The Water Wheel - Fabulous Japanese Dining

Alright, so my camera doesn't really do "night shots," but you get the idea. This little restaurant is tucked away on a tiny side street off of Route 51 and the Japanese name translates to "The Water Wheel." Our friends Dan and Yumiko wanted to take us here and I am SOOOO glad that we found a babysitter and took them up on it! The restaurant is an old house converted and is located very close to both Camp Zama and the Army's Sagamihara Housing. Dan and Yumiko explained to us that because of the remarkable collection of Samurai and turn of the century armor and weapons housed here, the big wigs of the military and American government are often entertained at this restaurant. I have to admit that even with my limited interest in armor and guns, I was super impressed! The places is both a restaurant and a MUSEUM! After one of the servers, (robed in full kimono,) showed us to our private room, we slipped out to view the armor and weapons collections. Below is the room of armor.
Almost all of the guns were well over 100 years old. Every one of them was uniquely decorated and carved.
Not sure how old these guns were...
Cliff amidst the armor. Again, every suit was unique and interesting.

We all liked this one a lot.
Detail of a dragon.
And what samurai collection would be complete without some swords? The rusty thing on the bottom was apparently a sword dating back 1,000's? of years?
And onto the food! Equally if not more impressive than the weapons was the FOOD! I am an artist and thus a sucker for presentation. The Japanese do presentation like no other country on earth. Everything that was served to us had it's own place, edible flowery counterpart, and seasonal story. Everything was fresh. Most importantly, everything was was mind blowingly delicious. We ate crab, squid, season fish, roe, Japanese vegetables that I have never heard of... It was such an adventure! The salad in the bottom right corner had crab and squid and fried squash and POMEGRANATE! Who comes up with these combinations? It was spectacular of course.
This might have been my favorite dish. It was the best sashimi I have ever had in my life. It was fresh and cool and firm and fantastic. The lemon was a nice touch too. YUM! There were at least 6 different kinds of fish.
The sukiyaki was the main course. They brought over the marbled beef and cabbage with mushrooms and noodles and cooked it right in front of us. It was awesome. Just awesome.
Fish and flowers! Lovely!
Scroll in our room.
Our table.

Here we are outside by the wheel. The place is also open for lunch. I can't wait to go back!