Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

June 18, 2023

Our tour today was “The Glory of Mt. Rokko”. Our guide was Nobuko –she said to call her Nobi. The cable car takes you 900 meters high.

As you can see, the view from the top would normally be lovely but it was too hazy to see much. The area at the top was really pretty – lots of greenery and flowers.  I wish we would have had more time in the gift shop.  I did buy a pair of earrings and just after I bought them, Nobi came with a certificate for 150 yen discount ((Yen is very undervalued here and that would have been just about $1).  She felt terrible that I didn’t have the certificate and tried to get the clerk to give me the discount in cash which didn’t work, so she took money out of her own wallet and gave it to me.  I protested of course, but she wouldn’t hear of taking it back.  We just added it to her tip at the end of the day.  Here in Japan, tipping isn’t expected and sometimes even considered rude but our guides accepted it even when they seemed confused by the gesture.  The people are unfailingly polite.

Our second stop was the Hakutsuru Saki brewery and museum where we saw the process of making sake. The brand was established in 1743. It was a self guided tour through a very well maintained display of the old tools used throughout the company’s history. Here are just a few pictures of the 10 step process. 

After the tour, we sampled three kinds of sake.  I liked the lemon flavored one and bought one bottle for us and one for a friend who didn’t go on the tour.  I was surprised that they had a sake ice cream and they also sold this Blue Moon beer!

Our ship left today at 3 PM so we didn’t do anything else after the tour.

Back on the ship, our around the world ambassadors, Carolyn and Paul, held a pub night in Martinis with a sing along.  Very fun and just as crowded as the last one.  Then we had dinner with Bruce and Karen and several other tables of friends who joined in for a Father’s Day dinner.

June 17, 2023

We visited Kobe in 2019 and chose to see Kyoto that time.  Kobe is the fifth largest city in Japan and is famous for its Kobe beef.  We heard that they massage the cattle and feed them beer.  That is apparently what makes the beef so delicious.  I can’t attest to that since I don’t eat it!

This time we booked a tour called “Highlights of Osaka”.  Our tour guide was Matta.  We learned that Osaka is the second largest city in Japan and is the old capital.  Matta explained that while there are many parks and green spaces in other cities – especially Tokyo, Osaka “only spends money on making money”  not on parks, so it is a very dense city of commercial buildings and factories. 

Our first stop was the Shitennoji Temple which is one of the oldest temples in Japan and the first to be built by the state.It was founded in 593 by Prince Shotoku who supported t he introduction of Buddhism in Japan.

The surrounding gardens were also beautiful.  Matti told us that turtles and cranes are sacred here.

We visited the Osaka Castle which dates back to the end of the 16th century.  It is an imposing structure that is surrounded by three moats.  Two are dry moats.  There have been changes over the years, including fires which resulted in some reconstruction.

People could dress up in the kimonos and the shogun gear and have pictures taken.

We ate this delicious cheese filled pastry!

We were in Kobe overnight, so after the tour we walked from the ship to the market area of Kobe in search of a nail salon. We found two but they were booked.  We did a LOT of walking and saw many places to eat and many shops. 

Onboard tonight there was a local traditional show called the Arima Geiko Show.  These women shared the culture of their costumes, wigs and traditional music and dancing. It was interesting to hear that the wigs are very heavy and are made from human Mongolian hair because of its thickness.

June 16, 2023

We had a beautiful sunset when we left Kagoshima yesterday. We left 3 hours late due to a mechanical issue but the captain is planning to make up as much time as he can to have only a slightly late arrival into Hiroshima.

Here are some photos of our sail in to the harbor. We arrived only 30 minutes after our scheduled arrival. Well done, captain!

Hiroshima means “wide island”. It is best known as the first city in history to be targeted by a nuclear weapon when the United states Army Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945 near the end of World War II. The oleander is the official flower of the city because it was the first to bloom again after the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945. The city government continues to advocate the abolition of all nuclear weapons and the Mayor of Hiroshima is the president of “Mayors for Peace”, an international mayoral organization mobilizing cities and citizens worldwide to abolish and eliminate nuclear weapons.

