Moooo! Season now over--thanks for your patronage!

Shiraishi Reservations and the Moooo! Bar and Shop are now closed for the season--thanks for a great year on Shiraishi Island!

This year marked the expansion of the Moooo! empire to include the Moooo! Shop, Moooo! Bar and Calfe, and rentable picnic tables under shade structures. Our aim is to develop a cozy barn atmosphere for all our bovine-friendly customers.   

Shiraishi Reservations is now closed until April of next year. For those who would like to book the international Villa before then (including over the winter months), please contact them directly from the International Villa Home Page

Have a great winter and we'll see you next year. Look for a new Moooo! Homepage in April 2013....

Last day at the Moooo! Bar this summer is Sept. 23. We're gonna have a blow out time...

Join us Sunday, Sept. 23 for the last day of the Moooo! Bar season. The Moooo! Shop will have its annual 50 percent off sale and we'll be frolicking on the beach one last time. Get your last moo on before it's too late!

Moooo! Bar last day of the year Sept. 23rd

 The Moooo! Shop's "Mooin' 50 Percent Off Sale" is one day only--Sept. 23!

The Moooo! Bar on the beach at Shiraishi Island will be open on Sundays in September through Sept. 23rd. Please note that since there are 5 Sundays in September this year, we will not be open the very last Sunday (30th)..

The last day to kick up your hooves with us is Sept. 23rd. On that day, we'll have  a normal opening day and the Moooo! Shop will feature its yearly Mooin' 50 Percent Off Sale!

See you on the beach!

Moooo! Bar open on Sundays through September

 While the rest of Japan is finished swimming, you can still get in your strokes and sun on the beach on Shiraishi Island! Our beach is open year-round. The Moooo! Bar, however, will only be open on Sundays from now thru September, and our last day of the season will be Sept.23rd..

If you'd like to know more about why the Japanese stop swimming after Obon (Aug. 15), please read my latest article in the Japan Times: 
You can swim even after O-bon — the truth about jellyfish

Fireworks Festival and Live Music on the beach Saturday, Aug. 25

It's time for the annual Fireworks Festival and Live Band night on the beach on Shiraishi Island. Come on out and join the fun! You can come out for the day and get back to the mainland on a chartered boat at 9:00 pm after the fireworks, or you can come and stay overnight. Accommodations are almost all booked, but there still are some places. And, you can always camp on the beach!

See you on the island this Saturday!

Sunny forecast all week on Shiraishi Island!

Last night's sunset on Shiraishi Island

Hope to see you at the Moooo! Bar over Obon!

Shiraishi Island full for Obon--Have a good one!

The Moooo! Bar and Calfe

Shiraishi Island is full for Obon and we will no longer take reservations for accommodations until Aug 16th, the end of Obon. You're welcome to come out for the day, or to camp on the beach, however (camping is free on the beach). We have the Shiraishi Bon Dance performance every night of Obon. On the 16th, the dance will be performed on the beach (as opposed to in front of the village hall as on other nights) and the Toronagashi Ceremony takes place in which hundreds of candles are lit and floated out on the sea. Don't miss it!

Come relax on the beach in the Seto Inland Sea...

We continue to have great, sunny days on the beach and at the Moooo! Bar on Shiraishi Island. Obon reservations are coming in fast and filling up...check the blog post below for updates on accommodations and availability.

Hope to see you on the island!

Shiraishi Island on the big screen...

It's been a busy week on the island as Shiraishi was chosen for one of the locations for filming the Japanese movie 草原の椅子 (Sogen no Isu) to be released in summer 2013. The movie has some big-hitting stars such as Sato Koichi and Nakajima-san (no one knows his first name but he is described as "the bald guy that appears on TV a lot!"). In the movie, the main character, played by Sato, is supposed to be from Shiraishi Island. The filming is taking place at one of the old, traditional Japanese houses on the beach here (as well as on Hishima, another Kasaoka island. The rest of the filming will take place in Pakistan!). This is the sunset they filmed from the house on the beach last night. So now you know, when you see the movie, that this is a Shiraishi sunset!

