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.

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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.

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!

Yuru Camp△ Movie – Adulting Outdoors

Rather than chronicle another fun camping trip in a new place with the Outclub while they’re still in school, Yuru Camp’s first movie takes place in the not-to-distant future, when Rin, Nadeshiko, Aoi, Aki, and Ena are now full-fledged young adults with jobs (though notably no romantic partners).

They stay in touch through chat, but compared with their time at school they’re very far flung and their daily routines have changed. Rin’s at a publishing office in Nagoya, Nadeshiko works at a camping store in Tokyo, Aoi is a grade school teacher, Ena is a pet groomer, and Aki works with the local tourism department after her life in Tokyo didn’t pan out.

It’s Aki who is the catalyst that brings the five Outclub members back together with a bold proposal: take a derelict outdoors youth center with a great view of Fuji-sama and turn it into a campground. After Aki has (lots) of drinks with Rin (all drunk by her; she’s predictably now the lush of the group), she takes them to the spot, and at sunrise, Rin gets it; it’s a good spot.

The challenge, then, is how the five of them are going to navigate their day job obligations and distances and make this thing happen. Aki assigns everyone a role and wisely picks Rin as the team lead, as she’s the most experienced camper and thus perhaps the best organizer of the group.

They start small and realistically; trimming the overgrown grass and removing errant shrubs while discussing ideas for what they want on the grounds. Once a farmer friend of Aki’s shows them the proper way to to these things, and they get their hands on some machinery, the cleanup work accelerates.

It’s exciting watching the adult versions of these characters, already having eased into their new adult lives, banding together once more over something they always loved sharing with each other—camping—with the goal of now sharing that love with others so those people will share it, and so on and so forth.

It’s also comforting to know that both the chemistry and the comedic banter among the young women is still alive and well. A different movie could have had its individual members much more isolated and/or estranged (or even having families of their own) but this is rather the evolution of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things—Cute Women Doing Cool Things.

Once all the major cleanup and grading is complete, they decide to give the grounds a whirl by being the first to camp there. They find areas for improvements, and also ease back into their old dynamic of preparing a perfect campsite and cooking the perfect camp feasts.

The fact that these five young women are now old hands at camp cooking—not to mention they have a lot more cash than they did as kids—means Nadeshiko and Aki really go all out with the (still on sale!) salmon, with a light yet hearty cream soup and a full-on hot pot. The fact that these five young women are now old hands at camp cooking.

But like Yuru Camp’s first two seasons, the movie is not entirely without conflict, which comes in the form of a setback. Ena’s now-old pup Chikuwa brings her an odd piece of broken pottery, which eventually leads to a full archeological survey and excavation, which first delays and then completely nixes the campground plan. Aki, who brought everyone into this plan, has to make the call to everyone saying all their hard work may have been for naught!

And yet, because they’re adults, this isn’t the end of the world for any of them. It’s definitely disappointing, even deflating, but everyone aside rom Aki finds solace and stability in their day jobs. Rin finds out her senpai at work has been supporting her a lot behind the scenes so she could work on the campground project (both as team lead and covering it as a print and online serial for the magazine) and vows to work harder.

Aoi’s work story might be the most bittersweet, as the school where she’d started teaching just a couple years ago is closing down (possibly due to there simply not being enough kids to fill it), but gives the kids who are there all the love and attention she’s got. And I love how three high schoolers from Bizarro Yuru Camp come into Nadeshiko’s store again, looking to dip their tows into camping. Nadeshiko truly was born to get people into camping!

Those three kids’ simple but very doable plan to have a day trip with cup noodles inspires her to invite Rin to a special new spot: Rin has to endure a lot of climbing in the snow and ice, but the reward is the highest hot spring in Japan, which is tiny, but also breathtakingly beautiful, not to mention the absolute best thing after all the exertion.

There, the two old friends discuss how they really have become proper adults, who can do a lot more than they used to, not just regarding camping, but life in general. Nadeshiko also notes that even adults can’t do anything, but they can do what they can. She doesn’t regret the time they spent trying to get the campground off the ground, even if it didn’t work out. Neither does Rin.

It’s fortunate, then, that the campground plan isn’t entirely dead. With help from Ena, Aki prepares a new proposal that integrates the archeological site with the campground. The video presentation shows footage of the five women working hard and also relaxing and enjoying the outdoors, and is extremely persuasive.

The council votes to approve the plan, which means the Outclub is back in business, having only lost a couple of months. They cut the grass back down, the dog run is completed, they put a coat of paint on the distinctive aviary frame, and Aoi procures all the stuff they’ll need for the kid’s area.

