Yuru Camp△ 3 – 05 – Yakiniku Aromatherapy

Nadeshiko has a little more solo time at the campsite, and uses it wisely. The firewood sold at the camp office is too big for Rin’s adorable stove, so Nadeshiko uses Rin’s trusty billhook to split the logs, which is a gentler and more precise process than hacking at them with a hatchet. She then makes some quick, easy, and scrumptious amazake cookies to go with her green tea.

After looking at some of the photos Ayano sent her and musing on how it’s funny seeing her older and newer best friends hanging out, Nadeshiko is doodling her dinner plan when she hears the familiar rattle of two low-displacement motorbike engines: Rin and Ayano have finally arrived and the trio has reunited at last. Mere moments after dismounting her bike, Ayano collapses, and leaves setting up her lightweight tent to the other two.

Once the tents are up, the preparation of their great beef feast can commence. Nadeshiko poaches the packaged Hamamatsu Hamburg steaks in water while Rin prepares her pressure cooker beef stew, a method suggested by her mom. The steaks are finished over the fire on sticks, and the meal is completed with omurice and onion sauce.

Inspired by the Dam Curry, Nadeshiko plates everything up into Hatanagi Dam Beef Stew Omelet-Hamburg Rice, with the added fluorish of a chili pepper representing the scary Hatanagi Ootsuribashi (bridge). Like the bridge, the pepper is spicy (i.e. scary) at first, but ends up being a rewarding experience, cutting through the meaty umami. She also makes a candle out of the excess steak fat, adding a warm light and beefy perfume to the feast.

When all the feasting is done and it’s time to turn in, Nadeshiko and Ayano have some quality time together, though it doesn’t last long as after 180 km of traveling, Ayano is absolutely gassed. Even so, Nadeshiko appreciates the time she has with her old friend, and turns in herself. Perhaps fortunately, there is no exploration of the, shall we say digestive aftermath of eating so much beef!

Post-credits, Ayano emerges from her caterpillar-like down sleeping bag to find Nadeshiko is already up. They sit together with hot amazake and watch the world slowly wake up with them, gradually growing brighter and brighter. I get that too, and I’ve been trying to get up earlier more often myself so I can experience this truly magical time. This was a lovely cozy way to cap the previous episodes of travel and adventure.

Yuru Camp△ 3 – 04 – The Grandriders

After a fun train ride munching on snacks with fellow travelers and watching the rare public merging of trains to go up the mountain, Nadeshiko follows the route to her campsite, but along the way is a scary dark tunnel.

The locals don’t do her any favors by sticking homemade ghosts in the tunnel to scare the Bejeesus out of her. Once she’s through and checks into the campsite, she checks out the Nagashima Dam, then hops back on the train to see the “egg” in her dam curry.

Rin and Ayano’s motorbike adventure continues with yet another suspension bridge (Ikawa Ohashi) then Ayano breaks her pledge to skip lunch. That said, it’s actually a very good idea for them to eat, since the road has been much tougher than they expected.

After an oden lunch they continue their ride, which takes them through seven tunnels to Lake Hatanagi. As they walk along a closed muddy road to reach the last bridge on the list, Ayano acknowledges that both of their grandpas rode bikes too.

The Lake Hatanaagi Ootsuribashi turns out to be the scariest bridge by far, what with its minimalist construction and tendency to creak with each step and sway in the wind. Rin and Ayano press on, doing what they set out to do, even though it only gets more terrifying the further out they get.

Between this ordeal and Nadeshiko’s haunted tunnel experience, things are decidedly less chill this week (at least relative to your typical Yuru Camp) but honestly that’s okay, because it makes the relief once those ordeals are done that much more sweet.

The “egg” of Nadeshiko’s dam curry is Okuoikojo Station, dramatically situated on an island in the middle of the lake—the yolk of the egg. While Nadeshiko’s smartphone is no match for the fancy real cameras of other visitors, she still whips it out to take a panorama, because this is the kind of place panorama mode was designed for.

Rin and Ayano again demonstrate excellent judgment by turning straight back to the bridge and going back the moment they spot a bear warning sign. We don’t need out Grandriders eaten, no sir! Instead they head to the hot springs to soak and warm up after so many hours in the saddle.

Their next stop is the campsite 34 kilometers away, where they’ll finally meet up with Nadeshiko. But during their bath, the two really seem to click, gently teasing each other for the faces they made on the bridge before expressing their heartfelt gratitude for being able to share this adventure. No doubt they’ll be going on more together.

Yuru Camp△ 3 – 03 – The Suspension is Healing Me!

Rin sets off on her trusty 50cc at 3:30 in the morning when it’s still dark. She notes that her parents are less wary of her going out on her own, probably because she’s more experienced now. But she also heeds her gramps’ words: “you have to be most careful when you’re used to it.”

