Our Sakura Seas tour would soon becoming to an end. Before I close out this post, I would like to share a few more pictures. After our excursions in Beppu, we were treated to a Taiko drum performance by the Nasama Children’s Japanese Drum Club. Taiko is a traditional Japanese drum that has been used for centuries in music, religious ceremonies and festivals. It is characterized by its large size, its powerful and deep sound and the energetic way in…
We sailed overnight to Osaka and then took the bullet train to Tokyo. Japan’s bullet train, known as the Shinkansen, is a high-speed rail network famous for its speed (up to 200 mph), comfort, and punctuality. The 300-mile trip took just over two hours. We were offered a bento box for our lunch. It is a “compact, single-portion packed lunch neatly arranged to stay fresh and appetizing.” The last picture in this section is the train station in Tokyo. I…
We next docked in Kobe, also on the island of Honshu. My husband went on an excursion that took him to Kyoto where he visited the Sanjusangendo Temple, a Buddhist temple. Originally built in 1164, it is famous for its 1,001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of compassion. The Temple is almost 400 feet long, the longest wooden structure in the world, and the Kannon statues line its entire length. The Temple burned down in 1249 but the main hall…
We next sailed up the Seto Inland Sea to the town of Tamano, a port city that has prospered as a shipbuilding town since a shipyard was established in 1917. It is a quaint town with canals, small shops, and lots of places to get ice cream. We just wandered around the town.
We were next going to Hiroshima. We took a ferry from Miyajima to the island of Honshu where Hiroshima is located. Along the way we saw the Hiroshima Castle (first picture below). It was built in the center of the city rather than on a hilltop. It became the economic and geographic center of Hiroshima. It was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945, but the main keep, the central tower of the castle, has since been rebuilt. Our group…
From Uwajima, we next sailed to Miyajima, an island in Hiroshima Bay. We anchored off the island and took a tender to Miyajima. Miyajima is well known for its “floating torii,” a popular tourist attraction. At high tide it appears to be floating, but at low tide visitors can walk on the sea floor right up to the torii. In addition to seeing the floating torii, we also visited the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine. We walked on this path which led…
We left Beppu and sailed overnight to Uwajima on the island of Shikoku, one of the four main islands of Japan. Uwajima is known as one of the three best areas in Japan for pearl cultivation. We chose an excursion to the Doi Pearl Farm where three generations work together to grow, harvest and sell Akoya pearls. Pearl cultivation is a complex endeavor. There are oysters of different ages to care for, nucleation and post-nucleation management, oyster cleaning, and pearl…
Mike’s excursion took him to Usuki, a castle town and home to the Usuki Stone Buddahs. The Buddahs are carved in the face of cliffs created by hardened volcanic ash and molten rock that erupted from Mt. Aso about 90,000 years ago. The figures are believed to have been carved from the late 700s to the early 1300s, but who carved them is unknown. “The prevailing theory is that they were commissioned by the Oga clan, which ruled the area…
Later that morning we arrived in Beppu. It has a concentration of hot springs. Rainwater seeps deep underground through faults, is heated by magma, and rises to the surface under high pressure. The hot springs are used for farming, aquaculture (underwater agriculture), heating and even cooking. They are also a huge tourist attraction known as the Seven Hells of Beppu. I chose the “Hells of Beppu” as my excursion. Hot water pools of various colors are often present in geothermal…
From Sakaiminato, we were to set sail for Hagi, but there were gale warnings and our ship’s captain did not feel it would be safe to proceed. We stayed in Sakaiminato overnight. The next morning, we had the option of visiting Tottori Flower Park in Sakaiminato. It was raining so we decided to stay back on the ship. These are pictures from the Flower Park that were taken by the ship’s photographer. That afternoon, we departed Sakaiminato for Beppu on…