When Aoi brings the fancy and very professional sign made by Akari (who is now in art school) and the five mount it to the entrance, it lends an immensely satisfying feeling of completion. They adulted the hell out of shit, and weathered the challenges that came their way. They did it!

Mind you, while getting caught up in all the excitement, they forgot to post the signs leading to the campground, so their first group of campers (many of them family and friends and thus more forgiving) get lost on their way there!

Not a problem, as the women work together to communicate with Rin while she rides out (not on her gramps’ motorcycle, which is in the shop, but her old moped) to locate and guide everyone safely to their destination. Crisis averted!

Once the sun sets and everyone is settled in, the five women stand at the top of the hill and admire what they’ve accomplished. Earlier, Rin’s Gramps gave the site his blessing. The group makes plans right then and there to reunite and camp there for New Years, when the sun rises out of Fuji-san’s peak. Rin, to the surprise of the other four, says she’ll also be joining them (albeit tentatively). Of course, she told Aki she’d “think about” helping with the campground too!

As the credits go by we get snapshots of that trip, on which Rin indeed accompanies the others, while we also get snapshots of them continuing their adult lives at their jobs. Aoi’s at a new school, Nadeshiko is still being the best dang camping store clerk ever, Rin is hard at work at the magazine, Ena’s grooming pups, and Aki is sticking with the local tourism.

A planned third season of Yuru Camp will likely return us to the present when they’re all still in school. But it was great to see everyone doing so well in the future. I got the same warm, fuzzy, cozy, calming, healing feelings I got from the show, only a little more adult-y. I honestly wouldn’t mind if season 3 picked up from here!

It also had some low-key poignant commentary on the preservation and revitalization of existing things—as well as the need to preserve and occasionally revitalize one’s old friendships! What better way to do that then to go camping, when we can be one with ourselves, rely on one another, and of course indulge in lavish outdoor feasts!

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 13 (Fin) – It Goes Both Ways

From the first shot of the episode, we know something has ended, because the girls are walking down the mountain after watching the sun come up. It’s the last sunrise on their Izu trip, and indeed of Yuru Camp’s gloriously healing second season. Rin, seemingly sensing this end, makes sure to thank the others for inviting her.

Rin also leaves her moped at the campground and piles into Toba-sensei’s sister’s Lafesta with the others for a visit to the Iidas, where Toba, Ena, Aki and Aoi bow their heads in apology and thanks. The Iidas, being nice people tell them to think nothing of it, as it was fun to have a big group that night.

As Toba stocks up on the good libations, Rin and Nadeshiko meet Choko, only to for him to speed right past them to the more familiar Aki, Aoi, and Ena. The Iida daughter decides to accompany the group to Mt. Omuro, a perfect place and the perfect time of year to walk her heat-averse Corgi.

Rin and Nadeshiko share a chair lift and are startled by the automatic souvenir camera, resulting in a deer-in-headlights shot for the ages. As the girls again race to the peak, Toba and Iida take it easy, and Toba admires Choko’s spectacularly cute butt (a Corgi trademark).

From there, the group heads to a zoo beside the mountain, where Akari finally gets to encounter the Capybara Hot Spring in person, which turns everyone watching into the naturally chill-looking capybaras themselves; Akari comes right out and remarks “This is so healing” while snapping a picture. And really, that’s been Yuru Camp in a nutshell: a capybara hot spring.

Which is why, after the zoo visit, when Iida parts ways with the group and Rin hops back on her moped for the long ride home, it really starts to feel like the end. Because what else could really come after a capybara hot spring but the ride home? Nadeshiko snaps a picture of Rin on her moped before they part, and after they do, Nadeshiko’s smile fades. I know why, too: with Rin headed home, the ending to their Izu trip is really starting to hit her.

It hit differently for me in particular, since I only just recently started Yuru Camp from the beginning, and only needed to hit “next episode” when the first season concluded (and you better believe that’s exactly what I did!) But this time, there is no next episode readily available. I’m reasonably sure we’ll get a third season, but who knows when.

This final episode perfectly captures that unique and powerful bittersweet feeling one gets of the end of a fun trip and the journey back home to the status quo. Nadeshiko is the only kid to stay up as Toba drives, knowing Toba would be lonely if she napped too. Even Rin feels a bit lonely in the saddle after experiencing so much liveliness with so many other girls in so short a time.

But as Aki said in her military general voice, the camping trip isn’t over until everyone is home safe and sound. There was even a foreboding quality to the photo Nadeshiko snapped of Rin, as if it would be the photo she’d chose to put on a milk carton should she turn up missing.