We've been doing late nights at the Moooo! Bar entertaining the movie crew. Lots of fun on the island right now--feels more like Obon!

Speaking of Obon, accommodation is filling up quickly. Here is an update (updated again 7/30):

International Villa is full Aug 1, 6-17 and the 31st.

Minshuku Harada is full Aug. 11, 12 13

San-chan's is full Aug. 12, 13, 18.

Amagiso Ryokan is full Aug 15

If you're planning on coming out to Shiraishi over Obon, get your reservations in now by contacting us at shiraishireservations at yahoo dot com.

See you on the island!

Another fantastic weekend on Shiraishi Island...

Enjoy a Fruit Parfait at the Moooo! Calfe on the beach

We're looking forward to another fantastic weekend on Shiraishi Island. Sun every day all day, only to be surpassed by moovelous sunsets!

We're located On Japan's Seto Inland Sea, in Okayama Prefecture.

See you on the island!

Sun and fun on Shiraishi Island this weekend!

What a fantastic weekend it is turning out to be! We started with heavy rain in the morning yesterday (Saturday), but slowly the day got better and everything went ahead as planned: the Shiraishi Bon Dance on the beach and the candle-lighting in the evening. The island welcomed over 200 people who came out to watch and participate in the Shiraishi Dance and to see the candles. This year 609 candles were lit--one for each island resident (mine was probably the stubborn one that kept going out :).

 Finally, tractor parking at the Moooo! Bar

 Sun has returned to the island and today and tomorrow (Sea Day) are going to be rocking! Come on out to the Moooo! Bar on Shiraishi Island and enjoy the sea!

Sea Day Weekend on Shiraishi Island!

Monday, July 16 is a national holiday called "Sea Day," when the good ole' sea gets a vacation--well, not really. To the contrary, everyone is going to enjoy the sea even more so on this day as  the sea will be busy welcoming swimmers, divers, pleasure boats and even a candle lighting ceremony on the beach on Shiraishi Island Saturday night. Don't miss a great weekend on Shiraishi Island!

And, as if that wasn't enough great news, July 14 is Cow Appreciation Day! So the Moooo! Bar will be rocking. Remember, at the Moooo! Bar, cows ALWAYS drink for free.

Sunshine returns to Shiraishi Island!

 A sunset to end the weekend with

It's Monday and we ended up having a fantastic weekend, despite some periods of rain. It did not rain all weekend as predicted, and the sun even came out for a few hours yesterday, delivering a beautiful sunset that evening. Yesterday was also the Opening of the Sea and the Mushi Okuri Festival (throwing all the bad insects off the island!).

Today, if you're coming to the island, don't miss the Benten-sama Festival, honoring the Goddess of the Sea. It starts at 3:30 this afternoon at low tide, when you can walk out to Benten Island.

See you soon on Shiraishi Island!

Opening of the Sea, Shiraishi Island

The Buddhist priest and the islanders face the sea and give a big sayonara to the insects, as they leave the island by boat, in a ceremony called Mushi Okuri (send off the insects).

I've been putting off this post while hoping the weather would turn so I could tell you it would be a beautiful sunny weekend for the Opening of the Sea ceremony....but, no matter how optimistic I am, there is no doubt that it will be a less than sunny, far from beautiful weekend! Rain is in the forecast for both today, Saturday, and tomorrow, Sunday (sniffles). However, all events will go ahead as planned:

The Shiraishi Yacht Race will take place on Sunday. Boats have already started arriving today. If the rain stays light enough, we'll have the Moooo! Bar will be open this evening.

The Mushi Okuri ceremony, where we throw off all the bad insects on the island, will happen on Sunday morning starting at 10am at Kairyuji Temple. The ceremony involves carrying a wooden boat around the island's neighborhoods, calling out to all the bad insects (termintes, mosquitoes, etc) and telling them to get into the boat! Then the boat is paraded down to the beach and the insects are left to command the boat themselves, and go off into the ocean (where to exactly, no one knows...perhaps Fudaraku?)

