On October 13, 2024, a sunny day, I set off for a two-day Laid-Back Camp pilgrimage in Izu.

This pilgrimage mainly follows the locations from Laid-Back Camp Season 2, where Nadeshiko and friends traveled around Izu. The first day's itinerary was to visit Mount Omuro and Izu Shaboten Zoo near Izu Kogen.

Departing for Izu Kogen

There are two ways to get from Tokyo to Mount Omuro and Izu Shaboten Zoo in Izu Kogen.

1. Take the Odoriko limited express from Tokyo Station, pass through Ito to Izu-Kogen Station, then take a bus to Shaboten Koen (Bus Stop). It takes about 2.5 hours.
2. Take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Atami Station, then take the Ito Line to Ito Station, and finally take a bus from Ito Station to Shaboten Koen. It takes about 2 hours.

I chose the first option this time.

You can purchase limited express tickets to Izu Kogen online in advance. The photo shows only the boarding ticket; I chose an electronic version for the limited express ticket.

The original price for the boarding ticket plus limited express ticket is 5,170 yen (about 247 RMB).

For seating, if you want to see the sea, I recommend side A, but the trade-off is that it's extremely sunny!

Although it's not sea views the whole way, if you like seeing the sea, side A is recommended.

By the way, side D offers mountain views.

Arriving at Izu Kogen

After about 2 hours, I arrived at Izu-Kogen Station.

First Challenge: Taking the Bus to Shaboten Koen

Upon arriving at Izu Kogen, I immediately confirmed the bus stop location and quickly joined the queue, because almost everyone getting off the train was heading to Mount Omuro. With very few bus services and not enough capacity for one trip, there could be a long wait for the bus.

Note that the target stop is Shaboten Koen (シャボテン公園), because Mount Omuro and Izu Shaboten Zoo are right next to each other.

At this point, you could also take a taxi, but you need to rush to the taxi stand immediately, as it will also be packed with people 😅. Taxi resources in the entire Izu area are very tight, so when you get one depends on luck.

And on this day, luck was very bad: there was a major traffic jam due to a traffic accident!

As a result, the bus ride that normally takes 20 minutes took 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the destination 😩.

It was so tough, really tough. Since I couldn't get a seat on the bus and it was packed full, I had to stand in a twisted posture the whole time. To make matters worse, because the bus was so crowded, my phone had signal but no network speed 😱.

Arriving at Shaboten Koen

So, after standing in a twisted posture for 1 hour and 20 minutes, I finally got off the bus.

I looked at the scene before me...

What is this long line?

Due to the popularity of Your Name. and the promotion on Xiaohongshu, Mount Omuro has become a popular Instagram-worthy spot.

As a result, tour groups from China come in an endless stream, making the already weak Izu transportation even worse.

You cannot hike up Mount Omuro; you must take a cable car. This series of reasons leads to extremely long waiting times at Mount Omuro.

I thought it would be better after the National Day holiday, but it seems I was too optimistic 😭.

Izu Shaboten Zoo

Since the line at Mount Omuro was too long, I decided to visit Izu Shaboten Zoo first.

Because I came from Mount Omuro to the zoo, I missed many scenes at the main entrance, which is a bit regrettable.

The admission fee for Izu Shaboten Zoo is 2,800 yen for adults (about 134 RMB).

Capybara Rainbow Plaza

The most famous animal in this zoo is the capybara.

At Capybara Rainbow Plaza, you can touch capybaras up close.

Compared to the anime, in reality there are more people than capybaras.

It's a question: are people watching the capybaras, or are the capybaras watching the people?

But indeed, capybaras have a very gentle temperament and are larger than I imagined.

Capybara totem.

Other Animals Seen Along the Way

There was a rich variety of animals along the way.

Many animals are completely free-range. No wonder in the anime, when the teacher and the ticket seller said they saw many animals on the road, the ticket seller panicked 😅. It does seem easy for them to escape.

Various Architectural Statues Seen Along the Way

There are also many statues of ancient civilizations throughout the zoo.

Bird Paradise

There are many bird species here, also free-range.

You can observe various birds up close.

The shoebill that appeared in the anime has sadly passed away due to age.

The zoo has created many tributes to commemorate this long-lived shoebill.

and became the second honorary director of the zoo.

Sun Plaza

A large plaza at the main entrance, decorated with giant pumpkins for Halloween.

Behind it is Mount Omuro.

