLD up here which is why I was wearing my leather jacket. The wind actually gave me quite a headache!

Another picture of the view from the top.

At the souvenier store we found "Hello Kitty Izu!". This is when I realized that every region in Japan had a specialized hello kitty that is for sale only in Japan, and only in that region. This particular hello kitty is supposedly holding a Wasabi root, and tasting it (which is why she has that funny expression on her face.)

But if you ask me, it looks like she's holding a giant green Dildo, Flipping you off, and squinting her eyes at you in disdain. What do you think??? :)