“So much of what you are is where you’ve been.” Triprebel

We are just docking in Kagoshima our last port in Japan.  Typical of every port in Japan it is cloudy and they say we have an 80% chance of rain!  We noticed last night when we checked the weather that there is a typhoon headed straight toward Tokyo .  We had a little bit of rough seas last night but it felt like somewhere after midnight the seas calmed. We are hopeful that we are out of the way of the winds and storms.

Our last two ports have been pretty insignificant for us.  We decided against organized tours because of the weather conditions.  There are never any tour vendors once we dock; it is very different from any other port we have been to.  There are sometimes a few taxi’s but many of the drivers don’t speak English so you have to show them a destination on a map or use the little translation card they provide us with very simple statements and requests on it.  

Each port has had a very friendly group to welcome us once we dock and often they have a ceremonial or traditional send off for us too.  

Our last two ports were Beppu followed by Hososhima.  We noticed that the smaller port towns had more homes in the area than apartments and most had nice small garden plots.  All the workers are cleanly dressed with hats and white gloves; the taxi drivers wear white gloves, hats and have their seats covered with removable white covers.  The vehicles are usually very clean too inside and outside.  

We arrived in Beppu at about 12 noon.  The ship stayed in port late that day leaving around 10:45.  I think we were already asleep when the ship pulled out.  I think if we were to see Japan in the sunshine with things actually blooming it would be a beautiful site but there really isn’t anything blooming and mostly we see large puddles and dripping trees followed by masses of people under umbrellas.  

Beppu is home to abundant hot springs and this was the focus of lots of the tours.  They say they have 8 distinctive hot springs here each with their own unique water qualities and atmosphere.  Beppu has a Zoo, a fragrance museum, a cable car which can take you to Mt Tsurumi which is 1300 meters high, an outdoor theme park for kids and family with the world famous Hello Kitty character  and a marine aquarium.   None of these were offered as tours and of course you wouldn’t be doing outside things with the wet conditions.  They were hading out free postcards in Beppu which were advertising the Rugby World Cup to be held in Japan in September of 2019 in the Oita Prefecture (Prefecture is like a state or county)  Below is a photo of our welcoming group (older ladies in kimono’s) that waved and bowed as we left the ship.  

Our captain is seated beside a Japanese officially inside the terminal and was receiving a plaque from the town as this was the first time our ship had come to their port.  Miss Beppu was also present; after the ceremony many of the officials toured the ship.  

We had to laugh at this Aflac center!!  We have seen the Aflac information in almost every town we have docked at.  

They provided a free shuttle bus to the downtown area for the passengers leaving about every 20 minutes from the ship or the downtown area.  

And here is Dan sporting the typical Japanese umbrella !  Ha ha 

 A few shops set up outside on the docking area serving some food items or selling trinkets.  

Under the tent is the free wifi area for passengers and crew..

 Our rom is the one to the right of the life preserver with the little white towel animals in the window :)

 A poor photo out the window of the free shuttle in the port of Hosohima the next day.  This is an area where they surf!  

 The free shuttle also went to the Hyuga Sun Park which has a restaurant, hot pools and baths (onsens). We just looked around some and got a good view of the ocean. 

 The characters here are the mayor and other officials and pretty funny advertising!

 Outside views...

 A very large bougainvillea !!

 Another famous Baseball player!!

 Every store or business has free loaner umbrellas!

 More homes here rather than apartments.  

So Hososhima too was a wet and rainy day.  We took the shuttle also to the mall area where Dan go more cough drops (he’s feeling some better) and looked for Robitussin cough syrup but even with an English speaking pharmacist we couldnt’ find anything in Japan that came close to the ingredients in our product so we went without.

The show last night was the Vox Fortura a classical four man group that was interesting.  They did mostly opera and show tunes but the crowd was appreciative.

