November 11, 2025 Breakfast at Itsuki. Lunch - Made in Japan in Yufuin. Dinner - Hibachi restaurant

 November 11, 2025 Breakfast at Itsuki. Lunch - Made in Japan in Yufuin. Dinner - Hibachi restaurant 

We soaked in our private hot tub in the morning and then went to breakfast at 8:30. It was a Western style breakfast with an egg omelet, sausage, bacon and ham, baked rolls, apple and strawberry jam, fruit juice, and coffee and tea.

We then rested until around 10:00 when we walked to the little lake at the edge of Yufuin and then to its main shopping street.

 On the road to the shopping area was a small takeout restaurant with a couple of tables named Made in Japan that offered grilled oysters and scallops. We were thrilled that we had found Japanese oysters. It was noon, so we stopped and ordered two oysters and two scallops and two beers. The oysters and scallops were large and the owner cooked them with butane welding torch and immediately handed the cooked and seasoned shellfish to us, so they were very fresh.

They were delicious with a milky liquid residue in the bottom of the shell that was pleasant also. They were delicious. The total for this small but elegant lunch was 4700 yen or about $31.00.

We then walked on toward the shopping street. Our attention was drawn to ponds of coy under a mix of walkways. While watching the fish we noticed vending machines that sold boxes of fish food for 200 yen, so we bought a box and Suzette fed the fish, which created a tumult of wreathing fish fighting to grab a pellet of food. It was quite exciting and a brilliant passive income strategy in my opinion. You raise fish that tourists feed without any attendant or paid intermediary.

We then walked onto the shopping street that contained lots of food and souvenir shops, mostly selling uninteresting stuff to us like stuffed bears or fried sweet potatoes, although I thought one that offered extract of horse placenta interesting.

Soon we came upon a store that sold quality handicrafts, so we went in. I was enchanted by the ceramic chop stick holders in the shape and coating of polar bears, sea otters, and other animals, but they were not anything we would need or use. Then we saw turned wooden bowls and plates. I fell in love with one the size of a rice bowl or large tea cup that was cut so the rings made an asymmetrical design and bought it for 3850 yen or about $25.67.

We then walked to the street that goes back to the river where the traditional city bathhouse was located. Unfortunately, the boathouse was closed so we walked back to Itsuki and rested until the cocktail party at 6:00.

I had a great day in the market with everything going up because the Senate had voted to end the shutdown.

At 6:00 we joined the group for sake and rice crackers and then five of us were driven to a local restaurant specializing in vegetables and meat grilled on charcoal fired hibachi grills we divided up into groups of four around braziers and were served a platter of vegetables and a platter of meats that we grilled.

          Dessert was a scoop of pineapple sherbert with a stripe of bitter orange marmelade

                                     Large Leonard sitting on a chair like me.

Each place had a ceramic tray with three sections, one each with a miso sauce, a ponzu sauce, and a soy and mirin sauce that we dipped the grilled veggies and meats into.

Almost everyone sat on the floor on mats except for a few of us who were provided low chairs.

The sake cups were kept filled during the dinner.

After dinner we went back to Itsuki in a cab with Sue and Larry, while the rest walked to and from the restaurant.

It was almost 10:00 when we returned, so we went to bed.

I loved the simple food today, especially our first Japanese grilled oyster.

Bon Appetit