Of course, this isn’t that kind of show at all and would never take a turn like that, but it was still in my mind, just as Nadeshiko remains worried when Rin doesn’t answer her texts. So when her sister comes home, Nadeshiko asks her to drive her out to Minobu town border so she’s there to greet Rin the moment she finally does arrive.

It turns out Rin knew the way back and was focusing on driving, and so didn’t use her phone, which…good for her! When Rin is about to tell Nadeshiko she didn’t need to worry, she remembers when she was sitting in that massage chair and couldn’t help but worry about Nadeshiko on her first true solo trip. Realizing that concern goes both ways, she expresses her appreciation for Nadeshiko.

As they gaze on the now-familiar hometown view of Fuji-san, Nadeshiko remarks how it’s kind of sad the trip’s over. And it is! They’ll never have another trip quite like that one, with that collection of people going to those particular places and eating those particular things. Even if that was all arranged, it wouldn’t be the same, and it would be missing the point in the first place, which is to experience something new with each trip.

And that’s how Rin replies: it may be a little sad, and a little lonely but they can always go somewhere together again, and the options from there are almost limitless. If they were always on a trip, the trip wouldn’t be special, would it? We watch Aki, Aoi, Akari, Ena, and Toba all returning home to their families, then Rin returning to hers and eventually mailing her gramps a thank you letter and some Izu miso-pickled meat for camp cooking.

School starts back up, and Nadeshiko, Rin, Aki, Aoi and Ena all reunite at the ramp that leads to their school, no longer in their cozy puffy camping outfits but their school unis. Life may be back to normal, but they still carry in their hearts all the warmth, joy, and magic of the time they spent together in the great outdoors.

I’ll vicariously carry all of that in mine as I hope for third season of Laid-Back Camp. But even if we don’t get one, I’ll always treasure this show as a singularly cozy therapeutic experience. And you better believe I’m going camping as soon as I can!

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 12 – Crossing the Rubi-tombolo

Yuru Camp takes a quick look back at when Nadeshiko was saying a tearful goodbye to her best friend Ayano; and I agree with the commenter that Kurosawa Tomoyo is a perfect voice to match Aya-chan’s personality—I just wish Kurosawa voiced a main character! Aya assures Nadeshiko that she’ll make new friends (which she does) and says that once she’s in a new place, she should try a new thing.

That new thing turns out to be camping up an absolute storm, culminating in this latest group trip to the geospot and lookout-packed Izu peninsula. After a refreshing breakfast of sashimi rice bowls, the group heads to Dougashima and the famed tombolo of Sanshiroujima. Akari is heartbroken to learn, her big sis was having her on; “tombolo” isn’t food, but the sandy bridge between islands that appears during low tide.

Removing their boots and braving the frigid waters, the group crosses the shallows and explores the island before the tide comes in. Nadeshiko thinks this would be a perfect spot to visit in the summer when the water is warm enough to swim in, leading to what I believe is the series’ very first cutaway to the girls in swimsuits.

From there, Rin takes point in her 30km/h moped for the drive along the glorious Nishiizu Skyline to their campsite. I can’t help but recall a similar drive I took up Mount Evans, on the highest paved road in North America. Evans is 2km taller than Fuji-san, so you can imagine words will hardly do the majesty of the scenery justice. It truly is, as Rin says, like driving in the sky.

Once they arrive at the Daruma Forest Campsite on the Darumayama highland, Aki, Rin and Ena start prepping for dinner early, while Akari leads the birthday girls Nadeshiko and Aoi away to check out the baths near Cape Mihama (which is sometimes mistaken for Cape Ose). To Akari’s shock, they already know a birthday meal is being prepared, since Aki specifically told Aoi that back at school, and their grocery shopping included things like whipped cream.

But even though it’s not a complete surprise, Nadeshiko and Aoi are still delighted by the celebration prepared by the others, who go all-out with decorations, a (pancake-based) cake, and the gift of durable and easy-to-maintain wooden cooking pans.

A suitably sumptuous feast of shrimp and tomato risotto awaits, made with spiny lobster broth and made extra-shrimpy by the addition of a highly-concentrated shrimp sauce. While Toba-sensei is enjoying the snacks the girls prepared to go with her booze, she gets a call from her Ryouko, who is herself solo camping much closer to Fuji-san out of her sister’s Suzuki Hustler.

Ryouko can tell her sister isn’t that drunk (yet) and congratulates her for being a good advisor. Minami admits she “wasn’t too keen” on becoming one at first due to the time it took up, but watching her students growing up before her eyes, she totally gets the appeal now!

