Hop on the Uchibo Line out of Tokyo, and head for the Boso peninsula. The destination is the quiet town of Tateyama, located on Chiba's southern tip. It is however very close to bustling Tokyo and home to Tateyama port, one of Japan's high volume fishing ports. Due to abundance of fresh fish, the place is known as the town of sushi. In fact, there are close to 50 sushi restaurants, even one that caters just for women, in terms of dishes and portion sizes. The plates and decor, such as pink furniture, have also been selected to suit female patrons.

Look out for seasonal, fresh fish such as Blackfish, which contains lots of fat. The limited lunch set at the Women's Sushi restaurant is served costs only 1575 yen (S$20). It's served in a basket decorated with flowers and comes with side dishes of seasonal vegetables and pickles, and complimentary dessert.

Take a bus at Tateyama train station for a 40 minute ride to Nanbo Paradise a botanic garden covering 1,452,000 square metres and housing 5,000 types of tropical plants. 

Accomodation in Tateyama is at a hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean which was renovated in early 2007 to offer a women's outdoor hot spring spa. You could say, the Heisaura Beach Hotel, at Lanikai is a women's hotel since the theme is young women and water.  Located on Boso peninsula's southern tip,  this is a luxury hotel by the seashore infused with a European air. There's an ocean view in every room and, in the distance out at sea, is Izu island. Each room is at a promotional price of 19025 yen (S$244) for two people and offers three kinds of baths as well as specially-priced body massages. Meals will include fresh local seafood such as raw whale meat with egg yolk,abalone, Horned Turban,dried Barracuda, Rock Cod and Sawbelly sashimi. Also a must-try is Boshu Tomiura radish cooked country-style and beef fillet roasted with seasonal vegetables. Breakfast at the hotel is either Japanese or Western style, according to personal taste.

To enjoy a hint of history and some greenery, take the bullet train for a ride that lasts 1 hour and 35 minutes to Nagaoka city in Niigata prefecture.  Before heading to the hotel, take the bus from the train station for a 15-minute ride to Settaya Street where you'll find a historical, brewing town. On Kyu Miguni Street which used to be a commercial area, you'll find many  breweries. There are traditional soy sauce brewers who still run their businesses as they did in the days of yore and even a saffron liqueur brewer, which is a medicinal liqueur that was very popular in the Taisho era. The buildings in the castle town are also interesting with details below the roof and colourful and rare relief paintings on walls called Kotee.

Hop back on the bus and continue to the hotel which was recently rebuilt. It is in Yamakoshi, an area which experienced a devastating earthquake in 2004.  The hotel is at the edge of Yamakoshi and suffered a great deal of damage. It is a quiet little mountain village and the getaway to Nagaoka prefecture. This is where visitors find the Yomogihira hot spring and the Koryuu Shrine which draws many visitors as it's  known for blessing merchants.

The Yomoyama Kan hotel re-opened only in 2007 with new floors and larger rooms, and  costs only 18900 yen (S$244).  There is also an outdoor bath and in each room, there's a hot spring tap so guests can still enjoy a mineral bath.

Meals consist of wild vegetables harvested  locally by the hotel, such as Akebie with quail eggs,  beef and wild vegetable hot pot with sesame, water lily root dumpling and even sashimi that's freshly caught from the Sea of Japan.  After dinner, guests are treated to a performance with a stage set  over a river on the opposite side of the hotel. This is staged every night by the manager who performs a traditional Japanese dance, sometimes with her daughter.  Day activities for guests at the hotel can, include a visit to a Koi farm which is popular with overseas visitors and a 3 minute walk away. The fish at the Marusyo Koi Farm are raised in the wild until autumn before being released into the mountains where they gestate. 

To enjoy a family getaway, take an hour's train ride from Tokyo to the Ajiro Station. The town of Ajiro in Izu was a fishing village  in the old days and  much fish is still shipped to this port daily. Visitors will find almost 30 shops selling dried fish near the port, and the best is the Ishiyama Himono Shop with over 30 kinds of dried fish sold in there.  However, Ajiro is best known for the jack mackerel which is large and makes a delicious meal.

A popular local pursuit is fishing. Fishermen at the port set up fishing stands by the shore and even floating ones, so visitors can  take a short boat ride to try fishing on the sea. The fee includes whatever you catch as well as 2 sea bream and 10 jack mackerel, just in case your catch gets away. With an extra  courier fee, arrangements can be made to have the fish  sent to your house. To get to the hotel, take the coastal road from the train station. It is a 10 minute trip to the newly opened hotel  located on a hilltop in Ajiro. The hotel has a special parent and child package that costs 22800 yen (S$290) for a room with an ocean view that can be enjoyed from the  private balcony. The room which is a spacious  13 square metres, just right for families, comes with an outdoor bathtub.  Meals at the hotel include specially-created dishes by the hotel chef based on local produce, such as new cabbage with salmon rolls, stewed searobin, steamed sea eel in vinegar, red seabream which is eaten raw with salt and dried seaweed from Ajiro, as well as other local, seasonal seafood that are offered as sashimi. Also popular are local dishes such as steamed sake golden threadfin bream and roast beef in a salt pot. There are only seven rooms at the Tsuki no Akari hotel so guests can enjoy a quiet stay at this hideaway.