Japan blogs at last - Kagoshima

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JAPAN



In order to try to catch up with the blog, this is the itinerary for Japan, we are going to put a few more pics on



15^th March - Kagoshima



17^th March – Yokohama



19^th March – Kobe



21^st March – Nagasaki



All the ports of call into Japan were maiden, that is, the Queen Elizabeth had not visited before.



Our overall impression of Japan was how clean the place was, (they don’t have rubbish bins on the street for instance). The people were so friendly and helpful, they have little English and there are not many European signs. However the guides were great and sometimes very amusing, having not been to Europe to study English, their interpretations were ‘quaint’ to say the least.



We did a tour at each port of call which with the pictures will give an overview of the country.



The weather could not have been better, whilst cool, the sun shone at each port of call. I suppose one disappointment would be that we missed the cherry blossom by about two weeks.



Kagoshima prefecture is located on the southern tip of Kyushu, which is the most southerly of the four main islands of Japan. Kagoshima is nicknamed the ‘Naples of the East’ due to both the city and the bay being dominated by the active volcano, Sakurajima. The volcano regularly grumbles and belches out smoke and ash as though reminding people of its existence



Our tour took us to Mount Sakurajima across the bay by ferry and up the coastal road to a lookout point. Because the volcano is so active, visitors are prohibited to approach within 2km of the craters and the observation areas are about 3km away to observe the eruptions.



Back across the bay to the beautiful setting of Sengan-en Garden which was once the gardens of the ruling family, the Shimazu.



The garden is 300 years old and is an example of ‘borrowed scenery’; it uses the backdrop of Mount Sakurajima as a garden hill and Kinko Bay as a garden pond. Whilst the tour guides you through the garden once everybody spreads out it becomes quite tranquil!!



Back to the ship before a day at sea for Yokohama ( Tokyo)

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