Mishima, the gateway to Izu: spring water, Mishima Taisha and the Skywalk

See · Mishima · Published 2026-11-01.

Most visitors only change trains in Mishima. Give it half a day instead: the old province's leading shrine, rivers fed by Mount Fuji's snowmelt, a 400-metre footbridge facing Fuji, and the railway south to Shuzenji.

Tokyo → Mishima

about 50 min by Shinkansen

Mishima → Shuzenji

Izuhakone Railway, about 35 min

Skywalk

about 20 min from JR Mishima Station; adults from 1,100 yen (1 Nov 2026)

Mishima Taisha

about 15 min on foot from the station

For most travellers heading to Izu, Mishima is a platform: you step off the Tokaido Shinkansen, cross the station and board the little train to Shuzenji. That is a pity, because the town has more to offer than a connection. It sits on lava that flowed from Mount Fuji, and the rain and snowmelt that soak into that lava come back to the surface here as clear, cold springs. Add the most important shrine of the old Izu Province and a long suspension bridge with a view of Fuji, and Mishima makes an easy half-day stop on the way in or out of the peninsula.

Why Mishima is the gateway

Mishima grew up as a post town on the Tokaido, the Edo-period highway between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. It was the 11th of the 53 stations that Hiroshige made famous in his woodblock prints, and it was also where the old road south into Izu, the Shimoda Kaido, began. The geography has not changed: Mishima is still where the main line meets the peninsula. The Japan National Tourism Organization puts the station about 50 minutes from Tokyo Station by Shinkansen; Kodama trains stop here, as do some Hikari services. From the same station the Izuhakone Railway's Sunzu line runs down the central valley to Shuzenji in about 35 minutes. Our guide to getting to Izu from Tokyo compares this route with the Odoriko trains down the east coast, and getting around Izu covers the buses and passes once you are on the peninsula.

Water from Mount Fuji

About 10,000 years ago, lava from Mount Fuji flowed down as far as the Mishima area. Rain and snow falling on Fuji's slopes seep into the porous rock and travel underground for decades (the town's tourism association says for around 26 to 28 years) before emerging as springs at the foot of the lava flow. This water is the thread that ties together most of what there is to see in town.

Rakujuen

Rakujuen is a public park a short walk from the south exit of Mishima Station, built on that lava. The site was bought in 1890 by Prince Komatsu Akihito, who built a villa there; after his death it passed to the Korean crown prince Yi Un, then to a private owner, and the city of Mishima acquired it in 1952 and opened it to the public. In 1954 it was designated both a national Place of Scenic Beauty and a Natural Monument, and since 2012 it has been part of the Izu Peninsula Geopark. The garden is built around Kohama Pond, which is fed by springs; its level rises and falls with the groundwater, so do not be surprised to find bare lava where you expected water. The park also has a small zoo and the town's local history museum, which makes it a good stop with children.

The Genbei River

The Genbei River rises in Rakujuen and runs for about 1.5 kilometres through the centre of town. A path of stepping stones lets you walk in the stream itself, between houses and under the roads, and locals cool their feet in it in summer. The river is registered as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure, a listing run by the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, because its water was used to irrigate rice fields downstream. It is the most pleasant way to walk from the station area towards the shrine.

The Kakita River

Just south of Mishima, in the town of Shimizu, the Kakita River emerges almost fully formed from springs at the edge of the lava. It is only about 1.2 kilometres long before joining the Kano River, yet its springs are usually estimated to deliver around a million tonnes of water a day, at roughly 15 °C all year. The springs were designated a national Natural Monument in 2011, and Kakita River Park has wooden decks from which you look down into turquoise pools where the sand on the bottom stirs as the water wells up. Local buses from Mishima Station take roughly 10 to 20 minutes depending on the route; check that yours stops for Kakita River Park before boarding.

Mishima Taisha

Mishima Taisha was the ichinomiya, the highest-ranking shrine, of the old Izu Province, and it remains the spiritual heart of the town, about 15 minutes on foot from the station according to JNTO. Its fame grew with Minamoto no Yoritomo, who spent his youth in exile in Izu and is said to have prayed here before raising his army in 1180; after founding the Kamakura shogunate he became one of the shrine's great patrons. The present main buildings date from the 1860s, rebuilt after the 1854 Ansei-Tokai earthquake, and their carved zelkova woodwork is listed as an Important Cultural Property.

Look for the fragrant olive tree (kinmokusei) in the grounds. It is estimated to be about 1,200 years old and is protected as a national Natural Monument; when it flowers in early autumn the scent carries across the precinct. The shrine's main festival is held in mid-August, with yabusame, archery on horseback, on 16 August, during the town's summer festival. New Year brings large crowds for the first shrine visit of the year.

The Mishima Skywalk

North of town, on the south-western rim of the Hakone caldera, the Mishima Skywalk is a 400-metre suspension footbridge that opened in December 2015. When it opened it was the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in Japan, and on a clear day the view takes in Mount Fuji on one side and Suruga Bay on the other. The operator's website gives the journey as about 20 minutes from JR Mishima Station; there are buses as well as taxis. When we checked on 1 November 2026, the bridge was open from 9:00 to 17:00 that day and adult tickets started at 1,100 yen, with prices varying by date, so check before you go. Fuji tends to be clearest on cold, dry mornings between late autumn and early spring; in summer it often disappears into haze by midday.

Eating: eel and spring-water dishes

Mishima is known across Japan for unagi, grilled eel. Restaurants in town explain the tradition by the water: eels are said to be kept for a few days in the cold spring water before cooking, to rid them of any muddy taste. Expect queues at the best-known places on weekends. Around Kakita River Park, shops sell tofu, soba and sweets made with the local water.

A half-day plan

• Morning: take an early bus to the Skywalk while Fuji is clearest, and be back in town by late morning.
• Midday: walk from Rakujuen along the Genbei River stepping stones to Mishima Taisha, then eel for lunch.
• Afternoon: either the Kakita River springs, or the Izuhakone Railway to Shuzenji for a night in an onsen town (see autumn in Shuzenji).

Mishima also makes a practical base for the centre and west of the peninsula: business hotels by the station are often cheaper than inns in the onsen towns, and the Shinkansen and the Sunzu line leave from the same station. For more volcanic landscapes after Rakujuen's lava, see our guide to five easy Izu Geopark sites.