Today we took a taxi to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Peace Memorial Park. We visited the park in 2019 but we were on a tour and it didn’t include the museum. Admission was only 100 yen for us old people – which was $.71 in US money. The museum is a very sobering history of Hiroshima both before and after the atomic bombing.It tells the story mostly through the people’s lives, those who died and those who survived.The museum calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons and eternal world peace. There were many pictures and artists renderings – too many to capture it all for this blog. But it is worth looking on their website. Very sad.

The weather was pretty perfect today – no rain and in the 70s. So it was a nice day to be in the park after we explored the museum.

The park was constructed to make the whole neighborhood of the Nakajima district into a symbol of everlasting peace and a recreation area for citizens. The park was renovated into its current design in preparation of the 50th anniversary of the bombing. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony is held here on August 6 every year.

The Cenotaph for the Victims of the Atomic Bomb (formally known as the Memorial Monument for Hiroshima, City of Peace) was built in 1952. Inside lay registries which contain the names of all the known victims of the bombing, regardless of nationality. Names are added to these registries each year.

There was a special exhibition about the Hiroshima War Orphans Foster Home. The bombing deprived many children of their families.
The exhibition describes the history of the home and the life of Gishin Yamashita who introduced the legislation, made contributions and was engaged in the operation of the home. It accepted a total of roughly 170 children until 1953 when operation of the foster home was transferred to the City of Hiroshima.

These paper cranes are made by people around the world and brought to Hiroshima as a symbol of peace. There are thousands on display here.

We had a scheduled departure for Kobe at 4:45 so we took the shuttle bus back to the ship and watched the drummers on the pier serenade us before we left. And we were delayed again today – a bigger ship had to leave before us. It was a huge car carrier.

June 15, 2023

We have been to Kagoshima once before, in 2019. This time we opted to go on the Ibusuki Sand Bath Tour.Our guide was Mayumi and she was probably one of the best guides we have had. The trip to the Sand Baths took 1 hour 20 minutes and she was so informative the whole time. Kagoshima is a port city on the western shore of Kinkowan Bay. It is the southern most major city in Japan’s southern island of Kyushu. The volcano, Mt. Sakurajima, towers 3500 feet over the city and the bay. It is an active volcano and it erupts pretty constantly each day, but not dangerously. The most dangerous eruption was on January 11, 2014. It is the most active volcano in Japan. It was pretty cloud covered all day but here is the best picture I could get.

The city of Kagoshima has a population of 600,000 and is in a beautiful area. Agriculture is the largest occupation and the green tea, sweet potatoes and wagu beef are very popular. Kagoshima is the second largest producer of green tea in Japan. Mayumi said that the pork and beef are both delicious – the pigs are fed sweet potatoes and the steers are fed green tea!

Japan is made up of 14,200 islands. I had no idea! It is the length of Montreal to Jacksonville! There are 124 million people and the cities are quite crowded but you don’t see that in this area.

Mayumi told us many of the Japanese customs including bowing as a greeting. The depth of the bow is lower if the person being greated is of greater stature. It is considered respectful if you greet the person back the way you were greeted.

We reached the Ibusuki Sunamushi Onse Natural Sand bath and spa and got instructions about how it all worked. This is the only hot sand spa in the world so we knew we would be in for something special. We received two towels, a large one and a small one and a summer (cotton) kimono. We had to remove all clothing and shoes and put everything in a locker. We took the small towel with us down to the beach where there were covered sand baths. When the tide is right and the weather is good, the sand bath takes place out on the beach. Mayumi got special permission to take photos of us – it is usually not allowed – and she collected all of our cell phones so that she could walk around and take the pictures. The small towel is wrapped around your head and you lie down in the sand where the workers cover you with the warm sand. The sand underneath you is quite warm too. You only stay for 10 – 15 minutes. The sand is heavy and we both felt our bodies pulsing. The sand is hot from the hot springs. After the sand bath, we came in and showered the sand off, then went into the hot springs pool (women and men separately and naked). It was incredibly well organized as most things in Japan are.here are pictures of what it looks like under cover and out on the beach.

The sand bath hot springs have been used for the past 300 years. Their brochure says that it has been medically proven to have many positive effects on the human body. Research done by professor Tanaka of Kagoshima University Medical Department has demonstrated that sand bathing actively stimulates the heart and increases blood circulation in the body. The literature states that it is effective in relieving the following: neuralgia, rheumatism, lumbago, arthritis, fractures, paralytic effects of stroke, atopy, skin diseases, asthma, diabetes, and sensitivity to cold. It is prohibited for people with high blood pressure over 180, heart disease, irregular pulse, liver disease and fever (although no one asked us!). I am not sure it really relieves all that, but it did feel very relaxing.

