Shuzenji, the heart of the city of Izu, is one of the oldest hot spring towns in Japan. According to tradition, the great monk Kūkai founded the temple here in the early ninth century and struck a rock in the river with his iron staff, releasing a spring of healing water; a small bath on a rock in the middle of the stream, the Tokko-no-yu, marks the spot. The town has a more sombre history too: in 1204, the second shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, Minamoto no Yoriie, was exiled here and murdered.
Today Shuzenji is a quiet, atmospheric place, with traditional inns along the Katsura River, red bridges, a bamboo forest path and the old temple. A short walk around the town is a peaceful break from the road, and if you have time, a long bath in a hot spring is the classic Japanese way to recover from a day in the saddle.
The roads around Izu are some of the best in the Kanto region. To the south, the road climbs over the Amagi Pass, through dense forests of cedar and beech, and descends towards Kawazu via the Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge, a double spiral that carries the road down a steep valley. The route was made famous by Yasunari Kawabata's story The Izu Dancer, about a student walking over the pass. To the west, the Nishi-Izu coast road follows the rugged western shore of the peninsula, with cliffs, coves and fishing villages, and on clear evenings the sunset over Suruga Bay, with Mount Fuji rising across the water, is spectacular.
The Amagi area is famous for wasabi, grown in terraced beds fed by cold mountain streams, and a bowl of soba with freshly grated wasabi is a local treat. Fuel and convenience stores are available in Shuzenji and the surrounding towns, but they become scarcer in the mountains and along the west coast, so fill up before setting out. The roads can be narrow and twisty, with tight bends, and they are popular with motorcyclists on weekends.