About an hour on the Tokaido Shinkansen from Tokyo, I arrived at Mishima Station, said to be one of the origins of Yukio Mishima's pen name. Located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, close to the city center, this town boasts a pleasant, warm climate, streets that retain traces of the Showa era, and is just one station away from the hot spring resort town of Atami and the panoramic view of Mount Fuji, making it a charming town. In this, I'd like to share some of the details of my trip to get to know eastern Shizuoka better in three parts. First, I visited Clematis Hill in Nagaizumi Town, Shizuoka Prefecture. Clematis Hill is a cultural complex dotted with art museums, a literature museum, restaurants, shops, and gardens where clematis blooms seasonally. The vast grounds are divided into two main areas: the Buffet Area, which includes the Renard Buffet Museum, which houses works by French painter Bernard Buffet, the Yasushi Inoue Literature Museum, and the adjacent Surugadai Nature Park; and the Clematis Garden Area, which includes the IZU PHOTO MUSEUM, designed by Hiroshi Sugimoto, and restaurants such as Ristorante Primavera, located in the Clematis Garden. The Vangi Sculpture Museum, located near the Clematis Garden, is a particularly memorable spot. You could easily spend an entire day lying on the grass or sitting in a chair gazing at the panoramic views of the Izu and Hakone mountains. It's a charming place that makes you want to share its comfort with someone.

















Clematis Hill
347-1 Clematis Hill, Higashino, Nagaizumi-cho, Shizuoka Prefecture
055-989-8787
http://www.clematis-no-oka.co.jp/
Opening hours: January 10:00-16:30
February and March 10:00-17:00
April, May, June, July, August 10:00-18:00
September and October 10:00-17:00
November and December 10:00-16:30
*Last admission 30 minutes before closing
Closed: Wednesdays, New Year's holidays
See the website for admission fees