That’s about it from here.  Time to get ready for our tour in Kagoshima :)

“Traveling. It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”, IBN Battula

So storyteller may be my new profession :). Or maybe just a way to document and remember all the interesting things we are seeing and doing.  Yesterday was another private tour arranged by one of the passengers several months before we started.  We docked around 8 at Osaka which was the time for our tour to begin.  There were 41 one of us, the driver and two English speaking guides.  Dan still has his head cold and didn’t feel really energetic but we knew a lot of the tour would be spent on the bus getting to the historic sites we wanted to see.  The day was mostly cloudy with some sun breaks but no rain and at times it was so warm we needed to take off our jackets.  Our three sites consisted of the Sanjusangendo Hall, the Heian Shrine and the Nijo Castle along with a stop for a traditional Japanese style lunch. All along the way our guides took turns telling us about their city and our destinations.  One guide was a Japanese gentleman who did this on a part time basis.  His English was very good; I suspected he might have been a teacher but am not sure.  The other was a young lady who was half Filipino and half Japanese.  She was born in the US but was very interested in traveling abroad and studying Japanese so she came several years ago on a university program and then applied for a work visa getting a job with the tour company.  Both had a good sense of humor and shared a lot of personal things about living in Japan and traveling around the islands.  

The Sanjusangen Hall or temple houses 1001 statues of the Buddhist deity .  One thousand standing statues of Kannon (important cultural properties) and one gigantic seated statue are placed at the center of the standing statues and are housed in the temple.  We all had to remove our shoes to enter the temple and were told there was no talking; but there were literally bus loads of students from elementary to jr high age going through the temple with their teachers and the teachers were sharing information with them quietly.  We were quite impressed with how respectful and well behaved the students were.  All were in uniforms and there was no inappropriate behavior or comments.  All the statues are made of Japanese Cypress; 124 of them were made in the12th century when this temple was founded; the rest, 876 were made in the 13th century when the temple was renovated.  The photos I have aren’t great because there was no photo taking inside the temple; they would confiscate your phone or camera if you even tried to take a photo.  I took the photos I have off the brochure.  The two powerful looking statues of the Thunder God and the Wind God (he is carrying what looks like a long bag on his shoulders) are at either side of the temple on raised pedestals that look cloud shaped.  These Gods were derived from the people’s fear of and gratitude for nature in the old days.  These God’s they felt controlled the rain and wind and brought about good harvests.  There are 28 images placed in a straight line in front of the 1001 statues and are guardian deities that protect the Buddhist deity.  Many are mythical images expressed in a vivid manner having their origin from ancient India.  They were made in an assembled method with arms and heads being carved separately and then joined together coated with lacquer and finished with coloring.  This temple was established by a powerful warrior politician in 1164.  The original temple was lost in a fire but the building was reconstructed in 1266!!  This has remained unchanged for 700 years with four great renovations made during that period.  The long temple hall is about 120 meters long.  There are 33 spaces between the columns therefore the name for this temple which means a hall with 33 spaces between the columns.  

After about an hour at this temple we reboarded the bus for the Heian Shrine.  Here is some of the interesting information the guides shared as we traveled...

Osaka mostly was wetlands...they are great rivals with Tokyo.  It is very expensive to build because of earthquake standards.  As we drove we noticed that laundry was hanging everywhere on balconies. Not as clean here as what we saw in the other Japanese cities..we noticed garbage in the mediums and along the sides of the streets cigarettes and small debris.  There is  no sound of “L” in Japanese.  Universal Studios Japan is located in Osaka close to the port and the Japanese are diehards for Harry Potter.  We did drive past the studios on our way to Kyoto where the shrines and temples are located.  One interesting structure that we passed was their garbage and recycling plant!  It looks like part of Universal Studios with large gold capped towers.  They say the Japanese like to inject random art into their society so we may see examples of that when we travel throughout the area. 

We had a couple that should have originally boarded in San Diego join us in Osaka.  The story we heard was that their son in law was on the police force in Portland and had died.  We don’t know if he died on the job or had been ill but the local police and fire department personnel arranged for a memorial for their son in law.  The date was set for a time during the cruise from San Diego to Dutch Harbor so the older couple contacted the Holland America office and asked for permission to board in Osaka so they could attend the memorial.  They drove to San Diego on Oct 1st and actually loaded their luggage into their stateroom.  Then they left the ship and returned to Portland.  We picked them up at a hotel on the way to our first temple...all the passengers clapped for them and you could tell people were so happy that they could finally join us.  

Feudal wars were endless with thousands of small kingdoms ruled by lords trying to expand their territory in Japan.    For 250 years now they have had peace.  Shoguns are leaders like prime ministers and are over samurai.  

People in Osaka are said to be friendly rough loud maybe abrasive.  Tokyo people not so friendly.  Tokyo people are concerned about money and position ...small hotels are called love hotels!!  Ha ha.  

It takes a long time to get anywhere here.  Don’t see any old cars. They say their cars only last about 10 years.  

