BBQ at Okutama

The expanse of Tokyo

Last week, Japan had a 3 day weekend as Monday was a national holiday (Sports Day). National holidays used to be spread randomly throughout the week, but in an effort to force the notoriously hardworking Japanese to take a prolonged break, the government has placed many on Mondays. I have to say, I feel pretty refreshed and positive after a weekend of great variety and weather.

My recent routine is to have a quiet Friday night at home, perhaps with a bottle or two of beer, with a book (I'm currently reading about nuclear accidents), or watching a film. I revisited Trainspotting on Friday night, and enjoyed rewatching the performance of Robert Carlyle as Begbie.

Okutama Bridge

The highlight of the weekend was a Saturday (12th October) night BBQ in the periphery of Tokyo at a place called Okutama. Despite being officially part of Tokyo, Okutama is very much the countryside, with a great river and thickly forested surrounding mountains.

I participated in the BBQ with about 20 members of the Tokyo IOC (International Outdoor Club). A pretty decent group of people who organised everything to perfection. One French guy (called Piere?) volunteered to be the barman for the evening and even printed laminated drink menus. A nice group of people, although I don't think I'll become an IOC member as perhaps the clock on my time in Japan is starting to tick...

Booze menu

Sitting around the BBQ chit chatting was enjoyable, although the main drawback came at 10pm when the camp security guard carried out his job instructions to the letter by declaring that all groups had to retreat to their lodges. Such a shame, as it was a very pleasant evening with good temperatures and talk. The weather was really fantastic on both the evening of the BBQ and the following morning as I made my way back to Tokyo on the train. Okutama is actually not too far to travel from where I live in Kumegawa, so perhaps in winter, I'll get the train back to Okutama and find a hot onsen.

Apologies for the poor quality and scarcity of photos - due to the space limitations of my bag, I didn't take my regular camera with me, and settled for photos taken with my iPhone.

On my return to Tokyo, mid-Sunday afternoon, I was pleased to receive a call from Clara asking if she could stay in my flat on Sunday night. We had a lovely dinner together at the Italian across the road, she read some manga after dinner and promptly fell asleep. It seems Clara is quite busy these days with the demands of school and her art club.

Another memorable weekend of fine weather, different scenery, and the company of Clara.