Sasebo, Japan

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Leaving Kyoto after five days of exciting ventures and spending time with the family. Off to the train station to catch the bullet train to Fukuoka then onto Sasebo. Traveling with Glenna, Nicole and little Jaxton was a treat, he loves the trains. Arrived in Sasebo and Dean picked us up and took us to the Kirby Condo on the Navy Base, get settled in and started the most amazing week getting to know this small town and the way of life with Dean and Nicole. Dinner at the Kamimotoyamacho Sushi Cafe was great, you order the sushi items from your table on a tablet then it arrives via conveyer belt right to your table.

Friday morning waking up with Jaxton was really fun, he is a very happy 14 month old that is a true pleasure to be around. Breakfast then off to the navy fitness center for a much needed workout, picked up some supplies at the base commissary and back to the condo. Dinner and wine was a good way to complete the first full day in Sasebo. We spent the next few days wondering the parks, waterways, markets checking out the cherry blossoms, eating at various restaurants and enjoying time together. Tonchikan was Dean’s favorite and the many Yakatori sticks did not disappoint. Awesome dinner followed by a visit to a very cool bar called The Bar & Cigar Nicolas Rolin on Shimokymachi Street was icing on the cake. This small family owned cigar bar served crafted cocktails made all by hand with over 500 bottles of every alcoholic delight you could ask every want on display.

Saturday, we went on our MMT (magical mystery tour) to Nagasaki, first stop was the Shu Matsurara knife shop. Another family owned business for over 50 years making custom knives for Chefs and kitchens all over the world. Yes, we picked out a couple for our kitchen, excited to use these new tools of the trade. Each knife was handmade, we picked out the custom colorfull handles and Shu added our names on each blade. After a short stop at a farmers market and lunch, we went to Omura Park to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom. What a sight to see…..Nagasaki, as most of you know was the sight of the atomic bomb dropped in Japan during WWII on August 9, 1945. We stopped to see the Fountain of Peace, the fountain sends up a sparkling spray of water in the shape of a pair of wings envoking the dove of peace. We then walked over to the Hypocenter where the bomb actually exploded. The museum was very informative, moving and very sad all at once. This eventually led to the end of WWII and hopefully never using another atomic bomb in the future.

After the museum, a big highlight was seeing the Great Samurai warriors march in their traditional wartime uniforms from the waterfront thru town, over the bridge while holding large torches with flames flying high celebrating their return. The park was full of spectators and food vendors cheering on the warriors.

Sunday was reserved for a Baseball game in Fukuoka, costco shopping on the way home and another fun day together. A two hour drive to the ballpark and we arrived at the Pay Pay Dome in time for some pregame activities walking around seeing how people in Japan enjoy a day at the ballpark. Into our seats and the game began, fun to watch the game with the same set of rules as MLB in the states. The crowd was a bit different, only one team cheered at a time when they were at bat. Beer and food vendors walked around so you didn’t need to get up and miss anything. The beer girls have kegs of draft beer they would pour right at your seats. The game was good but the highlight seemed to be the 7th inning stretch, everyone had yellow ballons to blow up and release them after a certain song was finished. Pictures below but crazy to see the thousands of balloons go up together. Game over and now time to start the drive back home but hit Costco about the half way mark. Interesting to see this major shopping store that looked like ours at home and had a lot of the same items but then had many Japanese items like a huge sushi section and a big wagyu beef department. Food court was similar with hot dogs, pizza, sushi, ice cream and fountain drinks. Great place to buy wine so we loaded up on Caymus (great price) tomahawk wagyu and assorted other food items and headed home.

Monday morning Dean was back at work as the rest of of took a slow morning to relax after a busy weekend. Breakfast with Jaxton, dressed and off to the gym for a little workout at the Navy Fitness Center. Later in the day, we all drove over to a friend of Dean and Nicole’s house on the water where they docked their 40 foot yacht. Boarded with terrific happy hour hors d’ oeuvres, champagne and snacks (thanks Nicole, the ultimate host) we met captain Erin and his wife Yuka then started the cruise out to the 99 islands. If your hobby happens to be hiding and hunting for treasures at sea, Kujukushima is a pirate’s paradise. Literally, kujukushima means “99 islands”. Figuratively, it means “too many islands to count”. Although in 2001 somebody finally did count them, so according to citizen science, there are 208 discrete islands at high tide. Among these, only four are inhabited by humans, so that gives you plenty of room to play around the other 204 islets. Captain Erin set the anchor in a small cove as we ate, drank and waited for the sunset. If you like being on the water like we do, this was pretty hard to beat.

Monday, April 1st. was spent at the Japanese gardens and a ride thru little towns exploring this beautiful country. We came across the Niwaki Dam, drove around the lake and took in the spectacular cherry trees in full bloom. They completly lined the shores side by side as we were in awe of mother nature at it’s finest, truly magical site to see.

The rest of our time in sasebo was spent in the parks, restaurants, markets, picinic with friends in Nimitz Park, gym and hanging out. One super special night was our diner at the Ra-Men’s Bar DDD ( daily, delicious, discovery ) not the DDD we are used to in the states. Started off with my son Chris’s favorite drink, the Lemon Chu-Hi with fresh pieces of frozen lemon in it. This drink was delightedly cold refreshing so we couldn’t have just one. Next came the duck ramen that was full of flavors beyond description along with the best fried rice I have ever had. I do have to mention the Curry restaurant Nicole took us to for lunch one day, the Indian style curry was incredible with the Naan bread and butter chicken . The local Kujukushima Zoo & Botanical gardens in Sasebo was a Jaxton favorite, they had Girafes, Black Bears, Goats, Sheep, Penguines, horses, zebras, red dog pandas, cheetah and really beautiful flowers.

As if we didn’t eat enough great food, our last day was a true culinary delight. Nicole and Dean’s friend Yuka set us up at a local sushi lunch that she had some pull with. We arrived at this Michelin star family owned restaurant that has been serving the locals for over 50 years. Sushi Restaurant Genroku chef and owner Osamu along with his wife and son served us an 8 course sushi meal that was over the top and perfectly paired with warm sake. I put this as one of my top three dining restaurant experiences I have ever had. Perfect amount of food for lunch and prepared us ready for our final dinner that night at the Kirby condo. Waygu tomahawk with cowboy butter served with homemade ramen and a few bottles of Caymus wine. What a way to end our stay in sasebo. The final morning took us to the Navy base for friendship day, where the base is open to all the locals to visit and tour the ships in port and see demonstrations from the navy teams. We took the time to tour a Japanese destroyer ship, rode the helicopter elevator deck up to the main deck, pretty cool experience.

We packed up the car, off to the train station. Said our goodbyes for now and headed to Osaka for the next three days.