With everyone now on the same sleep clock, the girls eschew movies and head to bed early so they can get up in time to watch the sun rise from the peak of Duramayama. The extra 500-meter climb nearly kills Aki all over again, but Rin and Nadeshiko reach the top first with time to spare, and Nade prepares instant miso soup with more of the spiny lobster broth, telling Rin the shell can be used more than once and even ground down into powder for future use.

While Toba-sensei stays in the van with a still-sleeping Akari, Aki, Aoi and Ena join Nadeshiko and Rin at the top, and the three formally bow and thank Rin for saving them. They also intend to visit the Iidas to properly thank them (and play with their adorable Corgi, Choko).

Then that sun rises and begins to bathe the landscape in its warm, silky light, rewarding the girls for their effort. Did I mention that shortly after starting this show I’ve started getting up early to watch the sunrise? There’s really nothing quite like that light. Yuru Camp isn’t just about immersing yourself in its warm and fuzzy therapeutic goodness, but inspiring you to get out there and give something new a try, as Aya urged Nadeshiko to do.

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 11 – Mamashiko Ajiii!

As expected, the highest point of Hosono Plateau offers a view that’s well worth the climb…or the race to the top if you’re Nadeshiko, Akari, or Chiaki. Also as expected, Nadeshiko won, securing her revenge for Akari telling her the camping was over when she woke up. Part of the reward is seeing the Izu Islands, technically part of Tokyo Prefecture and potential island camping location.

But Izu is vast—thanks to all the volcanic activity inthe last 20 million or so years—and the hour grows late, so the van-and-moped convoy leaves Hosono in search of a hot spring near the campsite. Once they find a suitable one, Nadeshiko relays it to Rin, who lets out a BIG ol’ yawn in response. She’s been riding since three in the morning, after all!

After Akari imagines a hilarious TV commercial for a Rin-themed frozen treat, the group has a sunset-lit soak at the Dougashima hot springs, which almost claim the increasingly drowsy Rin. Then Toba-sensei makes the mistake of chugging a post-bath beer, and has to call in a replacement driver, which is apparently a thing in Japan!

Still, bathing at Dougashima was the lemonade they made from the lemons of being turned away from their original campsite, and getting to their new site in Nishiizu a little late doesn’t faze the group in the slightest. Rin is too sleepy to be fazed anyway!

When it’s time to start a fire, Rin wakes up and teaches Akari how it’s done. You can tell Rin hearing it’s Akari’s first real campfire takes her back to her first campfire…which didn’t go nearly as well but was salvaged thanks to an experienced helping hand. With the tents and camp galley set up, a very well-rested Chef Nadeshiko enters Yuru Cookin’ Mode.

She first prepare a Spanish-style chunky Ajillo in an earthenware pot, while Ena and Chiaki grill some spiny lobster. Toba-sensei learned from her Christmas Camping error and brought the perfect booze for every possible meal. Her sister Ryouko texts her a quick reminder not to overdo it as she’s gotta drive tomorrow. I kinda wish Ryouko had joined them!

Having chosen meals as much for their ease of preparation and clean-up as their deliciousness, Nadeshiko innovatively uses the leftover juices from the Ajillo to make a totally different one-pot dish: alfonsino acqua pazza pasta. Yuru Camp does a good job giving you the gist of the recipes without turning this into a full-on cooking show…but as I’m a huge fan of both Great Chefs and Food Wars, that wouldn’t have been the worst thing either!

One thing’s for sure, Nadeshiko upped her game considerably, and her friends can be certain that going forward camping with her means rib-sticking gourmet-quality meals that take full advantage of the local ingredients to the max. But the  umami and sleepiness double-whammy finally does Rin in, which is when Nadeshiko becomes Mamashiko, ensuring Rin brushes her teeth and uses lotion before retiring to her tent.

The fact that Nadeshiko, Rin, and the others are all on totally different sleep cycles works in the episode’s favor. When Ena can’t sleep, she encounters Nadeshiko is also still up, enjoying a dramatic view from the picnic area. The two have proceed to have a wonderful little low-key heart-to-heart. Nadeshiko mentions how the relaxing waves remind her of her hometown, admits she knows about Ena’s konbini job.

Ena says it’s not just for camping expenses, but because she wants to get her drivers license at eighteen so she can take Chikuwa camping. Ena then remarks how much things have changed since Nadeshiko moved to Minobu, and Nadeshiko says a lot’s changed for her since meeting them. They head to bed, as it’s past three, and at four on the dot Rin wakes up totally rested…and all alone.