Japan is about 2400 miles long which would be like from New York to Mexico City.  Main island is Honshu.  Population is congested.  30 million live in Tokyo in a radius of 40 miles.  Within a 30 mike radius are 15 million people in Osaka. There are 127 million people total who live in Japan...70% of Japan is covered in hills and mountains.  10 % of the land is where the people live.  They all live in tiny apartment homes.  People live in two big areas of Japan because of climate and flat land.  Other parts are very cold.  

When you give Japanese something you typically give food or drink not things because of their small living quarters.  Hospitality is their hallmark.  They don’t require tips because they believe they should always give you excellent service. 

Cars are checked and licensed every two years.  License plates are white for regular sized vehicles.  Yellow plates are used for compact vehicles and they pay less tax. Streets are very narrow often just one lane.   Green license plates are for commercial vehicles like taxis and trucks. 

No freeways are built in Japan.  All roads except in town are toll roads.   Can be costly like $18 per section to pay in tolls to travel. Some train stations offer cars only for women so they are not harassed.  

Number 8 means a promising future. 4 and 9 are often avoided.  On special occasions like weddings and funerals friends and relatives give money.  Usually 10,000 yen but give odd amounts not even because they believe that odd amounts of money can not be divided which would mean like divorce. 

There are at least 2000 religious sites in Kyoto.  1600 shrines. 400 temples and 1 castle.

Kyoto was capital for 1000 years. Layout was North to south and very straight.  Easy to navigate.   

Shintoism is originally from China and they have or had 100’s of Gods.    Buddishm came to Japan in 6th century.  They coexist in Japan and are mutually beneficial.   New homes have Shinto priest to ask to have the god of ground protect the house.   A baby born  goes to Shinto shrines to receive a blessing from priests.  When married ladies dress they want a Western wedding ceremony often held at chapel or what they call a one day Christian ceremony.    Funerals are only conducted by Buddhist priests.  

There are no beggars seen anywhere.  

Japanese use four types of writing items like Chinese characters , phonograms, pictograms, etc.  they must know all four ways.  Very challenging. Osaka has very few earthquake tremors but Tokyo

 has many often.  

Gas is about $6 per gallon. 

Ikigai is a word in Japanese that means to search for ones purpose and ones self. 

On our entire 80 day cruise we will experience 10 currencies.

After the  Heian Shrine which was fairly quick we were off to lunch.  Our lunch was at the Gion Gyuzen. We climbed four sets of stairs to get to the restaurant.  We noticed that many establishments are like this located up off the Main Street. The seating was the traditional low table with thin seat cushions and of course you remove your shoes before entering into the restaurant area.  Each table was set for four people with a built in electric heating element in the middle of the table.  Our meal was called Shabu-Shabu which the guide said would mean a meal of very thinly sliced meat cooked in a large boiling water pot with various vegetables.  We each had a bowl of rice which was ready and waiting for us; none of us drank the water but we did have a pitcher of water on the table.  We also had some soy sauce, peanut sauce and another bowl of tofu and thick rice noodles.  I found this lunch to be much better than the previous one we had in Tokyo but many people wouldn’t eat the meat saying it was too fatty!  It was difficult for lots of the older folks to eat with the low tables but almost all of them were able to get seated; we had two folks that were disabled that were served at more of a bar making it easier for them.

After about an hour lunch we headed to the Nijo Castle.  It was a much larger facility with gardens and ponds.  Because of the traffic our guides told us we would not have time to actually tour the whole castle but encouraged us to wander through the gardens and all the different areas.  The castle was built 400 years ago being completed in 1603. The building of this castle was to unify Japan after a long period of civil war by a famous shogun.  This shogun would reside here on the rare occasions when he visited; when he was not in residence the samurai guards would garrison the castle.  The 400 year old buildings staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the last period of feudal rule and the creation of the modern Japanese State.  They are the golden age of Japanese architecture known as the Edo period  which is ornate and magnificent relating to their interiors.  We did see a lovely heron in one of the ponds at the castle and were impressed with the huge moat around it.  The castle has been under a large renovation since 2011.  The Palace consists of 6 connected buildings arranged in a diagonal line from southeast to northwest.  There are 33 rooms and over 3,600 wall paintings.  

