“Only Women Used to Cook Teppanyaki Here…”

A Lesson in Dedication from Fukuoka
July 2025 – Fukuoka, Japan

This summer, I had the chance to cover the first-ever Aloha Fukuoka Hawaii Goodwill Games for DokoGaTV. Over eighty players and families flew in from Hawaii to meet local Japanese teams, and for two days straight, baseball filled the air.

The games were electric. Kids from opposite sides of the Pacific met as strangers but left as friends. Parents traded stories in the stands, coaches laughed with each other, and you could see right there why student travel and travel through sport are so powerful — they bring people together faster than anything else. By the end of the weekend, these kids weren’t just opponents, they were teammates for life.

Even though some of the Japanese players couldn’t speak English and the Hawaiian players couldn’t speak Japanese, baseball became their language — and they hit it off immediately. It inspired many of them to pursue further studies in languages and culture. I can only imagine the new dreams that were born out of that weekend.

And while the games were the highlight, traveling through Japan also gave us a thousand little side stories. One of mine happened at a small teppanyaki restaurant tucked near our hotel.

Teppanyaki with a Lesson

We didn’t plan to eat there — our group coordinator looked for a place that had meat and could fit seven people, it just so happened to be open. Thank God for that! Because…

The chef, 75 years young, worked the grill with quiet precision. She told us that, originally, only women were allowed to cook teppanyaki there. Training started in the back kitchen, and only after years of dedication did you earn your place at the grill before customers.

Needless to say, the food was spectacular. The perfect portions, perfect flavors, a little bit of everything that each person in our group loved. Both seafood and Wagyu. Even thick honey toasted on the grill before our very eyes. What a luxury…

📍 Kikuya 喜久家 – https://hakata-kikuya.com/

Between turning vegetables and slicing wagyu, our chef also shared a bit of her life: raising her children alone as a single mother while keeping the restaurant going. Arriving the earliest and leaving last. Cooking wasn’t just her job, it was her calling — something she poured herself into while also instilling a strong work ethic and respect into her kids.

As a working mom myself, I was moved and encouraged by her words. Watching her move so confidently in her own space reminded me that passion and family can go hand in hand, even if the balance looks different for each of us.

Service That Blew Me Away

When we left the restaurant that night, it was pouring rain. Before I even realized, she had already set out umbrellas for every single one of us to walk back to the hotel. Who does that? That kind of kindness sticks with you.

On top of that, she handed each of us gifts (I can’t vouch that this will happen to every customer… it may have been the particular season we were there or because we were filming, so don’t go expecting gifts there – the food was more than a fabulous gift and yet her generosity went a step further: a wooden fan painted with one of Fukuoka’s towering festival floats. (If you’ve seen them, you know they rise several stories high during the parades.) The fan was so unique and special that when my mother-in-law visited from Germany after our trip, I gave it to her. Passing along that piece of Japan felt just as meaningful as receiving it.

Why It All Matters

For me, the games will always come first — that’s what we all flew here for. But moments like this meal reminded me that travel through sport is more than just what happens on the field. It’s the meals shared, the kindness of strangers through the local Japanese people you meet, and the encouragement you take home with you. 

The kids came for baseball, but they left with new friends and memories of Japan that will stay with them long after the scoreboard faded. And for me, meeting that teppanyaki chef — a woman who lived her passion while raising her family — will always be tied to the spirit of those unforgettable games.

A huge mahalo to DokoGaTV and filming crew, Coaches Tyler, Anson, the instigator Garett, Non-Stop Travel (Hawaii), JTB Fukuoka, and Hawaiian Airlines.

With love from Sapporo,
Isis.