Chapter 03 · Experiences
No. 28
Retro Atami
Retro Atami walk
レトロ熱海さんぽ
Atami was Japan's honeymoon town in the 1950s and 60s. Walk Kiunkaku, the old arcades and a kissaten with your host, then the seafront at dusk.
時刻表Timetable
- 所要Duration
- About 3.5 hours
- 季節Season
- All year (Kiunkaku is closed on Wednesdays).
- 人数Group
- 1–12 guests
- 移動Getting there
- On footOn foot, with some hills; wear comfortable shoes. We finish near Atami Station for the train or a taxi.
- 集合Meeting point
- Atami Station, mid-afternoon.
- 料金Price
- Guide fee, from ¥5,000 each with your stay
Add a paid tour and the stay is 10% less; discounts don't combine
Reserve
Choose a day, and book it
Finding the open days…
The story
Atami was Japan's honeymoon town in the 1950s and 60s, and the town has started to love its past again. Walk with your host through Kiunkaku, a villa of 1919 where novelists came to write, down the covered shopping arcades where the signs are still hand-painted, into a kissaten for siphon coffee and a custard pudding, and out to the seafront as the evening comes in.
After the war, Atami was where newlyweds came: from 1951 a Saturday-only express, the Hatsushima, ran full of honeymooners bound for Atami and Itō. Much of that town is still here and loved again. We walk the covered arcades by the station, sit down in an old kissaten, look round Kiunkaku, a 1919 villa that became a ryokan where some of Japan's great writers stayed, and reach the seafront as the lights come on.
Kiunkaku's villa, the old arcades, a kissaten stop and the bay.
路線図
The route
Times are a guide; the day bends to the weather.
Start
The arcades by Atami Station
熱海駅前の商店街
30 min
Heiwa-dori and Nakamise: onsen manju, himono and the smell of grilled fish.
+0:30
An old kissaten
昔ながらの喫茶店
45 min
Coffee and something sweet in one of the town's Showa-era cafés; we pick the one that suits the day.
+1:15
Kiunkaku
起雲閣
1 h
Built in 1919 as a villa, praised as one of Atami's three great villas, a ryokan from 1947 where writers such as Tanizaki and Dazai stayed, and owned by the city since 2000. Closed on Wednesdays.
+2:15
Atami Ginza
熱海銀座
30 min
Once the busy heart of town: old neon, snack bars and new cafés side by side.
+2:45Finish
The seafront at dusk
夕暮れの海辺
30 min
Sun Beach and the statue of Kan'ichi and Omiya, the lovers from Ozaki Kōyō's novel The Golden Demon.
Good to know
Included
- Your host as guide, in English or Japanese
- A route planned around your group and the weather
- Help booking tickets and restaurant tables
Not included
- Kiunkaku admission, paid on the day
- Coffee, food and drinks
- Kimono rental, if you'd like to walk in one (the rental shop charges you directly)
- Price
- Guide fee per person, tax included. With your stay: ¥10,000 for one guest, ¥7,500 each for two, ¥5,000 each for three to twelve. Tour only: ¥10,000 each, for two guests or more. Admissions, partner fees, meals and travel are paid on the day. Book a paid tour with your stay and the stay itself is 10% less (you always get the single best discount). Groups of seven or more, please book 10 days ahead.
- Meeting point
- Atami Station, mid-afternoon.
- Weather
- Fuji, the stars and the fireworks depend on the sky; we tell you the evening before if it's worth going.
- Cancellation
- Guide fees follow the stay's cancellation tiers. Partners' own terms apply to theirs.
On the mapG3
Kiunkaku and central Atami · About 2 km from the house
Sources
- 01
From 31 March 1951 the Saturday-only semi-express Hatsushima ran packed with honeymooners bound for Atami and Itō; the honeymoon boom lasted until Miyazaki took over as the classic destination.
Source: city.atami.lg.jp (opens in a new tab) - 02
In 1961 Atami's hot-spring resort counted 11.5 million visitors, the most in Japan.
Source: city.atami.lg.jp (opens in a new tab) - 03
Kiunkaku was built in 1919 as a villa, praised as one of Atami's three great villas, became a ryokan in 1947 and has been owned by Atami City since 2000.
Source: city.atami.lg.jp (opens in a new tab) - 04
Writers including Yamamoto Yūzō, Shiga Naoya, Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, Dazai Osamu, Funahashi Seiichi and Takeda Taijun loved Kiunkaku.
Source: city.atami.lg.jp (opens in a new tab) - 05
Kiunkaku is open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed on Wednesdays and from 26 to 30 December.
Source: kiunkaku.jp (opens in a new tab) - 06
From 31 March 1951 the Saturday-only semi-express Hatsushima ran packed with honeymooners bound for Atami and Itō; the honeymoon boom lasted until Miyazaki took over as the classic destination.
Source: city.atami.lg.jp (opens in a new tab) - 07
In 1961 Atami's hot-spring resort counted 11.5 million visitors, the most in Japan.
Source: city.atami.lg.jp (opens in a new tab) - 08
Kiunkaku is open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30), closed on Wednesdays and from 26 to 30 December.
Source: kiunkaku.jp (opens in a new tab)
Ask us about a date.
Tell us the day, who's coming and what you'd like to see. Your host replies within a few hours, in English or Japanese.
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