Japan: Part One

Crossing the Pacific Ocean and Exploring our 6th Continent

Pacific Crossing

Well after 10 long; thankfully uneventful, days at sea we’ve finally made it to Japan.  The Pacific Ocean was mercifully calm throughout our journey, and we only experienced a little wind and rocking on the last few days.  The fog we experienced for most of the journey was a little unnerving, but otherwise it was great.  I kept busy doing yoga and puzzling while Mike did laps and watched his ‘stories’ (his Netflix shows).  Mike may have experienced some cabin fever since he decided to go after his 40 000-step badge on the ship.  He spent 6 and a half hours walking laps around the ship the one day and he succeeded, 41456 steps. Check out the video on Youtube if you are bored.

Hakodate, Japan

Our first port in Japan is Hakodate and first things first we need to clear Customs and Immigration.  This was a quick process where they took our fingerprints and photos then added a sticker to our passports.  We hopped off the ship at 8am to complete the process and then came right back to the ship for breakfast and our usual morning routine.  When we finally decided to venture out it was raining, but the forecast had called for it, so we were prepared.  We walked over to the train station first thing to find an ATM and to get our transit cards.  Cash is king in Japan, so we needed money, and the transit cards will make it much easier to get around. 

With these housekeeping items out of the way we wandered around town in the pouring rain.  Despite the dreary day we had fun and saw some interesting places.  Mike really wanted to hike Mount Hakodate, but it was raining too much, and the top was socked in for most of the day.  Instead, we walked by the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse shops, explored the waterfront, and wandered up to the Old Public Hall of Hakodate Ward.  We found The Second Most Delicious Ice Cream Melon Bread in the World (that’s what the shop was called); unfortunately, it was closed for the day. It turns out the 7-Eleven sells a very good melon bread.

With our waterproof shoes soaking wet and us tired we headed back to the ship to dry off and have some lunch.  After we ate lunch it cleared off some, so we headed back out to check out the Midori no Shima Island Park.  All in all, we had a lovely if soggy day.

Hachinohe, Japan

Our second stop Hachinohe, had us parked out in an industrial area and we weren’t allowed to walk from the port, so we took a cab to the Symphony Plaza mall and walked from there instead.  Luckily, the weather smartened up, but that means it’s also hot as hell and the humidity is no joke here. 

On our way into downtown, we explored the Ogami Shrine, Hachinohe Castle Ruins, and Miyagi koen Park.  Then we walked through town to the Chojasan shinra jinja Shrine and the Nanshuji Buddhist temple.  We aren’t sure of the etiquette for visiting these places, so we explored the grounds, but didn’t go into the buildings. 

Finally, we walked back to the mall where we explored the stores and then bought ice cream and snacks at the grocery store before taking a cab back to the ship.  The taxis aren’t cheap in Japan, but other than that we had a good day. As we sailed away from Hachinohe we were treated to a local performance. The kids were ridiculously cute!

Sendai, Japan

Today we arrived later than usual, and the ship wasn’t cleared until around 11am.  To be fair, we never usually get moving any earlier than that, so it didn’t really impact us.  We were parked quite far from the actual city, so they provided a shuttle that would make the 45-minute drive into Sendai Station and return to the ship just in time for All Aboard at 5pm.  We decided we didn’t want to spend all that time on a bus and be forced to stick to a schedule.  Luckily, we were allowed to walk out of this port, so we made the long walk through the port area over to the 3M Sendai Port Park and then the Mitsui Outlet Park mall.  It wasn’t a very exciting day, but we had fun and wandering the shops was definitely interesting.  On our way back to the ship we hit up the 7-Eleven for snacks and a bottle of Pocari Sweat (an electrolyte drink).

Japan is definitely more interesting to navigate because we don’t speak the language, we can’t even read it, and they have a lot of unspoken etiquette rules here.  We are doing our best to keep a low profile and definitely getting the most out of Google Translate.  I am working on learning Japanese, but with 3 different types of writing to work through it’s a slow process.

As we sailed away, we caught the tail end of what we think was the Sendai Tanabata Fireworks Festival.  There were fireworks going off all along the coast.  It was beautiful to watch.

Yokohama, Japan

We were docked on a tiny island in Yokohama that had a massive mall, a theme park, several shopping complexes, and the Cup Noodle Museum.  It was an interesting spot that was very popular for tourists and locals alike.  When we arrived it was pouring rain, so we waited until after lunch to go out on the town.  Unfortunately, the rain was still coming down and it got windy, so we started out at the World Porters mall which was somewhat overwhelming.  The shops weren’t really contained with walls, so everything was open and chaotic.  It was definitely a new experience; unfortunately, you cannot take photos in shopping areas in Japan, so we can't show you the chaos.

Once the rain finally let up, we walked over to Yamashita Park which is a lovely waterfront park with gardens and trails.  From the park we headed into the MEGA Don Quijote which is an extremely large discount store with anything and everything imaginable.  We wandered around and bought some snacks before heading back to the ship.

The next day the rain stopped, but luckily it was still cloudy which kept the temperature down a little.  We wandered back through Yamashita Park and continued on to visit the Site of Former Consulate General of France, Harbor View Park Observatory, and the English Rose Garden.  From there we wandered through a residential area to Honmoku Sancho Park and Honmoku Shrine.  The streets were very narrow, and I can see why they drive such small cars here. Parking is also at a premium and we saw several car elevators. 

Finally, we ended up at Sankeien Garden.  We thought this was just another garden with a Shinto Shrine, but we were wrong.  It’s actually a traditional Japanese garden that opened in 1906, and it features historic buildings that have been relocated from around the country.  You do have to pay admission to get in, but it was definitely worth it.  We also had a local volunteer that gave us a guided tour and explained the history of the garden and the buildings. It was a fantastic experience and a really long day. 

