Japanese BBQ

Back in April a friend of ours invited our family to enjoy a barbecue in Kasama city's Kitayama park with his family and his church group. We try to say "yes" to every invitation, because we always learn something new and we're usually exposed to something delicious :-) This time was no exception.

Grill area, complete with storage for the grill plates

The setting was a beautiful grill area, complete with shelters, a bathroom, a long sink with running water, and a playground. The weather was gorgeous, and the whole place was very clean.

It was quiet, clean, and cool beneath the shady trees

The entire affair was interesting to witness. There is no fee to use this site, but reservations are required. With the reservation comes a key to the storage area where the grill plates and other items are stored (1st photo). While the kids ran around, the experienced adults set up the grill plates and carried mountains of food and supplies from their cars.

The food was cooked on metal sheets that rested on a cement oven. Charcoal logs (one of the many items carried in that day) were placed in the firepit area underneath. While the surface was getting hot, everyone went to work. The kids were given the job of destroying shredding the vegetables while other adults chopped onions or opened packages of meat. Our daughter and son thoroughly enjoyed pretending to be monsters while they ripped cabbage and sweet bell peppers to tiny bits. It was less messy than I thought it would be!

Thicker pieces of meat went onto the grill plate first, and then the vegetables. Last were packages of yakisoba noodles and a delicious sauce. The entire process only took about 20 minutes, and then everybody tucked in. It was so delicious! Even my son loved it, and he's a hard one to please.

Yakisoba is a delicious and easy dish
that can feed many people

We enjoyed a dessert of berries and roasted marshmallows, and then helped with cleanup. Japanese kids are required to clean up in schools, and the training to be efficient and thorough clearly lasts through adulthood. Ashes were swept, the tile surround was scrubbed, and all borrowed items were returned to the shed just the way they were found.

Before we knew it, everyone was packed and ready to break camp. We were told that there was a very long slide only a little hike away, so we enjoyed the short walk through the forest to get there. We stopped by the visitor's center to get the foam seats (also fee-free) that you really want to sit on when you go down the slide. Another short walk took us to the bottom of it, and we could see why the seats were important. The slide was about 500 meters long and made entirely of metal rollers that can pinch skin or clothing if the seats aren't used.

Wisteria growing near the visitor's center.
Dozens of bees hummed lazily in the
flowers above our heads.

In spite of the steepness of the hill our kids raced to the top at least 3 or 4 times and thoroughly enjoyed the trip down. "Raced" isn't the word I would use for the adults, but we enjoyed ourselves just the same :-) From the top to the bottom, the trip takes about one minute. (No, literally, one minute! That's a long slide!!)

Just a portion of this long, long slide!