I’m all settled in on mainland Japan now. We are working out of the Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni. Iwakuni is a small town in the south of Japan, not far from Hiroshima. It’s not as great of a liberty spot as Okinawa, but there are still fun things to do around here after a short car or train ride.
This weekend, we went to a place called “Seven Falls”, which is about an hour and a half away in the mountains. It’s a large park with some hiking trails that go past, you guessed it, seven waterfalls. It was a beautiful day and a gorgeous area. It’s a lot cooler here than Okinawa and it was even colder in the mountains. All of us in the group scrounged up what little cold weather gear we had and headed out for a hike. The trail was no joke, so we were shedding that same gear as we huffed and puffed up the trail. It was well worth it though, as the view from the top was beautiful.
After a day of hiking out in the cold, we had all worked up a serious appetite. One of the guys we went with had spent some time in Iwakuni years back and had been talking up a certain restaurant for some time. He calls it “Chicken on a Stick”, but I don’t think that’s the real name (although one of their signature dishes is a giant piece of chicken on a stick). It turns out this place isn’t just a restaraunt, but a large outdoor village tucked into the woods with all kinds of restaurants that cook their food over open wood-burning pits. We sat on tree stumps around a large wooden table with individual wood stoves and cooked our dinner at the table. It was awesome!
I don’t speak much Japanese at all – really just enough to be polite and get around. One phrase I have mastered is, “I don’t eat pork.” For those that are wondering, it’s “Watashi, butaniku o tabemassen”. In Okinawa, it was often a challenge to find a single dish without pork in it on the menu, so I was thrilled when I gave my prepared line to the cashier and she said they don’t serve any pork here. That meant the menu was wide open! I chose wisely and ordered a plate of thinly sliced raw beef, marinating in sauce and onions. The dish was accompanied by my own wood stove so I could cook it to perfection.
The food was fabulous, and you couldn’t beat the atmosphere. We ate outside in the cold, but were kept warm by the wood stoves and the pots of hot tea. Altogether, it was the best dining experience I’ve had in Japan.
I’ve only had a couple of adventures here on the mainland, but I can already see there is a significant different between the culture here and that on Okinawa. It’s hard to describe in words, but there are subtle differences, and the Okinawans definitely have a culture of their own.
My time is getting short here. I’m in the single digits in my daily countdown. Japan is great, but I can’t wait to get home to my loved ones.