This is no problem for Rin, who takes the opportunity to get a little Me Time in before the others wake up. She hops on her moped to check out some local geospots, from Cape Kogane to Sawada Park, which she learns has an open-air hot spring right beside the sea.

Ena and Aoi are the next to wake up, but when they see Rin’s text they retreat back to their sleeping bags, joining the still-dozing Nadeshiko. Then a panicked Chiaki shows them Rin’s message “Please don’t come looking for me” and assumes Rin’s run away from “home”. The other two understood: Rin just wants some solo time. Here’s hoping getting up so early doesn’t render her too sleepy for the group’s adventures later that day!

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 10 – Dispatches from the Geofront

The OP to Yuru Camp’s second season is a vast improvement over the first, but there was one thing that always bugged me: a Nissan MPV was featured instead of Toba-sensei’s adorable Suzuki Hustler. Turns out the car in the OP is Toba-sensei’s sister’s van, a first-gen Nissan Lafesta.

With that mystery solved, there’s immediately a new one when Toba-sensei picks up Nadeshiko in the morning: What’s with the bags under her eyes? This is solved before the OP: she was simply too excited for their trip and couldn’t sleep a wink. So she sleeps in the van. The Whole. Damn. Time.

Rin, who set off hours earlier, is already checking out Cape Ose, Izu’s “geospots”, unique geological features along the way, visits to all of which she and the others hope to collect like Pokémon. She encounters some very hungry fish, a giant shrimp, and a thrillingly windy mountain road.

The van gang catches a glimpse of the fist-like mountain Jouyama, then stops at an ice cream spot—an established Outclub tradition—to sample Izu’s local specialty: raw wasabi ice cream. Then take a ride on the Kawazu Nanadaru Loop Bridge.

Rin’s wanderings take her to the Ryugukutsu Cave, which has a skylight due to erosion and for me called to mind the Hidden Beach in western Mexico. From there, she arrives in Shimoda, rests her road-weary dogs in a hot spring foot bath, and admires the torii by the water.

The van gang is delayed by choking traffic caused by the cherry blossom festival in Kawazu, home of some of the earliest-blooming sakura. Aoi’s sister Akari gets out to use the restroom but comes back with local treats. Eventually they meet up with Rin in a Shimoda parking lot, and a panicked Nadeshiko asks her where they are and what day it is, having been throughly messed with by Aoi and Akari, the “Lying Sisters.”

After a lunch of fried alfonsino burgers with Camembert cheese and sweet-and-spicy sauce (goddamn that sounds good), the van gang and Rin form a two-vehicle convoy to the grocery store where Nadeshiko stocks up on more alfonsino for the first night’s dinner.

It is here where we learn that Chiaki, Ena, and Rin are responsible for dinner on the second night. Not to be upstaged by Nadeshiko, Chiaki had convened with the other two back at school before the trip Gendo Ikari-style to organize Operation Shrimp.

The gist is, they’ll make Toba-sensei give up drinking and use her booze money to buy some of the spiny lobster Shimoda is known for. Ena dispenses with the subterfuge and simply requests Toba-sensei buy some spiny lobsters, and she does.

The convoy continues on to Cape Tsumeki, where Toba-sensei learns that despite the city saying they could camp along the coast in the winter, the landowner no longer allows it as of a few years ago. It’s a setback, but it doesn’t stop the gang from visiting a lighthouse and checking out the rad columnar jointing at Tawaraiso Beach.

Ena, proving to be the X-factor of the group, suggests they contact the Iidas, who saved them at Lake Yamanaka. Sure enough, they know someone who owns a campground and has arranged a place for them. It’s a 43km detour that throws some of the later parts of their itinerary out of whack, but Rin puts them back in whack with her Mad Map Skillz.

Their updated route sends them to explore the next geospot, Hosono Plateau, before continuing to the campground in Nishiizu. There’s a mini mountain peak to climb, and Akari challenges Nadeshiko to a race in which Chiaki unwisely decides to participate. Despite having built up strength in her legs from her liquor store job, Rin, Ena, and Aoi find her planking on the steps nowhere near the top.

This episode feels worlds away from where the previous one ended, with Rin and her grandfather on a magical early morning ride. But there’s a different kind of magic at work here, one of overflowing excitement and anticipation as we dart breathlessly from spot to spot with the seven travelers, who divide mingle in fascinating new ways. As always, the journey to the campsite, with all its sights, sounds, smells, and tastes, proves just as meaningful as the destination.

