June 25, 2023

This is our last port in Japan before we begin the 5 day journey across the Pacific to Alaska. We do cross the international date line so we will actually be moving forward 7 hours, and having an extra day, June 28. I know that we will all be pretty tired when we get there.

It was a beautiful day when we docked at 7 AM, cool and crisp.

Our tour today was the Crane Reserve and the City Museum. Our guide was Mayumi. She gave us a lot of information about the red crown crane which is considered very special in Japan. They believe that these cranes live for 1000 years which signifies longevity. And they do mate for life, so this crane is embroidered in the wedding garments here in Japan. It is also the symbol of Japan Airlines.

Kushiro is on the same latitude as Portland Oregon and has similar weather. The population is 160,000. It is the first time our ship has been to this port. Mayumi said that they get 10 ships a year.

On the way to our first stop, the museum, we saw beautiful scenery, very immaculate landscapes and nice Japanese homes. While the cities are very populated as compared to this island of Hokkaido, everything in this country is pristine. We noticed that Japanese men wore suits and dressed quite formally for work when we were here in the past. This time, most of the men were in white shirts, suit pants but no jacket. Our guides have told us that it is to keep the air conditioning at a higher temperature to save energy. They are very fond of the company UniQlo and can buy the shirts for $10 US. They are less concerned with other brands now.

The city museum was built in 1983, designed by local architect Mozuna Kiko to resemble a crane with outspread wings. The design symbolizes the rare population of Japanese cranes.

The museum tells the story of Kushiro from prehistoric times to the present day. The early culture, Ainu, is well represented. Mayumi told us that they believe in gods for everything, over 10,000 gods. Many are represented by things in nature. The three floors of the museum are divided into the development of Ainu culture and the Japanese crane on the 4th floor, Prehistoric Kushiro to Kushiro in modern times on the 2nd floor and on the 1st floor, the ice age, flora and fauna, and the marimo (algae) and the Pacific Ocean. We thought the museum was very well done. Here are some pictures.

Between the museum video and the crane reserve, we learned that after the Meiji era (1868-1912) the birds disappeared from view due to their dwindling population. In 1924 more than 10 Japanese cranes were discovered in Kushiro Marsh and local people including school groups have endeavored to protect them ever since. Japanese cranes were designated as a special natural monument of Japan in 1952. There are now 2000 cranes in this area.

After the museum, we went to the Tancho Kushiro Crane Reserve. We had originally wanted to go to the wetlands and this reserve but that tour was sold out. The people who went there didn’t see any cranes and very few birds, so we were glad we did this one.

The reserve was opened in August of 1958 with the release of 5 Japanese cranes in the area with the aim of protecting and propagating this endangered species. In the early days, staff at the reserve did not know the ecology of the crane and thus underwent a trial and error learning process. They finally succeeded in natural hatching after 10 years of attempts at reproduction, followed by the success of artificial hatching in 1970. Since then they have bred a number of cranes. At present about 20 Japanese cranes roam the reserve. The reserve has huge enclosures that are their natural habitat where they rehabilitate injured cranes. The cranes live there and do not migrate. Japanese cranes lay 1 -2 eggs and it takes 1 month for them to hatch. Males and females share ithe incubation of the eggs. Once the chicks emerge, it takes 100 days for them to reach the size of their parents and to fly.

Mayumi told us that in Japan, the family name is said first, then the given name. So her name is Brazil Mayumi. Brazil is an unusual name for a Japanese person, so she told us that her husband is Mark Brazil, a well known author.

The water and rice here are both delicious and there are many saki breweries. Mayumi said the milk is also extraordinary, so I had a vanilla ice cream at the museum. She was right.

When we got back to the port, there were musicians and dancers waiting to give us a wonderful send off and there were many local people there waving to us. We departed at 3 PM.

We had our second around the world dinner tonight. Because there are almost 400 around the world passengers, both Polo and Toscana are reserved for us for two nights. We are assigned to the night and the restaurant but can be seated with anyone. Woody and Fran were our tablemates tonight. Here is the menu and pictures of some of the food. I liked it all except the desserts were not my favorite.

Before dinner, around 6 PM, there was an emergency announcement that we were returning to port for a medical emergency. When we were close to the port a large helicopter hovered overhead and uplifted one of our passengers. Norm got a good picture.

Our cruise director, Dottie, dressed up for the occasion!

There will be a lot of special events in the next 2 1/2 weeks as we close out the world cruise and we are looking forward to every one. It is hard to believe it is almost at an end. The cruise director from our first half of the voyage, Ray Carr, is back on board to coordinate some of these events.