Sokai no Yado Narainokaze

Everything was clean and neat, and the rooms and bathrooms had a lovely smell of tatami and wood. The sashimi platter, fried fish, simmered fish, and the other dishes were all excellent for quality, quantity, and flavor.

With just five rooms, the inn feels fairly relaxed, and the hot springs are relatively easy to enjoy. It’s right on the Sotoura Coast, so after swimming you can head straight to a bath, and there’s a shower room too. It also makes a good base for exploring Shimoda and Southern Izu. The food is a real highlight, full of local Izu ingredients: fish, abalone and seaweed from the coast, plus seasonal vegetables. The sashimi features local fish the owner catches nearby, served on a boat-shaped platter with freshly grated Izu wasabi. After that comes a whole fried scorpionfish for each person, then boiled fish, which you can save for breakfast if you can’t finish it. It’s seafood that goes beautifully with sake and rice. Breakfast is filling too, with dried fish the owner has carefully chosen from among many shops. Even after a big dinner, I found myself eating heartily again. The inn faces the beach at Sotoura Coast. Each guest can pick a colorful, very absorbent towel from the collection and take it home. The building has been renovated, and every room has a toilet facing the sea. Most of the separate dining rooms also look out at the ocean, where you can enjoy a meal with the sound of the waves.

It’s a small inn with just five rooms, busy in winter with people after fish and in summer with beach visitors. The current building was apparently rebuilt around 2018, though Shimoda Rinkaiso has been operating here for over 50 years, since the previous generation. The proprietress is talkative and has plenty of stories to share. The rooms are compact, and I wish the futons were a bit thicker or had a separate mattress. The simple rooms and natural hot spring baths are lovely, but the local ingredient dishes are what really stand out. What you get depends on the fish’s mood, so it’s a surprise until you open the box.

I used to stay at Rinkai-so every two years in February, after seeing Kawazu Sakura, for more than ten years. The landlady told me I was the first Taiwanese guest there. The owner would pick me up from Kyushimoda Station. I stopped coming after the pandemic, but lately I’ve put Rinkai-so back on my wish list. Before the pandemic, they rebuilt the whole building, and the rooms became even prettier. The dining room is separate, on the first floor. The landlady has retired, and now her daughter-in-law and son run the business. The food is still delicious and fresh. It’s a little pricey, but worth it!