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 09 – You’ll Never Ride Alone

Nadeshiko is back from her solo trip, and admits that after her dinner of foil-wrapped salmon (the veggies were apparently only an appetizer!), things got a little boring. With bad cell signal, she looked out at the scenery and thought, and came to the conclusion that she wanted to go camping with everyone again. It’s not that she dislikes solo camping, but she’ll definitely be staggering solo trips with group trips.

When Nade, Chiaki, and Aoi go to Toba-sensei to voice their intention to go on another trip, she’s ready with the suggestion of Izu in March. For one thing, she wants to visit the Iida’s to thank them for saving her students—left unsaid: she also wants more of that sake! Izu won’t be cheap, hence setting the date a month in the future. That’ll give the girls time to make some extra money to fund the trip and time to study for finals.

When Rin and Ena get the invite, it doesn’t take long for Rin to agree to go “if she can go”. While on her way out, Ena mentions how good a person Rin is to have gone all the way to Fujikawa to check on Nadeshiko, leaving Rin wondering how the hell Ena found out about that!

Chiaki mentions that Aoi’s birthday is March 4…which as it happens, is also Nadeshiko’s birthday! It’s also the birthday of historical figure Ohshio Heihachirou, leading to one of the more disturbing cutaway shot of the two girls with Ohshio’s face…pure Nightmare Fuel! I’ll take Ojou-sama Nadeshiko any day! When home, Aoi learns that her little sis Akari wants to go with them, not necessarily for the camping, but because there are capybaras. Hot spring capybaras.

The next day during club Toba-sensei informs everyone of the loose itinerary, starting with a night by the shore at Shimoda, followed by a night on a mountaintop with a view of Suruga Bay and Fujiyama. She approves Akari coming, and when asked how all seven of them will be transported, Toba-sensei says she’ll be borrowing her sister’s minivan.

Rin respectfully asks that she be allowed to go on her moped, but not because she’s worried the van trip will be too rambunctious. Instead, it’s because her initial New Years plans to ride to Izu were cancelled, and she’d been rearing to go ever since.

With the whens and where’s settled, all that’s left is to get to the date. A month passes in pleasant montage form, with Chiaki, Aoi, Rin, and Nadeshiko hard at work at their jobs (only Ena’s job isn’t shown). The group minus Rin also studies together in the library (though Rin isn’t far away), and Chiaki, the one everyone was most worried about, ends up passing the finals along with everyone else.

Chiaki also reaches out to Rin and Ena about pitching in to buy a gift with which to surprise Nadeshiko and Aoi on their birthday. It’s from Caribou, so it must be camping equipment. It’s also reasonably priced, so it’s definitely not the huggable Caribou statue, which costs the equivalent of $3300!

Rin plans her route, choosing to leave early and take the long way so she’s riding along the coast as the sun comes up. Nadeshiko is trying to think of recipes for their meals without success and gets some pointers from her dad (Izu is known for its wasabi, alfonsino, and deep sea fish). He also plans to slip her some petty cash with which to buy tasty souvenirs.

The night before Rin leaves, she gets her package containing a luggage rack and phone clip, which combined with a windshield her grandfather has lying around will make her moped journey significantly easier and more comfortable. Her dad comes home having gotten her moped serviced, inspected, and thoroughly cleaned.

Rin and her dad spend some quality time installing the rack and clip, but when her grandfather arrives for dinner and inspects the ignition switch, he notices something amiss: the phone keeps charging even with the engine off, which will drain the battery if she forgets to unplug it. Even though dinner is almost ready, he hops right back on his motorcycle to buy a relay in Kofu.

By the time he returns and has the relay installed, it’s almost nine, so the Shimas have a late dinner. We learn that both of Rin’s parents used to ride, and her mom in particular was extremely talented. Her dad even mentions some photos of her mom from that time, which really spark Rin’s curiosity —and her mom’s embarrassment—but Rin needs to head to bed since she’s got an early start.

When her alarm wakes her at three in the morning, Rin suits up and prepares to leave, only to find her grandfather in the genkan also gearing up. He’s not just leaving at the same time, but no doubt inspired by the reminiscing during dinner, he proposes they ride together for a little while.

Grandfather and granddaughter ride out in the middle of the night, two birds of a feather both in the way they might appear cool and distant at first glance but in actuality are two of the nicest, warmest, and most caring souls you could ever meet. There’s a quiet thrill in watching them ride together through dramatically lit tunnels and a past a slumbering Fujiyama, both the visuals and music rising to the occasion.

They stop at a konbini for a quick coffee before parting ways. Before riding off, her grandfather, not a man of many words or extreme emotions, expresses how happy he is he got to ride with his precious granddaughter. After this episode, you could say the Shimas’ hearts pump two-stroke fuel, and now in at least its generation with Rin, the family legacy is still going strong. Onward, to Izu!