Before we left, I found out that you could purchase the cotton kimonos like the ones we wore in the sand. Here is mine! Perfect to use as a robe yet Norm thinks I could wear it to dinner.

On the way back to the ship, Mayumi showed us pictures of how weddings are conducted and the finery worn by brides and grooms – she showed us her own wedding pictures with the 4 changes of outfits! She also explained the reverence for older relatives and how families usually have cemeteries near their homes so that they can visit graves to honor the dead.

Then, we learned how to count in Japanese. She held up cards with each number and the Japanese pronunciation. She quizzed us on some numbers as well. She kept us well informed and entertained the entire trip. I would say she was one of the best guides we had. She gave us samples of Japenese candies and had one of the small towels we used on our heads for each of us – clean ones, that is.

There were some small shops in the terminal and one booth was giving away origami figures. I got this small top that is very beautifully made and it spins.

We got back in time for our lunch and it was the Mexican lunch that we love. Fresh nachos out on the deck. I took my deck walk and while I was out there a huge black smoke came out of a metal pipe and there was loud noise on my whole walk. We were supposed to leave at 3 PM but I am writing this at 5 and we are still in port. Apparently during the weekly test of the back up generator, something was tripped and none of the elevators work. So the ship cannot leave until everything is working. Ned, our chief engineer and friend, was supposed to do a guitar concert at 5:30 but I am guessing that will be postponed. We are schedule in to Hiroshima tomorrow at 10:30 so we will need to see when we can leave and how that will impact tomorrow. Stay tuned!

June 14, 2023

This is a new port for us, and we foound out that it is the first time our ship has been to this port. When a new ship comes to a port, the local officials do a ceremony and present a placque to the captain. We were out on tour and didn’t see the ceremony but our friends happened to get off the ship when it was happening.

Amami Oshima is one of eight islands in the Amami archipelago, just some of the numerous islands that spot the stretch of sea between mainland Japan and Taiwan. There are steep tree covered mountain slopes. The island is far from the mainland and to this day, poor weather cuts locals off from food and important deliveries from the mainland. For any serious medical issue, they use helicopters to transport people to mainland hospitals. There are no colleges or universities here and when young people leave for post secondary education (as 96% of them do) most do not return.

Our guide today had a very long Japanese name, so he asked us to call him a short veresion – Kaz. He started off by saying that he works in an insurance office but when he is needed to serve as a guide he tries his best to do so. He said that he failed college entrance exams for a Japanese university four times, so he ended up going to colleage in Las Vegas, Nevada. He majored in hotel management and tourism. He loves this island, though, so he chose to come back to live and has been here for the 10 years since college.

The island has a long history. This town has a population of 50,000 people and the whole island has 100,000. Construction is the main industry and sugar cane production is second.

Our first stop was about 40 minutes from the port and it was Oshima Tsumugimura, a museum and factory tour where they have been making silk woven fabric for kimonos for many years. The site is beautiful. We walked through many tropical like settings with lush plants and beautiful flowers. Our guide here did not speak English, so Kaz interpreted on our tour.

We saw the first area, the dyeing house. Sharinbai trees are chopped into pieces and then steamed with water for 20 hours. The dyeing takes place for 20 times, Then the threads are set to dry. After that, they are dyed with mud fields and they turn into brown. This process is repeated 4 times. Finally, silk threads are changed into elegant black by dyeing 80 times. Fine mud fields contain tannic acid from the trees and the iron in the mud combined.

The pattern is designed by choosing the colors according to the graph paper pattern. Then, the Shime-bata loom is used to tighten the silk threads with cotton. To achieve the desired design, the cotton threads are removed so the silk threads may be dyed to match the specific color in the design. Finally, the fabric is carefully woven to match the pattern. Fine checking is performed every 8 cm where threads are adjusted to ensure accuracy and consistency. It takes a very long time to weave even a small section. A 5 inch section takes about 8 hours. This weaver is 74 years old and has worked there for 46 years. The factory has been there for 1300 years and now it is almost a dying art since like many occupations, the young people don’t want to do this anymore.

