Trip to Japan becomes food adventure

This spring, I visited the beautiful country of Japan and had a wonderful time tasting some of their delicious foods. Coincidentally, it was cherry blossom (sakura) season, so that made the trip even prettier.

I enjoyed starting my day with steamed rice and rich soy sauce, a green salad, fresh fruit, eggs, miso soup and green tea. There was always seafood available for breakfast too.

In Tokyo, my husband and I took a food tour one evening and learned about various local delicacies and ate at an Okinawan restaurant with totally different flavor profiles.

One of the highlights of our time in Tokyo was driving go-carts while dressed in costume. Since I’m a food writer and a big fan of Sesame Street, I couldn’t resist choosing to dress up as Cookie Monster.

We watched a brief safety video and then were on the main roads. Crazy and fun! (Driving is on the other side of the road in Japan, so that was new, too.)

We had a blast waving to people and hearing the delighted squeals of schoolchildren as we passed by.

The next day, we traveled by high speed train to Kyoto. I recently had watched Netflix’s excellent documentary series, “Chef’s Table,” and the episode featuring Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan.

Her style of spiritual vegan cuisine was intriguing, so I signed us up for a Buddhist cooking class while we were in Kyoto. We had a fantastic time in the home of our teacher, Yukari Okochi, making exceptional dishes that were also a delight to our eyes.

After Kyoto, another train took us farther south to a different island and the town of Fukuoka. (Japan consists of over 14,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited.)

Since Colorado is landlocked, I always gravitate to the sea when I travel. I also love to explore places with few tourists, so that’s how we chose Fukuoka and, more specifically, a peaceful seaside hotel 30 miles from the city in a less populated part of Japan.

Our first night found us unprepared for dinner. As it wasn’t peak tourist season yet for a beach place, the hotel didn’t serve dinner and we weren’t in a town, nor did we have a car. Uber was nonexistent, so we walked and found two small restaurants that were closed.

My husband figured out a phone app that showed us how to take a public bus and we were able to hop on and go several miles to the next remote stop.

The only place open was an old, half-empty corner store. By this time, it was dark outside, and I resigned myself that we would find some food at the store and then get back on the bus to go our hotel.

An elderly Japanese man was delighted to have some customers, and I bought a loaf of white bread, some processed cheese, and a couple of instant ramen bowls. After many goodbyes, we were back out on the street to figure out how to catch the bus.

Unfortunately, the bus we had taken was the last one of the night! So we began the 3-mile walk back to our hotel in the dark. After walking for a while, we saw light coming from a house with a welcoming, curtained doorway. Could it be some type of little restaurant?

We decided to open the curtain and check it out. Inside, there were three people sitting on stools eating yakatori (various meat on skewers) and two people standing behind a makeshift counter cooking for them in what appeared to be a living room turned into a tiny dining establishment.

It was one of those slow-motion moments where everyone turns and stares at you with a brief moment of awkwardness followed by smiles, laughter and people rearranging seats so we could sit next to them. We were thrilled and relieved!

At this point it didn’t even matter what kind of food was being served because we were tired and hungry. Large beers were poured for us that tasted like the best beers ever!

We ordered by pointing at various foods in front of us like chicken, beef, mushrooms, and potatoes and a husband and wife cooked them over hot coals.

We felt like welcomed guests, and the meal and experience were a terrific delight.

Toward the end of dinner, I used Google translate on my phone to ask if there were any taxis we could call to take us back to our hotel.

Everyone laughed at that idea and then used Google translate to assure us there was no problem and the owner would drive us.

She took off her apron, refused any payment for driving us, and we hopped in her car and headed to our hotel. Amazing!

What started off as a bleak and desolate evening turned out to be a favorite memory of our entire time in Japan.

Food, smiles, laughter and kindness bring people together all around the world and it is truly a joy to get to experience them and share them with others.

My husband and I learned how to prepare a visually stunning and absolutely delicious vegan Buddhist plate during our cooking class in Kyoto, Japan. This was my plate and it was almost too beautiful to eat.

CHRISTINE GALLAGHER/Special to the Sentinel

These kind strangers made us a delightful yakitori meal in rural Japan. In this photo, a hair dryer is being used to warm the coals before cooking the food.

CHRISTINE GALLAGHER/Special to the Sentinel

Tokyo has beautiful architecture and art.

CHRISTINE GALLAGHER/Special to the Sentinel

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