Blogs from Japan, Asia - page 16

2023_Blog 19_Japan April 8 Port of Call: Osaka, Japan (Day 2) – Partly cloudy in the morning – sunny in the afternoon – Wind: 13 mph. This morning no one was permitted to go ashore until the ship was cleared by Japanese Quarantine Officials. The ship’s doctor had reported three cases of COVID-19 aboard and an inspection had to be conducted. As the officials were not available until 8:00 am no one, including those on shore excursions, could leave the ship while the officials conducted their inspection. As our departure from Osaka is scheduled for 4:00 pm this afternoon the excursions were noticeably shortened. Our outing this morning consisted of a two-hour drive around the city where the tour guide pointed out both historical and contemporary architecture. A brief rest stop was provided near the castle ... read more

2023_Blog 16_Japan April 5 Port of Call: Aburatsu, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan – Weather: 63°F/17°C – Intermittent light rain – Wind 18.5 mph. Today’s excursion took us first to Udo Jingu Shrine and then to Obi Castle. The brochure description of the access to the shrine made it sound as though one had to walk on a narrow rocky ledge along the seashore and navigate oneself into a tight cave. The reality was quite different. Though there were many steps to climb, I counted over 200, the path was wide, with gravel sections and pavement, and well-marked. The shrine was tucked into a cave, but the cave itself was spacious and accommodated the shrine and several other small structures. Due to the excessive number of steps B opted to stay behind in the parking lot area and ... read more

An overnight in Nagano worked well to break up the long passage south, delivering us immediately to spring with tiny smatterings of pink amidst mostly buds. Blossom was in waiting. Met with a warm 22C afternoon in Takayama, sadly, the cooler snow clothing was packed away seemingly for good. A massive increase in those also visiting this spot indicated how close to the big city tourism we were. Cars appeared to travel faster, souvenir shops were prolific, and local delicacies being sold everywhere. We chose carefully an afternoon wander that day, taking us to a grand ‘suite of mountains’ view (visible peaks over 3000m) and a slightly muddy ‘literature walk’ near the Hido no Sato village, ending at an Edo period shrine built in the early 1800s. Being dedicated to Tokugawa Ieyasu, the sentiment of maintaining ... read more

Blog 10_Japan_2023 March 30 Port of Call: Naha, Okinawa, Japan – Weather: Occasional light rain – Wind 23 mph – Temperature: 72°F/22°C After two and a half sea days we arrived at the island of Okinawa where we enjoyed our first shore excursion of this voyage: a visit to Shurijo Castle Park, Shikinaen Royal Garden and finally, a visit to Kokusai Street, part of the shopping district. Shurijo Castle was constructed in the 14th century and displays distinctly Chinese and Japanese architectural influences. Heavily bombed during the 2nd World War the structure was left in ruins until 1992 when reconstruction started. The castle complex was recognized in 2000 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Unfortunately, on October 31, 2019, eight of the main buildings were destroyed in a fire. Those struc... read more

Blog 4_Japan_2023 March 24 Weather – the fog & storm clouds have parted giving us a partly sunny morning: Forecast is an 80% chance of rain: Temperature high of 21°C. Our body clocks seem to be re-adjusting and as a result we had a relaxing sleep even though we awoke early again this morning. Today we decided to tackle the overhead train and subway system and head off to the inner regions of Tokyo. There is a station for the overhead train system connected to the hotel so that part was easy; the bigger challenge came with the transfer at the final station on this line to one of the multiple branches of the Tokyo subway. Our destination was Asakusa Temple and grounds. This is one of Tokyo’s oldest and most colourful Buddhist Temple, dating back ... read more