We only had about 45 minutes to wander and enjoy this castle and then we would need to reboard the bus and make our way through the very slow traffic back to the ship.  We arrived back at the port around 4;45.  It gave us just a little time to try and get some wifi before boarding.  The weather turned very cloudy and chilly and we were ready to get onboard.  The ship pulled out of port about 6:00.  It was dark and stormy looking.  The captain announced that we would have a little bit of rough seas but by early morning things should calm down.  Dan felt pretty miserable so we came back to our room where he showered up and took a 20 minute nap.   Then we headed up to the Lido deck to find some hot soup.  We each chose a bacon cheddar soup and a gourmet burger (without the bun!). We could tell most folks were pretty tired too after their full day of excursions.  By 7 pm we were back in our cabin and decided to take the cold medicine and think about watching a movie on TV.  Tomorrow will be Beppu, Japan.  This area is known for hot springs and geysers.  We have no tour here.  The ship will dock around noon and be here till 10 p.m.  It looks like it will be another cloudy cool day with a chance of rain.  We may try to get a taxi to one of the hot springs but it depends on how Dan feels with his head cold.  

Thanks to those of you that have sent us comments!  We enjoy getting those.  We want to thank our dentist too, Dr Bradshaw, and his staff for following our journey and for their comments!!  

This is the garbage and recycling plant right in the middle of Osaka!

Our first stop...

Gardens here...

Beautiful colors...

A very little girl getting dressed and made up at the temple by her mother to be blessed...

Ready for lunch!

The strips of meat and the vegetables all go into the boiling water to be quickly cooked and then enjoyed with chop sticks!

The side streets are narrow, clean and full of electrical wires and poles...

Many young women walk the streets in the beautiful kimono’s...they like to be photographed too..

Here is the yellow license plate used for the compact cars!

The green plate is for commercial vehicles like taxi’s and trucks...

Entrance to the Nijo Castle...

Very large and ornate ....

Notice the beautiful cranes and color in this huge archway....

Lush gardens...

The heron looking for lunch!

Photos from the Sanjusangren Temple of the carved statues and deities...

There are 1001 of these!  They all have glass eyes which are haunting...

Thunder God...

The God of Wind....that is what he is carrying on his shoulders in the bag...

Strong and fiercely looming with glass eyes also....

‘Life is a GREAT ADVENTURE or nothing “-Helen Keller

Yesterday was  Shimizu, Japan.  As has been typical since we left San Diego the day was one of pouring rain, fog and chilly temperatures.  There were a few tours off the ship but they focused on viewpoints of Mt Fuji and since the clouds were so low into town there was really no chance of seeing it.  We came into port about 8 am and we were to leave at 2:30 so not a very low day for us.  The port area and the town were very clean.  In all the ports of Japan we have seen no graffiti or garbage.  It just feels like there is so much pride in each community.  The garbage must almost be collected daily because when you do see it it is in small tied plastic bags often in caged bins or covered with netting so the huge ravens don’t pick it apart.  We heard that Honda has a large plant here and also that there is a manufacturer of plastic toys.  There was a large Ferris wheel here also in port much like the London Eye.  It just seems that every port has this.  When we got off the ship there were many older Japanese women who had maps available for us, spoke English and were volunteers to help with our questions.  We have noticed that there have been no tour vendors at any of our ports unlike what you find in the Caribbean or other cruise destinations.  Sometimes there are taxi’s but sometimes not.  The maps the provided us had locations of shrines, WifFi , several shopping areas and 7 - 11 stores which are prevalent.  So we took off toward the free WiFi which was shown to be in the city government area and also at an indoor mall.  Because it was somewhat early when we got off the mall wasn’t open till 10 or 11 and the offices of the city not till 9,  Many people get around with bicycles; An interesting thing about them is that they all have pedal generated lights for night that are attached close to the front wheel but low.  They also use a rear type kick stand that attaches around the back wheel allowing for the bike to be parked in a very stable position and not leaning to one side or the other.  We saw stacked automated parking also three cars deep where the cars were on elevators that allowed them to take up vertical space and be manipulated by the push of a button!  I took a photo of the sidewalk areas too because here in Japan they use a system for the vision impaired on the walk ways that allows them to feel where the side walk is.  Most all the street signs are in English and Japanese which helps.  We also noticed that their advertising uses more comic type figures than real people.  

So we hung out at the free wifi in city hall which was extremely clean, organized and quiet.  Many of the ship personnel came in as we were there to also get wifi.  Dan downloaded some of his online magazines and I was able to check messages from home and send off my last blog.  

