Paying Respects to My Fallen Marine Brothers, Sempre Fi – Naha, Okinawa, Japan
February 21st 2024 Tour Day 132, Cruise Day 30 – Osaka, Japan – I fully intended to visit Kaiyukan, the Osaka Aquarium, and to ride the Tempozan Wheel (a.k.a an observation wheel or a giant wheel), but I saw too many deployed umbrellas from the Deck 9 Lido Market while having breakfast. By lunchtime, I saw fewer umbrellas and took a chance. Of course, the gangway is mid-ship, the immigration facility is at the b
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In 1603, a Tokugawa shogunate (military dictatorship) ushered in a long period of isolation from foreign influence in order to secure its power. For 250 years this policy enabled Japan to enjoy stability and a flowering of its indigenous culture. Fol... ... read more 
