I had never been to Japan during the cherry blossom season. To hit it when you’re planning a trip months in advance is challenging due to weather conditions and climate change has added a bit more unpredictability to the forecasts. The official cherry blossom season started on the day we were leaving Tokyo last year so we only made it to see about 3 trees with some small flowers on it.
This trip I was determined to find them. Shizuoka prefecture is known for the Kawazu-zakura cherry blossoms which bloom earliest in all of Japan.
Pretty much all of the roads in Shizuoka prefecture were single lane along a mountainside or through a very old small town. We passed many many public hot springs which I really wish we had time to stop at but our time was limited.
I knew we were getting closer as the cherry blossom trees I passed seemed to become more in bloom the further I drove. We finally got to our destination and the scenery was beautiful. What a picturesque scene of cherry blossom trees planted along the river with the mountains in the background.
This town actually celebrates a month long cherry blossom festival so there were shops, pop up food tents, and apparently a magic show too.
I was stressing out about having enough time to have dinner and return the car, especially because we were caught in a traffic jam that added 45 minutes to our already 2 hour long drive back to the city. Joanna suggested that I drop them off to put our name down for a table, I drop the car off, then catch a cab back to the restaurant, which was a great idea.
Become and I did all of that, caught a bus for even less than a cab ride, and made it to the restaurant in time for our name to be called to a table.
I don’t know what I was expecting but you know how Benihana is “Japanese” but really, it’s really not Japanese at all? This is what I think Japanese people think American food is like and is it delicious.
You walk into the restaurant smelling grilled beef envelop your senses.
Become and I ordered the biggest portion order we could because these 2 days of waiting really set a high bar for us.
The waitress brought us a large beef and pork patty on a sizzling fajita style plate, cut it in front of us, and poured either an onion sauce or demi glace sauce on top. They recommended we use the placemats as shields from the grease splatter.
I read some history on the hambagu steak and it originates in Hamburg Germany and was brought to Japan in the late 1800s. It’s like a cousin of the salisbury steak and has been a Japanese home cooking staple since the 1950s.
The meal was absolutely delicious and I would hands down come back to Shizuoka to finish taking photos at the Mt. Fuji spots we missed but more importantly, to eat hambagu steak at Sawayaka again.
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