14 November 2025
Dinner theatre
Okayama on a Friday
I tried once again to find the illusive Okayama night life area. This being a Friday I thought that maybe entire dark streets might spring to life. Not the case as far as I can tell.
I have checked online and I am looking in the right places, but there really are not a lot of people or streets designed for a lot of people up to no good anywhere. Everything now seems to be the station and the Aeon mall next to it. Death by station.
There is a lot of Ramen to be eaten. But I decided I did not want Ramen, or curry, so I ended up with schnitzel which is certainly no healthier, but it does come with a lot of opportunities to throw stuff on the floor.
Here are the large buildings and some of the department stores near the station area. There is also a lot of construction going on. I suspect the main bus terminal which is currently in the old part of town, is now moving to the station area too.
Back near the famous garden I found an underground fountain. There is also a cactus garden terrarium (not pictured), and public toilets. What more could you ask for?
Back at the main Omotecho Shotengai, and all those lit up signs in a row look impressive, but most of them have empty shops below.
I found the guitar shop! Cheap guitars only, nothing I was interested in looking at. There were also numerous saxophone stores, including one called 'windy passage'.
Apparently this is a busy restaurant street. Hmmm.
Right back by the station I did find a slightly busy area, here it is. This is the busiest corner I can find in all of Okayama.
Alternatively, here is another large department store. Closing at 7pm.
And so it was back to the station for Tonkatsu from famous chain brand Saboten. Slightly more expensive than other similar places, but you get to do a lot of extra steps for your dinner and watch tables full of people smash plates and fire chopsticks across the restaurant (4 separate incidents while I was there). You see when you sit down they bring you sesame seeds in a mortar and pestle that you have to grind up. They also bring a pile of cabbage that you have to distribute into another bowl and add dressing to. There are also teapots of different sauces, and the cabbage dressing choices in big bottles. Then there is also the miso soup, rice, pickled vegatables, cup of tea. For me at a table for 2 on my own, I could manage, just. But when they put 4x as much stuff at a table for a group of 4, there is not enough room, and people grinding their sesame seeds and juggling sauces send a lot of crockery flying.
Tomorrow, you guessed it, is a hiking day.