On our third day in Yokohama, we took the train into Tokyo…sort of.  We actually went into Shibuya which is a special ward in Tokyo.  It is home to the Shibuya Scramble Crossing a massive all ways crosswalk that is chaos incarnate as well as Cat Street.  We also visited the Meiji Jingu Shinto shrine that sits in a large green space inside the city.  It was beautiful, but more crowded than Sankeien Garden.  As we were leaving, they were starting a ceremony in the temple.

Once we made our way out of the park we headed to a different ward called Shinjuku where we watched the Giant 3D Cat billboard at Shinjuku station and wandered around the shopping area.  There was also a giant Godzilla head hanging off of one of the buildings.  After a convenience store supper Mike dropped me off with a couple of our friends and headed to Akiba Kart to meet up with some other residents.  They went go karting around Shinjuku and Shibuya wards.  Mike had a blast; although, he was disappointed that he only got up to 45 kilometers per hour.

We took the train back to Yokohama.  It was pretty walking through the amusement park at night on the way back to the ship. 

I was exhausted but rallied for our last day.  We walked over to check out the Nippon Maru, a training sail ship that is permanently docked but can be moved out if necessary.  You can go on the ship, but we just viewed it from the outside.  Afterwards we went to check out Chinatown in Yokohama which is said to be Japan’s largest.  It was a little overwhelming and we didn’t stay long, but I’m glad we went.

From Chinatown we headed to the Yamate Italian Garden because they were supposed to have a collection of Miniature Western Style houses, but they’ve been removed.  Instead, we followed a recommended walking tour of the area to check out the real full-size western houses that were built on the hill.  Most of them were around Motomachi Park which also has a large swimming pool and an archery training center.  At the far end of the park, we discovered the site of Alfred Gerard’s Tile and Bricks and the remains of an underground cistern.  It was another unexpected, but interesting day.

Shizuoka, Japan

From Yokohama we headed straight to Shizuoka overnight.  We didn’t arrive until around noon the next day and we were parked over in Shimizu ward.  A little worn out from the last few days we just explored the small main area of Shimizu, and the S-Pulse Dream Plaza shopping area.  The town itself was pretty quiet, but the shopping area was really busy.  On our way through town, we noticed posters for a Night Bazaar.  Google Translator told us that they were stetting up a night market on the main street since there was a cruise ship in town overnight.  We decided to hit up the 7-Eleven for ice cream and wander around until the market started before heading back to the ship.  It was still pretty early when we went through, but they had food and hand crafts stalls set up and it was really cute.

The next day we took the train into Shizuka proper to see the Sumpu Castle Park.  The park is home to the remains of a centuries-old castle that had three moats.  We ended the day exploring the Gofuku-cho pedestrian shopping area before taking the train back to the ship. 

Shizuoka sits at the base of Mount Fuji and we would have had an epic view except the weather was very uncooperative. There's a mountain back there somewhere! We have a sea day between here and the next port and it will be nice to have a little break.  We’ve been walking nonstop in the heat and humidity for days.

Kobe, Japan

The Kobe Port Terminal is right next to the Portliner Train into the city proper, so that made getting around really easy.  Our first day in Kobe we took the Portliner into Sannomiya Station and then tried to transfer to the Subway in order to reach the Kobe Nunobiki Herb Gardens & Ropeway.  This proved to be more confusing than we expected, but as we stood looking decidedly lost a lovely gentleman approached us and asked if we needed help.  When we told him where we were going, he pulled out an English Map of the Gardens and offered it to us.  He then led us to the correct train and explained which stop to get off at and how to reach the gondola that would take us up to the gardens. 

The gardens were beautiful and perched on the side of the mountain.  We wandered our way down through the different sections and then took the midway gondola back down the mountain. 

We decided to walk back to Sannomiya Station instead of braving the trains again, but once we reached the station, we changed plans again and headed for a MEGA Don Quijote to stock up on supplies to beat the heat.  In preparation for our day trip to Kyoto we bought little handheld fans and fancy cloths that you get wet and put on your neck to cool you down.  Afterwards we walked back to the ship since it wasn’t much further than backtracking to the Portliner station.

On day two in Kobe, we headed to Kyoto.  Our train transfers went much smoother, and we took the Special Rapid train to Kyoto via Osaka which took about an hour.  Once there we transferred to a local train to reach the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden where we explored the grounds and the Imperial Palace. 

Afterwards we walked over to Nijo Castle.  The Castle itself was closed for the day, but we were able to explore the grounds here as well.  It was ridiculously hot and humid, so we made use of our fans, umbrellas, and cooling cloths to beat the heat.

Our last stop of the day was Fushimi Inari Taisha, a Shinto Shrine featuring a path with hundreds of traditional gates.  It wasn’t quite as busy as I expected, but it’s definitely a popular spot with tourists.  You can climb all the way up Mount Inari on the gate path, but it was just too hot. But I got to pet a shrine cat!

Kyoto is Japan’s original capital city and it’s known for its many shrines and temples that have survived wars and natural disasters.  It’s definitely somewhere you need more than a day to explore, but that’s all we had to work with this time around.  We would have loved to see more, but we were all feeling the heat and it was time to head home.

In the evening there was a local group on board to perform traditional Japanese drumming and puppetry.

Our final day in Kobe we took it easy and did our best to stay out of the sun.  We explored Chinatown in Kobe and wandered up and down the Kobe Motomachi Shopping Street which is completely covered.  We found a food stall for Mike to try some Kobe beef; he said it was really good, but also expensive.  We kept the day short because I was pretty worn out from the day before.

Next stop Kochi! See you soon.