Blogs from Kochi, Japan, Asia

2023_Blog 17_Japan April 6 Port of Call: Kochi, Japan – Weather: Showers - 63°F/17°C – Wind 6.9 mph. Great! rain again – seems to be the theme the last few days. Japan is currently sitting under several conflicting low-pressure systems. Today we set off to Kochi Castle one of only 12 original castles remaining in Japan. If the structures were not destroyed in the many civil wars they accidentally burned or were destroyed in natural disasters only to be demolished by the Government. During the Westernization of Japan, the Government of the time thought that they should cut their ties with their historical past. Usual thinking all round! Like most castles the central tower was set high on a hill requiring guests to climb countless steps just to reach it. The Castle Tower itself is an ... read more

Day 8. Kochi to Honmachi. 99km Ave 20.4kph. 760 ascent. Great day again. It was supposed to be a western breakfast so we had a small piece of ham and salad with bread rolls and toast plus two fried eggs cooked over a candle on a cast iron plate resting on a piece of paper. The egg removal was a work of art and consisted of holding two chopsticks apart in one hand and sliding them under the paper the turning it upside down and scraping the egg off and Bingo, two upside down eggs on toast. Off at 9am for our journey SW on Shikoku in cloudy but warm weather. I always enjoy following the coast and today was no exception travelling with lovely people. Not far out of Kochi we saw a large whale ... read more

Day 6 Hiwasa to Muroto 79km and a few steep climbs. At the dinner last night we had a talk by Kenichi on the Buddhist Kaiku who started the Shikoku Pilgrimage and at the end I was presented with a white Pilgrim smock with ’Thank you Kaiku’ written on the back, in Japanese). What a nice gesture, and I am instructed to wear this all day on my bike. The rain had continued to lash down all night, beating against our widow overlookingi the ocean, which had a gap where it fitted the frame badly and continued to rattle forever. To make matters worse we had the fire alarm go off at quarter to one in the morning. We put on our Yukatas and went into the corridor only for it to stop, so off we ... read more

Geo: 32.9349, 133.737I have been looking forward to the days at sea as much as to the days in port visiting places I have never seen. We were up in time to go to breakfast in the dining room. There was a complete selection of everything you might see on a menu at an American hotel, plus a full Japanese breakfast was offered. Looks like there are a lot of Japanese travelers on the ship. I think they planned well to put people at dinner tables with others who speak the same language. We spent most the day reading and relaxing. I successfully tried out the self-service laundry. Although there are only two washers and two dryers per deck, I did not have to wait long to get my first machine. While I was there I ... read more

I just realized that I wrote a blog entry on the rest of our time on Shikoku Island -- and forgot to post it. We're in Tokyo today on the LAST day of our trip -- here's what I forgot: If you’ll find a map of Japan, look in the southwest of the country for an island called Shikoku, longer than it is wide, with no really large cities. We’re spending three weeks traveling from one small city to another, starting with Tokoshima, then traveling down the center of the island through the Oboke gorge to Kochi, then west through Uwajima, with about 60,000 people, to Shikoku’s largest city, Matsuyama. Today, we’re on the train traveling around the northeast corner of the island, right near the sea, so I’m using the time on the train to ... read more