The Japan (Winter) Diaries - Day Two and Three
December 29, 2016
On my second day in Japan, I met up with my Judo sensei, Dr. Yoshida, and his good friend Mori-san, who I had previously met when he visited the U.S. earlier that summer. We were going to visit another friend of their’s that has a dojo in the Numazo / Shizuoka area and practice with them.
On the way, we stopped at one of the service stations along their interstate equivalent where we got lunch. When we think “service station” in the U.S. this is nothing that comes to mind. In Japan, they are comparable to mini mall food courts.
Views of Mt. Fuji started to come into view as we made our way closer to our destination.
After practicing judo, we visited the nearby beach and then met the friends from the dojo at a dinner of shabu-shabu, one of my favorite forms of hotpot. It was too late to drive back to Tokyo, so we stayed the night in Numazu.
December 30, 2016
Day Three in Japan! I found out the morning of December 30 that I was accepted as an ambassador for my current favorite compression sock company, Pro Compression. The ambassadorship ran throughout 2017.
I woke up early on December 30 in order to try to see the sunrise hit Mt. Fuji. I am envious of all the citizens of Numazu who get to wake up to that view every single day. Unfortunately, after getting access to the hotel roof for the best, unobstructed view, it was still too cloudy to see anything. Bummer!
I ate breakfast at our hotel (Numazu Castle Hotel), and then set out in the car for another spot to view Mt. Fuji. I was clearly obsessed with this flawless mountain. In this area near Mt. Fuji, it was hard to look out of the car and not spot Mt. Fuji peaking through the clouds in the distance.
The city we ended up stopping in to better see Mt. Fuji was Shimizu.We made a quick snack spot before our final destination, picking up some powerful wasabi crackers and some not so powerful wasabi KitKat’s (I had been dying to find them; they really aren’t strong and are still very sweet in taste). We also tried free samples of hot green tea and I tried dango for the first time. Dango is very like mochi, being made from rice flour, but it doesn’t have a filling; we got the three-colored dango, just like the emoji!
Vending machines are everywhere in Japan. They sell a variety of things from the usual drinks, to alcohol or cigarettes, even ice cream and coffee.
In Shimizu, our main objective was to get yet another exceptional view of our beloved Mt. Fuji. Mori-san, playing tour guide since the day before, seemed to know exactly where to take us: the beach. The view from this beach, Miho no Matsubara, was just as wonderful as the others, if not more so because it was the least obstructed, minus the clouds.
Shimizu is actually a bit further southwest than Numazu, so after leaving the beach, we finally started back east, towards Tokyo, stopping for lunch in a small city call Mishima. I had another chirashi lunch and a miso soup on the side; YUM! For dessert, green tea ice cream.
On the road again, creeping closer to Tokyo, we ended up stopping again, to my surprise. This spot is also in Mishima, closer to Hakone. At first, Mori-san and Dr. Yoshida were talking about a bridge coming up soon and I thought they just meant we were going to drive over one. No. They were actually talking about Skywalk, a 400m suspension bridge that you walk across. It was a bit terrifying at first, due to the swaying, but when we crossed back over, it wasn’t so bad. This bridge being built a little higher up in the mountains than we had been previously, due to being by the bay, gave us spectacular views of the bay itself AND of Mt. Fuji, who quickly hid behind the clouds as soon as we saw it.
After lots of traffic and with a horrible headache, we finally made it back into Tokyo after a wonder day in Numazu and surrounding areas. Dr. Yoshida had other plans, but I went out to eat with Mori-san, his wife, and his daughter. They led the way to Shinjuku, where we had dinner at a restuarant famous for their yakitori, something else I had yet to try in Japan. Yakitori is literally fried meat on a stick and it’s absolutely delicious. We also had some fried tofu to go along with our yakitori.
After dinner, Mori-san took us to another place nearby for Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, a type of pancake made with countless ingredients stacked on top of each other. It wasn’t sweet like a pancake either, except for the sauce drizzled on top. We ordered four different kinds, but by the fourth one, my headache was so bad and I was so full and sick feeling, that I didn’t even get a picture of it…. And let’s just say that the night ended with me never wanting to eat or see another okonomiyaki again….
Highlight of the Day
Being accepted as a Pro Compression Ambassador
Beach view of Mt. Fuji
Favorite Food of the Day
Assorted chirashi bowl
Favorite Snack of the Day
three-colored dango
wasabi KitKats
Favorite Drink of the Day
N/A
Where to next?