Capybara Open-Air Bath

Since it wasn't winter, no capybaras were willing to take a bath 😅.

And the pool in real life was a bit dirty, with even some poop.

Red Panda House

Red pandas are just too cute!

Here you can pay to get equipment and feed the red pandas.

Kogen-ryu Greenhouse

I was curious about these pyramids before entering; they turned out to be greenhouses for cultivating cacti.

Indeed, since it's called Izu Shaboten Zoo, how could it lack cacti?

The dragon looks so majestic!

But there were many birds perched on it 😅.

There were several areas with a wide variety of cacti, and you could even buy a cactus you liked on the spot.

Inside the cactus greenhouse, many owls were also on display.

Early in the morning, they were probably half asleep.

Shopping Area

Besides the cactus greenhouse, there was the ever-popular shopping area.

The shopping area naturally had all kinds of capybara plushies.

Lunch Time

Speaking of which, because of the heavy traffic, we hadn't had lunch yet, so we bought a special cactus fruit ice cream to stave off hunger.

Although I had never eaten cactus fruit before, I couldn't taste anything special 😅.

Mount Omuro

After visiting Izu Shaboten Zoo, the next step was to check the queue situation at Mount Omuro.

That scene from the anime simply couldn't happen in real life!

Second Challenge — Cable Car Up

At first, seeing that the cable car operated until 16:00, I worried that if we exceeded that time, we might have queued in vain.

Later, I found out that as long as you were in line before 16:00, they would ensure you got up and down.

This time, the cable car queue took a full 2 hours!

The cable car ticket was 1000 yen (about 48 RMB) for a round trip.

When going up, your feet dangle in the air, so make sure to tie your shoelaces tightly.

There's a photo spot midway, and at the top they ask if you want to buy it — 1200 yen (57 RMB) each.

Summit

The iconic scene from the anime.

Unfortunately, visibility was poor that day, so we couldn't see Mount Fuji.

Indeed, it looks better when it's green!

The scene from Your Name. mentioned earlier.

Personally, I don't think it looks that similar, so why did it become so popular?

It was sunset, and the scenery was beautiful, though a bit hazy.

The Jizo statue that appears in the anime.

Third Challenge — Cable Car Down

After wandering around for half an hour, it was almost time to descend, or we'd miss the 17:30 bus to Izu-Kogen Station.

And so the third challenge began.

Peak time for descending...

Indeed, if the queue up took that long, the descent would take a corresponding amount of time.

And so we queued for a long time again, until it got dark, and finally got on the cable car down.

It was dark, the wind was strong, and the swaying was quite thrilling 😅.

Return Trip

After coming down from Mount Omuro, I checked the time: 17:40! We had perfectly missed the last bus!

Fourth Challenge — Getting Back to Izu-Kogen Station

The fourth challenge: how to get back to Izu-Kogen Station?

So I opened a ride-hailing app, and it showed...No taxis available!?

I tried several other apps, and they all showed the same...

Called the taxi company, but got a busy signal...

This is a problem 😱, how do we get back???

So I asked the others who were also stuck how to deal with it, and we finally agreed to walk back!

Walking back takes about an hour, and it's all downhill 😱.

No choice but to tough it out.

Luckily there were many of us, so it shouldn't be a big problem, right?

During the walk, we found that not only were some sections steep, but many sections had no streetlights at all.

We could only rely on moonlight and phone lights to barely see the road.

And so, a group of us walked along a pitch-black mountain path, struggling to reach Izu-Kogen Station.

After about an hour of walking, we actually made it to the station! The sense of accomplishment at that moment is still unforgettable. It will surely become a fond memory.

Arriving at Izu-Kogen Station, it was already close to 7 PM. Surprisingly, the station that was so lively at noon was now completely empty.

The trains coming and going were also almost empty.

It seems that in Izu, apart from tourists, not many locals use public transportation, and tourists tend to appear in crowds at certain times, which puts a severe strain on local public transport.

Finally, after saying goodbye to my comrades on the train, I successfully returned to the hotel in Izu-Shimoda.

Thus ended the first day of the Laid-Back Camp pilgrimage to Izu Kogen, which was full of challenges.

Tomorrow continues the Laid-Back Camp pilgrimage, stay tuned!

Next article:Enjoying Izu's Beautiful Sea Views — Laid-Back Camp Pilgrimage to Shimoda City Madogahama Kaiyu Park, Tsumekizaki, and Ryugu Sea Cave