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An Autumn Kitchen: Buy It, Then Just Grill It
Autumn produce has a way of not requiring any skill. Summer vegetables need work to drive off the water; winter roots need time before they turn sweet. Autumn things generally need salt and heat and nothing else. Mushrooms release their scent the moment they hit the pan; new-crop rice only has to be cooked. A saury on a skewer over charcoal is already a dish.
So when choosing an autumn stay, look for a kitchen rather than a restaurant. Of the 672 stays listed on Tomaribi, 311 have one. In nearly half of them, what you bought that afternoon can go straight onto the table.
There is one rule for the shopping. Do not decide what you want before you get to the shop. Decide in advance and you run into what they do not have; go in undecided and the best thing of the day is already laid out in front of you.
Bringing it in from the roadside market: GRANFARM Fuji Kawaguchiko
Five dome glamping units on high ground with views of Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchi, each with its own dining space, bathroom and toilet; the Earth and Suite tents add a private sauna and an outdoor bathtub. The interesting part is how meals work: using the indoor kitchen or the BBQ grill, guests bring in local vegetables, the regional “Wine Beef” and Fuji-no-suke salmon from roadside markets and nearby supermarkets. The grill, microwave, induction hob, toaster, tableware and seasonings are provided free. The shopping trip is built into the itinerary.
Leaving it to the locals: Lupo no Mori GRAN FOREST Echizen Miyama
Dome glamping attached to a natural hot-spring inn on a 5,000-tsubo site in Miyama, Fukui City. Six units in three styles, each with a private kitchen and a covered dining area. Dinner is a course of Fukui-grown meat, fresh fish and local vegetables prepared by a local chef. Rates start around 10,450 yen per person. It is worth having this option in reserve for the evenings when cooking sounds like work.
Grilling the island’s fish: LEMON FARM GLAMPING Shimanami
Eight units on a hill about 115 meters above sea level inside the citrus theme park Citrus Park Setoda, on Ikuchijima along the Shimanami Kaido. Each has a private garden, a fire pit and its own bathroom, and dinner is a Setouchi BBQ of domestic beef, seasonal local fish and local vegetables, with skillet dishes as well. There is a barrel sauna and a dog-friendly unit. Rates start around 47,000 yen per night.
Fewer plates is better
Get ambitious in a rented kitchen and the washing-up bares its teeth at the end of the trip. Keep the number of dishes small, serve on large plates, cook in sequence. That alone keeps whoever is cooking from being separated from the table. Autumn ingredients can each carry a course on their own, so there is not much reason to add plates.