Rin’s solo leg of the trip ends in Senzu, where she meets up with Ayano, who has twice the displacement but is still wrecked by the rough roads. After a rest and a drink, the two mount their steeds and begin their trip to meet up with Nadeshiko at the campsite, but they’re in no particular hurry. As should be expected of Yuru Camp, the journey just as rewarding as the destination.

In this case, the journey involves a veritable phalanx of suspension bridges of every conceivable shape, size, and material, each of them crossing the river and offering gorgeous views of the surrounding forests. The first “bridge” Aya-chan spots is actually just power lines, but once they encounter the first one, they don’t stop until they’ve crossed just about every one in the area, for completion’s sake.

While Rin and Aya are on their bridge-crossing tour, Nadeshiko revels in her cozy solo journey, which involves different types of trains and sumptuous local foods. Today I learned about “dam curry”, and how it’s plated differs depending on the dam and environs being depicted with different foods.

Wild grilled pork skewers precede her hydroelectric lunch, and she finishes it with Kawane’s exquisitely bitter famous green tea soft serve. A grand feast of Hamburg steak, beef stew, and omurice awaits Nadeshiko, Rin, and Aya at their destination, but the three of them will get there when they get there. There’s plenty to explore and taste along the way.

Yuru Camp△ 3 – 02 – How the Sausage Gets Made

This week starts with Nadeshiko’s childhood friend Toki Ayano (Kurosawa Tomoyo) trying out “mini-camping”, riding her moped to a pretty spot to enjoy some hot cocoa. When her thermos doesn’t keep it hot and a more substantial stove costs too much, she buys a mini stove that makes the cocoa nice and piping hot. She’s in her own little serene paradise on the beach.

The Outclub camps in Ena’s yard, basking in Chikuwa’s cute (but not cheap) little camping setup. After Ena gives Chiaki a respectable haircut, everyone whips out sausages to cook on their DIY alcohol stoves, but Chiaki ups the difficulty level by trying to make sausage herself.

The process itself is easy, but the finished product’s flavor is impaired by lack of attention to detail: not only the pork, but the casings, stuffing gun, and mixing bowl must be well-chilled to ensure proper distribution of meat and fat. While sausage making may not be practical while camping, bringing already-made sausages works out just fine.

Nadeshiko and the Outclub plan to do a flower-viewing somewhere secluded, while Ayano suggests a trip with Rin and Nadeshiko to Ooigawa. Nadeshiko was feeling like it might be time for a solo trip, but in a way she’ll get one as it will take her longer to meet up with her moped-riding friends.

As should come as no surprise, this Yuru Camp was extremely cute and cozy. Ayano is trying to camp on a shoestring budget without getting burnt by poor quality, while the Outclub are always on the lookout for DIY camping solutions. Rin was all on her own these past two episodes, but looks like a warm reunion with Nadeshiko and Ayano is in the offing.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Yuru Camp△ 3 – 01 – You Can Always Go Again

Yuru Camp was a healing balm during Covid, but it’s no less welcome now that everything’s opened up. In a fun coincidence, I started watching this right after I got off the phone with a friend about planning a four-night camping trip in a part of the state where we’ll see a ton of stars if the skies are clear.

The episode is neatly split into two separate stories. First up is Rin, who is on a camping trip by herself to Lake Shojiko. Not only is it a splendid place to view Fujiyama, but there’s a much smaller mountain in front of it called Kodaki Fuji that looks like it’s being hugged by Fuji-san.

During her present-day trip, Rin reminisces about taking the train to Toei to spend the day with her grandfather. After visiting a dam, she expresses interest in his camping equipment, so he takes her to Tsugu Park for a little day camp.

She’s eager to see him make fire manually, and it isn’t until the present day when she decides to make the attempt herself that she realizes how difficult it is. But like her gramps, she doesn’t give up, and when she actually creates fire with her bare hands, well, it’s obviously hugely rewarding!

We trade the gorgeous scenery of Shojiko for school and the Outclub, where Nadeshiko, Aoi, and Chiaki make DIY alcohol stoves out of metal cans. It’s highly instructive and informative, while Toba-sensei also points out the dangers of such stoves, no doubt remembering a time she knocked one over when she was half in the bag.

I appreciated how the lighting suddenly got more dramatic and “camp-like” when Toba-sensei closed the curtains in the classroom so the girls could see the pretty blue flames burning from their little stoves. Ena then invites everyone to her house for a “day yard camp” to test out their stoves in a controlled environment, and also to show off the camping gear she bought for her adorable pup Chikuwa.

On the way there, Nadeshiko stops and snaps a photo of a budding branch glowing in the setting sun. Spring is about to spring, and she’s clearly pumped for it, just as I’m pumped for more beautiful Laid-Back Camp!

Rating: 4/5 Stars