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 08 – Wabi-Sabi Worrywart

Chiaki, Aoi, and Ena take the episode off this week, as aside from a sprinkling of Sakura it’s a totally Nadeshiko & Rin show, and every moment of it is superbly sublime. It may be my imagination, but this is also an episode that gets a little more creative with camera angles and techniques.

We start with a very cinematic opening shot of Nadeshiko walking through a tunnel. It almost appears like Nadeshiko is walking down the tunnel to enter a Space Shuttle, but the drama is nicely subverted by her singing to herself about towns and the foods they’re known for.

In the middle of her uphill trudge, she stops to soak up the gorgeous view, only to stop herself lest she spoil the view from the campsite. Once she’s arrives, she revels in the wide open space, inspects the clean facilities, and says hi to a camping dad and his two kids.

Nadeshiko gets swept off her feet while laying out her ground cover, and bends one of her tent pegs (just like Rin did once), but is otherwise able to get her tent up without any trouble. She then breaks out all the groceries she bought and prepares for some culinary experimentation. The older of the two camping kids is bemused by this “loner girl”.

Meanwhile, Rin fakes out the audience by first lamenting another path closed for the winter (with another cool camera angle), but it’s a tunnel she already knew would be closed, which coincidentally leads to the Yashajin Pass, where she met the tea shop lady. After arriving in famously scenic Hayakawa and attempting to cross the suspension bridge over the lake, she continues on the Rindou Ikawa Amehata Line to the hot springs.

This also marks the first time a character in the show has uttered the term wabi-sabi, an aesthetic philosophy centered around the “acceptance of and appreciation for transience, imperfection, and incompletion”. In its depictions of Japan’s infrastructure and nature, Yuru Camp and its characters have been uniformly enthusiastic devotees of this worldview.

We get a Sakura sighting as she’s at a store that sells wild game considering whether to buy some deer or some bear paw, but after a quick Googling reveals a far-too-laborious process for cooking said paws, she goes for the easier deer. The final shot in the store is a novel fish-eye surveillance camera filming her from behind and at a distance.

After soaking in the pleasantly not-too-hot spring, Rin enjoys a spell in a massage chair, which must feel especially heavenly after all those hours in the moped saddle. She notices that Nadeshiko hasn’t texted her anything since the photo of her at the Tomato Mart, and decides to give her a call, only to get an automated “phone turned off or out of range” message.

That would be that, except that Rin is both a caring friend and feels responsible for Nadeshiko’s safety after getting her so interested in solo camping. Try as she might to put worries out of her mind, she instead envisions how she’d worry about her at various stages of her own camping trip.

She decides the only way to allay those fears is to take a slight detour and go check on her. Sakura seems to be on the same wavelength as Rin, as she uses the Find My Family app to discern Nadeshiko’s precise location.

Nadeshiko is actually doing just fine, having wrapped all of her veggies in foil and roasted them in a campfire she made inside the cooking pavilion. But when the two camping kids go to the pavilion to heat up their konbini dinners, again the older sister is bemused and a bit weary. Nadeshiko breaks out a little old country granny, further adding to the witch-like aura.

The little brother is the first to approach her, and learns that if she is a witch, she’s a good and kind witch, and one that’s great at outdoor cooking! She roasts a little bit of everything, with the tomato, potato, eggplant and sweet potatoes being particularly successful, the avocado less so, and the carrot gets over-charred.

Nadeshiko not only makes friends of the family, but also inspires the kids to cook next time they go camping, after finding out how easy it can be—literally just wrap a cheap sweet potato in foil, toss it into the flame, and wait! As they part ways, Rin arrives at the campsite to find that Nadeshiko is find, and cell phones just get spotty reception.

When she returns to the parking lot she encounters two glowing eyes and is scared shitless, but it’s just fellow worrywart Sakura, secretly checking in on her sister. The two decide, while they’re there, they might as well go up to the top to see the famously awesome nightscape. I mean, it’s a nightscape!

They do so—and the view is indeed awesome—but are almost caught but for the fact they could hear Nadeshiko coming from her singing to herself. They dash into the tall grass as Nadeshiko beholds the nightscape, takes a selfie, and then wanders around the area trying to find a bar with which to send it.

Rin and Sakura make it out of there without being seen, and as they drive off together, Sakura gets the selfie from Nadeshiko and has Rin stop so she can see it too, then offers to buy her dinner in town. As for Nadeshiko, she sets herself up in her cozy, toasty caterpillar-like sleeping bag on a bench overlooking the nightscape.