We visited the shop which had such beautiful products. Norm bought a shirt and I got a scarf.

There were hats, purses and all kinds of other accessories. But no kimonos for sale. We couldn’t have afforded one anyway.

Our second stop was to the Shochu distillery which is a 4th generation family business. The owner is a young woman who is friends with Kaz. He said she had been practicing her English and wanted to take half the group through the distillery and the other half would do the tasting and then we would reverse. It is not a big place so that worked well. And she did a good job with her English. This Shochu is only made here on this island and is the oldest of the 27 saki companies. The guide’s great grandfather started the company and it has been family owned since then. Only 6 people work there and run the entire operation. The liquor is similar to a scotch and two of the types were 40 proof and one was 30 proof. Not my style but it was fun to see and taste. It is made from rice, a mold that helps it ferment and both white and brown sugar.

After the tour and tasting, we returned to the ship for a 3:30 PM departure. Our next port is Kagoshima, Japan.

June 13, 2023

Last night was one of the two Oceania Club cocktail parties and for dinner in Toscana, we were invited with our Captain and Chief Engineer along with Erin and Mui. Both gatherings were so enjoyable.

During dinner, the Captain mentioned that it would be a full day of rain on Tuesday. We were in Okinawa in 2019 and since then the Shuri Castle that we visited had a fire and is under construction. None of the tours can go there now since it is closed. We decided not to do an organized tour and we wanted to see the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum so we decided to take a taxi directly there. The immigration procedure here took quite a long time. We arrived in port at 11:30 and we had lunch on the ship. Then we got our passports (the ship keeps them most of the time as the officials from most countries come onboard and check and stamp them there). We had to stand in a line to have our pictures and fingerprints taken and passports checked. Norm exchanged some money and we got a cab right outside of the terminal. At this point it was raining lightly. We got an announcement that the ship will leave 30 minutes early to avoid the weather system that is coming in.

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In early modern periods and in medieval times it was the commercial center of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The name Naha comes from its original name, Naba, which was the name of a large mushroom shaped stone in the city. Naba is the Ryukyuan word for mushroom. The stone has since become buried but the name remains.

It only took about 20 minutes to get to the museum. Since we were over 70, admission was free! We didn’t expect that. They have a very unique system for audio in the museum.

We had headsets and this board with a stylus attached. You pointed the stylus first at the language you wanted, then at each numbered area you just tapped on the number and the audio started. It was so easy to use because of the actual map that made it easy to find the displays. We could take pictures in the main exhibit hall but not in the art museum.

The museum has a 70 year history – it was established just after the war. Its collection of more than 100,000 artifacts are displayed in a permanent exhibit under the theme “Sea and Island Life – Seeking Prosperity, Beauty and Peace.”

I will post pictures of some of the items in the museum. There were sections on Okinawa history, pottery, wildlife, burial procedures and much more. It was very interesting and I learned a lot of what I had never known (or forgot) about the US involvement in Okinawa.

When someone dies, they keep the body in a coffin until only the skeleton remains. Then they wash the bones in front of the tomb and proceed with cremation or sometimes re-bury the bones. This ancient tradition is still carried on for many families. More elaborate family tombs can cost as much as a house. Family celebrations are often held at the tomb site.

There were two model reproductions of Minatogawa Man as well as skull fragments of people who lived here 20,000 years ago.

We went to the museum cafe for a drink, did a bit of shopping in the museum store and easily got a taxi back to the ship.The tourist bureau at the port was helpful with a map and even wrote out directions in Japanese for us to hand to the taxi driver both ways. Most often, our daily newsletter on the ship gives the translation and we take a photo of it or take the newsletter to show to drivers. It works for the way back to the ship but not to where we want to go, so we were glad to have that. Neither of the taxi drivers spoke any English.

The bathrooms in Japan are quite amazing. The toilets have settings on the side for spray, bidet and even music to hide the sound of urinating and flushing. But for people used to squatting in the bathrooms in countries without western toilets, they also have directions on how to use the western toilet.

I bought some paper earrings in the museum shop. Very unique.

Tomorrow we arrive in Amami Oshima (Naze), Japan, a new port for us.