The Opening of the Sea (umibiraki) will also take place on the beach in the morning at 9:00. The Buddhist priest will perform this Shinto rite by purifying the sea so it is safe to swim.

The Moooo! Bar will be open from 9am on Sunday, even if it rains.

Rain or shine, tomorrow will be a big day for all present! We continue to moo!

No rain in the forecast this week on Shiraishi Island

Pond, Amagiso Ryokan

The typhoons have passed and the island is bathed in sunshine again! Tonight we may even be able to have a long overdue BBQ on the beach. It is the rainy season in Japan right now, but there is no rain in the forecast for the next week. Come on our to Shiraishi Island! Moooo! Bar on the beach will be open this weekend on Sunday.

Seto Inland Sea National Park, Shiraishi Island

 Hike through the Bamboo Forest on Shiraishi Island

 The Moooo! Bar is open on Sundays in June and everyday starting in July. Pre-summer is a great time for kayaking and hiking in the mountains in the Seto Inland Sea National Park (pictured above).

Come laze, daze and graze this weekend at the Moooo! Bar

This year's Moooo! Bar t-shirts have arrived! They feature the above logo and Natalie's winning slogan: Laze, Daze and Graze.

So come laze, daze and graze at the Moooo! Bar this Saturday and Sunday. We'll be open both days kicking up our hooves.

Summer Reservations on Shiraishi Island, #japan

Caught this shot on my iPhone on my evening jog around the island yesterday.

Welcome to spring on Shiraishi Island! It has finally come, after lots of cold weather and rain. We are starting to see sunsets again and sunny days. 

Umibiraki (the opening of the sea ceremony) is July 1 this year. We are already getting in lots of reservations for the summer, so don't wait too long if you're planning on visiting Shiraishi in the near future. Rooms on the island are limited, and they tend to fill up fast. Here is the current update on accommodations. 

International Villa is fully booked May 26, June 2, 9, 14, July 5, 6, 7, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 31, August 1-6, 10, 12-15.

All minshukus and ryokans on the island are fully booked May 23-25, May 30, June 1, 7, 13, 15, July 4, 5

Please note that The Cottage is no longer available for rent (sniffles). 

To book accommodations, check out the descriptions on our site moooobar.com under "Accommodations" and email your reservation choice to us at shiraishireservations at yahoo dot com. We'll take it from there! 

 See you on Shiraishi island this summer!

First Sunset of Golden Week!

First sunset of Golden Week...many more to come!

Golden Week on Shiraishi Island

Benten Island, just off the beach on Shiraishi. You can walk to it at low tide.

The Moooo! Bar on Shiraishi Island will be open every day over Golden Week, from April 28 thru May 6. You can come out for the day (last ferry back to mainland is 5:42) or stay overnight and catch the beautiful sunsets from the beach!

Updated April 25, 2012:

There are room still available, however Amagiso is booked May 3 and 4, and the International Villa is booked April 28 and 29 and May 3,4,5. Villa reservations will fill up fast, so do reserve while you can. After the villa, there are plenty of places on the beach, the most popular being San-chans and Minshuku Harada. Amagiso is also popular, being the newest and cleanest place. It is located at the very end of the beach in a quiet location.

Azaleas bloom on the Shiraishi Island Pilgrimage

Azaleas bloom on the Shiraishi Island Pilgrimage

The meaning of Jizo statues

Come to Shiraishi Island and discover Jizo...

Jizo, Guardian of Travelers and the Weak

A stone is wrapped in cloth and set up as a Jizo in Mount Koya in Kyoto. JOE ARCIDIACONO

Austerity — we've embraced it on Shiraishi Island

As the new springseason is upon us, it's time to start blogging again! The island is unthawing from the long winter, and San-chan's Cherry Blossom party is just around the corner. I can see Man-chan dancing a jig already! We'll keep you posted on date of this year's cherry blossom party, the first official event of the year, as soon as we know it ourselves. In the meantime, here's some light reading to get you back in the mood for that slow, laid-back island life!

Austerity — we've embraced it in the countryside | The Japan Times Online


See you soon at the Moooo! Bar...