BEST SUSHI RESTAURANT & VISIT SUO-OSHIMA ISLAND
26.01.2025
I once again had a sleep in, this time it was 9.15am when I got out of bed. I guess that’s just old age. I felt a bit better when Mami said she only got up half an hour before me. I had a light breakfast of cereal and an apple.
Mami had no breakfast as she is the one who decided we would be eating at a well known sushi restaurant and knows what is in store for us. The restaurant is called Chikara Sushi, and Mami can remember going there with her parents and Nana when Mami was still in Primary School.
We left home at 10.45am with Mami driving. We passed through the entry to the Sanyo Tollway but there was a guy in uniform who had his eye on us. As soon as we passed through, a second guy in uniform flagged us over. Mami was a bit anxious but the guy in uniform only inquired if we were all wearing seatbelts. Thank goodness we were all belted. Yoshi and Youko were in the back seat and as the back seat seatbelt law only became law in 2008 and I think a lot of people were not happy about it. Luckily we were all doing the right thing and were allowed to continue our journey.
Arriving at Chikara Sushi we could see there were already about 6-8 people waiting at the entrance to get a seat. Mami and Youko joined the line while Yoshi and I crossed the road to take photos of the ocean. It is a really nice day to take photos, with blue skies and a few clouds,
We only waited about 15mins. It’s a sushi restaurant that has the charm of a traditional Japanese house, meaning they had a Tatami room, not a table and chairs. I was really happy to see that …. Not!!!
The restaurant is not an ordinary restaurant, it is very famous for the jumbo sushi, with rice that’s twice the normal size and topped with 20 cm long slices of fish, which makes quite an impact visually. There was salmon, tuna, grilled conger eel, Yellowtail king Kingfish, prawns, pippies, scallops, fish eggs, and squid. Enough there to keep everyone happy. Hopefully, the photos capture just how incredible it all looked.
I was surprised to find the cooked conger eel was really tasty, as I don’t usually like eel. On the other hand I love scallops but these were uncooked and I thought the flavour wasn’t as good and they actually remove the orange roe, which I also like.
After the meal, our next stop was Suo-Oshima, which is only a 20 minute drive from the restaurant. We passed some beautiful scenery on the way, with lots of mountains and quaint country villages. We took a number of shots but it was a little difficult when taking them from the car so I hope we get a couple of shots good enough to put in the blog.
I have been to Suo Oshima a couple of times and really like it a lot. Suo-Oshima is located at the easternmost point of Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the Seto Inland Sea, and consists of the main island, Suo-Oshima, along with five inhabited islands and 25 uninhabited islands in the surrounding area. Again this gave us the opportunity to take lots of photos and looking at some of them reminded me of Okinawa.
It was another beautiful day today and we enjoyed driving along the coast on the island. Stopped at a few spots and took some photos. We then drove onto Michi no eki (I hope you read the Day 48 blog)
Behind this Michi-no-Eki Southern Seto, there is a small island located just off the coast which is connected to the mainland by a sandbar that appears when the tide is low. This path is only visible for about three hours before and after low tide, and you can walk across it during that time when the path is exposed. Apparently this is called the Tombolo phenomenon. Luckily Mami and I were there at the right time, so we made it all the way to the small Island…… and back!!
The second highlight of today was stopping at a cafe called Misaki Cafe. We’ve been here twice before, thanks to Nana, who discovered it while searching for the best pancakes in Yamaguchi Prefecture. I ordered the berry pancake, and it didn’t disappoint. It was just as delicious as I remembered.
Today has been such a great day. We enjoyed fantastic food, stunning views, and fresh air, but most of all, we cherished the time spent with Yoshi and Youko. It seemed like they had a wonderful day too.