I for one am glad she didn’t spot Rin or Sakura, as it preserves the spirit, if not the letter, of the “solo-ness” of her trip, since she didn’t actually ask anyone to stop by and check on her, and there was no need to do so as she was perfectly fine on her own. That said, I’m sure she would have felt good knowing her friend and sister wouldn’t hesitate to do so, even if it diverted them from their own plans. That’s love, baby!

Yuru Camp△ 2 – 07 – Going Solo

Chiaki, Aoi, and Ena were a lot of fun these past two episodes, but by the end of their Lake Yamanaka trip I was ready for some Rin and Nadeshiko time, and that’s what we get here! After Ena shows Chiaki some photos from their almost-ill-fated trip, it finally happens: Rin’s little grill is used as an offertory box, as they drop a coin in and praise their mutual savior. Rin’s deadpan reply is simple and perfect: “No worshipping.”

Ena splits, enabling Nadeshiko to talk solo camping with Rin. Rin’s a little surprised someone as gregarious as Nadeshiko has taken an interest in it, but is happy to offer all the advice she can. In what seems like an intentional contrast to Chiaki mostly winging it, relying on luck, and paying the price, Nadeshiko is determined to plan her first trip The Right Way, and not bite off more than she can chew.

Rin’s insights and advice prove indispensable as Nadeshiko makes a master list of things to do. First, she tells her family she’s going solo, and Sakura quickly and clandestinely downloads a GPS app so they’ll know where she is—a move that’s as wise as Nadeshiko’s curious “What are you doing?” is hilarious.

She finds a spot that won’t be too cold that’s within walking distance of a train station (and in cellular range), checks the weather and in particular the day-to-night changes in temperature, and makes a list of things to do while she’s there so she doesn’t get bored. The big day arrives, and after sliding all of her gear onto her back with a “hup”, she’s off to Fujikawa by way of Fujinomiya.

Rin, who also has the weekend off, decides to take a solo trip of her own, this time heading to Lake Amehata in picturesque Hayakawa, first stopping at a super-cozy home café in Akasawa for mamemochi and amazake (with barley tea on the house).

Nadeshiko reports via photo of her arrival in Fujinomiya, and after praying at the temple there for a safe and fun solo camping trip, she stays the growling of her stomach as she passes restaurants on the way to the yakisoba place her sister recommended.

Sakura, who is also getting her sister’s photo updates, is driving … somewhere. Where precisely, we’re not told, but it looks for all the world like she’s trailing Nadeshiko like an overprotective parent, even though that seems like overkill. Nadeshiko even senses she’s being followed and looks behind her several times.

Rin leaves Akasawa and visits the Giant Cedar of Yushima. All the gorgeous scenery she rides and walks through really gives you the warm exciting feeling of exploring new and unfamiliar places. And then, as she pulls into a café near the Lake Narada Hot Springs, the Sakura mystery is solved, with Rin finding her car parked in the lot.

As Rin spots Sakura and starts to follow her, Nadeshiko finally gets a spot in the yakisoba place, and once seated, she quickly learns she’d better shout out her order when requested or she’ll be passed up. Trusting in her fellow orderers, she gets a gomoku shigure-yaki, a thoroughly rib-sticking local specialty of okonomiyaki and Fujinomiya yakisoba.

Due to the set up, we’re able to watch along with Nadeshiko every step of the way as her food comes together, and the opposite is true as well: the cook is able to see Nadeshiko’s patented “This is Super Tasty” Face. She snaps a pic for Rin, who is viewing it just as Sakura walks up to her.

Her “cover” blown, Rin decides to have some tea with Sakura, and while initially finds their silence awkward due to Nadeshiko not being there, Sakura is always ready to talk Moped Stories, the show Rin watched with the others during Christmas Camping. Rin also learns that Sakura is a fellow solo-er, taking a drive once a month or so to places featured on travel shows.

When talk turns to Nadeshiko, Rin can tell Sakura is worried, but right on cue Nadeshiko texts both of them a photo of her superbly round and jolly face standing outside the Tomato Food Market, where she’ll shop for dinner supplies before heading to the campsite.

Sakura heads to the hot spring, Rin continues on to her campsite, and Nadeshiko arrives in Fujikawa. She’s only a 5.5km (around 3.4 miles) walk from the “Fujikawa Healthy Greenspace Campsite”, the fictional version of Nodayama Health Ryokuchi Park. Thanks to the physical conditioning her sister forced upon her, it should indeed be a walk in the park!