After about an hour we wandered down to the mall area and found lots of passengers there hanging out and doing some shopping.  Things in Japan we have found are not inexpensive.  Since we really don’t need anything and we aren’t into souvenirs we just wandered around.  I found some different kinds of Campbells soups that sounded kind of tasty!  Ha ha. 

Of course Dan is always looking for birds and bugs but honestly the birding is almost nill.  We spotted one very large eagle type bird a few days ago and some shore birds but nothing else.  The parks are very small and now nothing there is colorful or blooming.  Dan seemed to be getting kind of a cold and was ready to board the ship so by 12:30 we were back on and it was STILL raining!  At the dock a group of preschool children dressed in their colorful raincoats and boots were there performing a few songs which was so cute.  We stopped and took a few photos getting there at the tail end of their song.  We dropped off our packs and headed to lunch where we had something small and warm.  Slowly folks started coming in from the few tours offered and we asked them about their day. Most said they saw nothing but fog and rain but they did get out of town and that it was very rural.  They joked about taking photos of Mt Fuji off postcards and photos on walls just to say they got a photo!  There was a special geisha performance from the locals at 1:30 in the theater so we attended that.  It was very difficult to understand the gist of the story they were enacting but their traditional costumes and regalia were impressive.  Dan kind of slept through it.  I gave him some DayQuil when we had gotten onboard and he was feeling kind of tired.  After the performance we were to sail away at 2;30 or 3.  Always they have a sail away party in the Crow’s Nest which is the highest lounge on the ship.  They serve different appetizers there and have the happy hour pricing for drinks.  We opted out of that and headed to the room.  The phone rang when we got in and it was an Arizona friend who asked me if I wanted a Kimono!!  She said a lady was in a lounge on board and had about 400 Kimono’s there that had been her mothers.  She was giving them away for free!  I guess when her mother heard she was coming on this cruise she told her to pack them all up and take them onboard and give them away!!  So my friend happened to walk by this lounge and someone encouraged her to come in and take several!!  She got 5 or 6 and gave me my choice after she took what she wanted.  They seem pretty authentic, heavy and interesting.  They really smelled musty like they had been packed away for years but we had fun trying them on and talking about them.  Her husband was out on the balcony on the 6th floor and waved us to come out.  The town was giving us a send off with a school group performing a drumming ceremony; the preschoolers were back at the far end singing and then everyone had bubble wands and were sending us bubbles up into the sky!  When the ship pulled away they set off fireworks and the captain blew the horn multiple times which just thrilled them all.  The crowds on board were waving and cheering;  it really was fun.

When I finally got back to the room we were well on our way out of the channel heading toward Osaka.  We have a private all day tour here on a big bus with about 30 other people.  Dan was resting and had heard none of the fireworks.  Since our window was on the other side of the ship he also knew nothing about the send off.  He missed a fun experience.  I noticed when I got back to the room that there was a t shirt hanging off a hook in our room with a note attached to “Dan Davis”!  I asked him where the shirt came from?  He had  not even noticed it.  Well it came from a passenger we met; an older newly widowed gentlemen from Prescott who decided at the last moment to take this cruise.  He and his wife had been signed up to come but she died suddenly in the spring so he cancelled...then in late August he decided to come and had to hurry and see if he could get on and get his VISA!!  He is a birder too and has hung out with Dan and I several times.  He found a shirt with binoculars and a cute saying on it about birding and bought it for Dan :). What a nice gesture and how thoughtful.  So Dan hurried and wrote him a nice thank you and we delivered it to his cabin before we headed to dinner.  We skipped the entertainment which was a group of four gentlemen singing some cross over classics they said.  We decided Dan needed a good nights rest and some night time meds.  

Anyway, as I write this we are pulling in to Osaka and should dock by 8.  We leave here at 5;30 today and our next stop will be Beppu.  Soon I’m going to jiggle Dan awake and tell him it’s time to get off.  Good thing it is a bus tour so if he needs a little nap be can do that!  

This is the yellow tile that vision impaired folks tap on to follow the sidewalks.  The first photo is the port of Shimizu.

Cream of Pumpkin Soup!

Corn Pottage

Preschoolers singing for us

A collage of some of the leaves, spiders, trees and bark.

Life is simple, Eat, Sleep, Bird!

The big Ferris wheel at the port.

Different tiles on the boardwalk of the pier as you walk toward town...