Himakajima - The Realm of the Octopus

What?
Himakajima Island (日間賀島) is one of three small islands in the Mikawa Bay (三河湾) near Nagoya (名古屋). It’s a favorite summer getaway for the inhabitants of the 4th biggest city of Japan. With 2 beaches, a very relaxed feel and delicious seafood it has enough to entertain you for a day or two. The island is most famous for its octopus (“tako”) dishes, but in winter the poisonous blowfish “fugu” is supposedly just as tasty.
Where?
Near Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture (愛知県), the island is fairly easy to reach, though not with the JR rail pass. From Nagoya, take a Meitetsu train (名鉄) all the way to Kowa Station (河和駅). From here it’s only a 5 minute walk to Kowa Port (河和港) from where ferries depart approximately every hour.
URL
Aichi Now Japan Visitor

Himakajima. Apart from enjoying a lot of octopus, what you can do on this island is enjoy a dive in the Mikawa Bay waters. They have a “sunrise beach” on the east side of the island and a “sunset beach” on the west side. Both are only a 30 minute walk away from each other. As seen in pictures, despite being in central Japan, it can look like Okinawa.
Well, I went there in the period when the whole of Japan saw the most rainfall in the month of August. There’s always the argument of course that you get wet anyway when you enter the sea, and there were surely enough people who held on to that train of thought. I personally enjoy a dive more when the sun is out.

But the island sure has some charm. The weather was really awful, but I enjoyed our short walks through the small streets of the island, peering into alleys and witnessing some remnants of days long gone by (old washing machines come to mind).
Moreover I enjoyed the seafood.
The island is famous in Japan as the place to eat the best octopus (called “tako”) and in winter the best fugu (poisonous blowfish). I’m not sure if it’s the best, but it sure was super tasty. As was all seafood that we were served in our local minshuku.
And let’s not forget: there are also small eateries which serve some delicious seafood.

The ferry that brought us to the island.

The only "view" picture I was able to take.

So truth to be told, we didn’t see the whole island, we didn’t go into the sea and we didn’t enjoy the sun. So probably we didn’t experience even half of what the small island has to offer.
Nonetheless we had a great time being away from the big city, enjoying each other and eating way, way too much.