The lady of Izu

One thing you will notice if you ever get the chance to travel to this little piece of heaven are the sculptures that are dotted around the town. Interestingly from my observations, most of these works of art are mainly females. As you enter and exit Obachan's town you are greeted and farewell by this lady (sorry, the statue is so small, as I was taking this pic quickly from the back of our car). It is a statue of a woman holding a child in her arms overlooking the ocean.

Here is another woman displayed in the middle of Michino eki (road side station), right near the local onsen I shared with you last week.

 With Spring just around the corner there is another attraction that has begun in the local area called, "Tanbo wo tsukata hanabatake," Spring flowers in the rice fields.

Not only can you enjoy walking amongst the beautiful spring blossoms with the mountains surrounding this peaceful town, you can also soak your toes into a small foot onsen (hot spring) in the open air. This spring time flower display is on from the beginning of March until 5th May. After this time the local farmers will again begin planting in their rice paddy fields.

This week we had an exciting delivery arrive at our door for a much needed item at Obachan chi's. I hope to share with you next week. Until then its time for another onsen!

Local attractions

About 10 years ago there was a Japanese television drama called, "Sekaino chushinde Ai wo Sakebu" that was filmed in Obachan chi's town. The storyline follows the lives of two young high school sweet hearts with the backdrop of Izu and its beaches. The climax of the story has the girlfriend diagnosed with a terminal illness. Yes, it was young love and yes it was also sad. The boyfriend travels to Australia (my homeland!) as a last wish to his girlfriend to scatter her ashes in the Northern Territory. Interestingly, the funeral parlor used in the drama was the same used for dear Obachan. The original story was also translated into English which is called, "Socrates in Love".

The lookout overlooking the town below as shown in the tv drama

Obachan chi's town is not only famous for this particular drama, but is also featured in the current Pasco bread advertisement showing this same lookout. 

Another popular attraction with both the passing tourists and locals is the local onsen (hot spring). It is always a welcome treat for us too at the end of our day to relax and recharge our tired muscles. The onsen is open to the public 7 days a week. As we are part-time locals (meaning we pay for the utility bills) we can  also enjoy this local attraction for ¥300 per visit and for non-locals ¥500. It's a bargain in my opinion as there are both indoor and outdoor onsens with a blossoming sakura tree overhanging and mountains to set the scene......so now you know where we head too!

Nature's calling

The last visit to Obachan chi's we realised two things that would make our experience somewhat more comfortable while we renovate the old farmhouse. One was to be able to use a kitchen sink...Obachan's kitchen is like a black hole at the moment and not a place you want to be in for any length of time. Sorry to say, its seen better days. 

However, worse than this is the toilet situation that needs our urgent attention. Obachan chi's was originally fitted out with a pit latrine, pit toilet or thunder box, however you like to call it. The truck stopped calling some time ago when septic came to town, but this little farmhouse is behind the times and hasn't been updated since. I was a bit hesitant to share this photo which shows the state that we found the toilet in 8 years old. Safe to say its been cleaned up since. Actually, when I gave the toilet a good clean out I found that little crab bodies had become trapped in the small sink and died. I never in my life would have thought that I would be cleaning out little crabs from a sink!  

Our options at present are to  (a) install a septic system to be able to flush, (b) install a composting system to be environmentally friendly with nature or (c) a portable toilet system that separates for later composting.
Since we don't stay at Obanchan's for long periods of time (wish we could though), the expense of a septic tank operation doesn't warrant the financial outlay, as we are definitely on a budget. However, like I said before that doesn't mean we can't be comfortable in the process of renovating this little place.

I'm going to be quite straight with you when I say I have no problem with presently using a bucket as a temporary measure, but it was the other members of our family namely our sweet little girl who was no fan of my beloved bucket system. 

So, we did some research and came up with a marine style toilet that may work for us and is up for consideration. 



The portable toilet allows our waste to be separated and then composted later, which works because like I said if we had a authentic composting set up with peat moss/wood chips we would need to be around Oba chan chi's to sort out the waste. What do you think? Have you had any experience with a marine style toilet? We would love to hear your thoughts. But now its time for another onsen.