Green Tea & Drummers

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2023_Blog 22_Japan



April 11 Port of Call: Omaezaki, Japan – Weather: Sunny - 70°F/20°C – wind: 37 mph.



The first stop on this leg of the cruise is in the port of Omaezaki, where we were awakened by Taiko drummers performing on the pier to honor our arrival. As I said before in a previous blog the Japanese are welcoming us with open arms. They are so happy that tourism is returning after being cut off completely during the pandemic. Westerdam is the second cruise ship to enter their port this season and they entertained us throughout the day.

We didn’t participate in any excursions today as they were all sold out back in early February. We were on a waitlist, but nothing came through, so we had a relaxing day. We did go down onto the pier to stroll among the vendors that had gathered there. The mayor and the local business leaders made speeches welcoming us and the captain made his reply, which was duly translated.

This area of Japan produces green tea, which of course they claim is the best in all of Japan. The city along with the local tea producers had a large tent set up where they demonstrated some of the processing techniques used to produce the green tea for market. As we passed the tea producers tent the mayor handed me a package of green tea bags. Local craft market producers had tents set up as well to sell their wares. The Westerdam was the attraction for the day as a number of local citizens came to the pier just for look see.

The Taiko drummers, who in this instance were an all-female troupe, put on an excellent thirty-minute show following the official speeches. Later two Japanese flutists entertained the shoppers and those of us back on board the ship. Just before the ship sailed the drummers performed one more time along with some dancers and performers waving large flags.

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