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.

Fishing - Okutama / The Tamagawa River

As I was working over Golden Week whilst every other person in the country was on holiday, Yuki and her family (plus friend Megumi) decided to have a day out fishing over the weekend, on Saturday 2nd May. We went to Okutama, about 90 minutes drive from our home in Tokyo. The countryside was surprisingly nice and reminded me of a cycle that I once done to a place called Kaneyama. I was expecting there to be hundreds of other people there due to our proximity to Tokyo, but it was not as busy as I had feared and it was generally a relaxing experience.

The only disappointment was that it was fishing Japan style. I was expecting the traditional battle of man against nature. The hunter against wily fish who knew the best places to hide and were discerning with the bait they went for. Not to be - every hour or so, a couple of blokes would come along with buckets of tiddlers and empty them into the river. I suspect that Japanese rivers have no actual marine life whatsover. Little wonder due to the damming of every single river in Japan (bar one in Shikoku) and the fondness for bulldozing river beds and covering them in concrete. Grrrrrrr!!!!! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, if you are interested in scenery, flora and fauna, there are plenty of other countries you should visit before Japan. Sorry Japan, that is the way I and many other foreign residents feel.

Despite confirmation that the only marine life in the river originated from plastic buckets, we did actually have a nice time. We had lots of food and drink, and relaxed in the warm sunshine beside the burbling Tamagawa River. Very civilised! The pleasant day was further extended when we stopped off at a popular noodle restaurant for some curry noodles and another glass of beer.A lovely day out, but a cloud was hanging over my head as I knew that while I would be working the following week, every other Tom, Dick, and Harry would be on holiday.