【Camping in a Jimny】 A cozy stay in a car with a charcoal kotatsu along the coast of Odawara overlooking Sagami Bay! Cheers with grilled beef tongue

As the season of cold deepens, the author often camps on the seaside where there is little snow. This time, I tried a car stay in a JA22 Jimny using homemade camping gear at a seaside campsite in Odawara. I was able to enjoy a comfortable time while taking in the scenery of Sagami Bay.

Even though it's car camping, cold weather measures are important

Using a homemade bed kit made from erector pipes, I often felt cold while car camping in winter. Therefore, I set out for car camping equipped with gear suitable for tent camping.

To spend comfortably, I placed a kotatsu inside the car, aiming to keep the interior warm without feeling cold.

If you want to enjoy the scenery, a kotatsu inside the car is the best

The coastline usually has strong winds, but on this day it was almost calm, which was a relief. Even so, the temperature was low, and I felt the winter chill from the occasional sea breeze, so I decided to stay inside the car as planned.

When I set up the kotatsu after partially disassembling the bed kit, I realized I had forgotten my usual kotatsu tabletop, so I repurposed the bed kit's tabletop. Since there were no particular issues, I plan to use this method in the future to secure vehicle space.

Not only can I enjoy the view from the open trunk space, but the absence of smoke in the rear seat windows also allows for a nice view.

Cooking with far-infrared rays from charcoal instead of an open fire

Since the fuel for the kotatsu is charcoal, I decided to cook with charcoal and not to have a campfire. The last time I stayed here, a spark from the fire, blown by the sea breeze, made a hole in the tent, so I try not to have a campfire by the sea. Considering safety, I feel that charcoal is suitable for seaside camping.

Bell Food's "Konbu Dashi" goes well with beef tongue

I made camp meals with charcoal-grilled meat. I thought that the "Konbu Dashi" from Bell Food, which I recently bought, would go well with beef tongue, so I chopped green onions, cut a lemon, and just needed to grill the meat.

Combining beef tongue with green onions, lemon, and konbu dashi, I tried to see if it wouldn't turn into the salt sauce like at a yakiniku restaurant, and it turns out the umami of the dashi and the strong saltiness match well with the mild flavor of the tongue. Although beef tongue tends to become tough, thanks to the charcoal fire, it is grilled while retaining moisture, which had a positive effect.

It shouldn’t be warm, but surprisingly it's a warm night

thanks to the kotatsu, my body was warm until I went to sleep. In addition to merino wool socks, I was fully prepared for bed with adhesive hand warmers, but far from being cold, the outside temperature was 7℃ and it was quite warm inside the car. I took off my socks, opened the sleeping bag zipper a bit, and prepared for tomorrow's rain forecast by storing everything except the charcoal extinguishing pot inside the car before falling asleep.

Although rain was forecasted, I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise

I woke up just before sunrise and went outside; although there were clouds, there was a sense that the morning sun was rising, with a scent reminiscent of spring. If the weather is good, a round sun would rise from beyond the horizon, but on this day, it was a scene where orange light, like indirect lighting, appeared from behind curtain-like clouds. The recorded footage showed a purplish sky, creating a very surreal atmosphere.

It was clear that it would rain soon, so I prepared a simple breakfast and got ready to depart. When camping in a car, even on rainy days like this, there’s no need to pack up a tent or tarp, making the clean-up very easy.

If the gear is stored in the car, there's not even any clean-up, which decreases the psychological burden. By reducing the amount of luggage even more, it will increase freedom and allow for more activities inside the car, so I will try to come up with more ideas for the next camping trip.

Interview/Article by Kazuma Tanaka

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