We made one more pass at seeing cherry blossoms during our last full day in Tokyo.
We hoped the ship’s shuttle bus to the Ginza district, which is the 5th Avenue of Tokyo. Once there, we headed off to Ueno Park, since my Sakura Navi app said there were full blooms. BUT, the information staff at the port, told us they were not full, and they weren’t. As we’ve seen these last few weeks, some trees were. It was still a charming scene since so many of the trees were coming into flower, and it was nice to see the families out celebrating Hanami (which translates to “viewing party”). Hanami picnics under the trees are traditional here during Sakura (Cherry Blossom) season.
We then headed all the way across town to the Shibuya area to see the famous crossing known as the Shibuya Scramble. It was crazy to see throngs of people crossing the intersection every which way.
After a great Tempura lunch where I ate Lotus Root for the first time, we took a quick subway ride back to Ginza for some shopping. I was going to buy some socks for my grandkids – but they were French and $20!
One Last Look
Our final day in Tokyo was a short one since we had a 5 PM flight at the distant Narita airport. Tokyo has two international airports, the other one, Haneda is much closer to town and is where we arrived. On the way to the airport, we took our first-ever ship transfer. This one included a bit of driving around with two interesting stops.
The first was for the iconic view and photo-op of the Imperial Palace and bridge. This view was not something that could be seen from our previous visit to the Palace Gardens, it is a huge complex.
And finally, a stop at Tokyo Tower, inspired by the Eiffel Tower, where we went up about 500 feet to the middle viewing deck, and admired the views of this beautiful city. Imagine what New York could be if there was no garbage, trash cans, litter, crime, graffiti, homeless, honking horns, or jaywalking.
BTW, now that I have experienced heated toilet seats, I’m not sure I can live without one!
Epilogue
This is such a nice and organized society. People are polite. If you have trash, you carry it away with you. You wait at crosswalks for the light to change, even if no cars are coming. Try to remember to keep left (like traffic) on stairs and escalators. No eating while walking or blowing your nose in public. Everyone appreciates our awful attempts at Japanese phrases. It was a wonderful experience to spend some time here.
On this. our final day, I knew we would be tired and want minimal chaos with luggage, etc, so this transfer made sense and was a good plan. But as of this post, our plane is delayed, and we will probably miss our connection through LAX for Miami. At least we are in the respectable ANA Lounge, with food, electrical outlets, and good wifi, and have just enjoyed the newest Japanese KitKat* flavor – banana.
*Have I mentioned this before? They are crazy for Kit Kat bars here and different regions often have special flavors as well as seasonal, special edition, and new flavors. In addition to the chocolate we know so well, there is also a dark chocolate version, matcha (not my fav) wasabi, strawberry, sugar, and apparently, others.
Spoiler alert – my pic gives it away.
Today we had an adventure that turned out to be a very expensive lunch and a photo op at a truck stop. Not our best day.
Our quest – Mt Fuji and Hakone National Park.
The weather looked beautiful until we got up into the mountains and the rain started. It was not supposed to rain. So we went to lunch. It was a nice (American-style) lunch at a lovely Hyatt. We were scheduled to take a gondola over a geothermal area. That was canceled due to fog and winds.
So, we went to an art museum. The Pola Museum of Art is a private collection of Western Masterpieces, sculptures, modern art, and an exhibition about Art and Design in the Machine Age, focused on Paris in 1925. I particularly enjoyed the Lalique perfume bottle display.
It really was a lovely museum, but I was ready for nature, not art, today. In any case, it did turn out to be a highlight.
The sun came out, but Mt. Fuji was still hiding. We had a pretty worthless, short boat ride on Lake Ashi, a crater lake formed 3000 years ago when Mt. Hakone erupted. It’s still a school holiday here, and even though it was during the week, the area was very crowded. Our tour leader managed to lose part of our group- it was a chaotic scene. I did feel sorry for her, she actually cried at the end and begged our forgiveness.
Finally, on our long ride home, Mt. Fuji began to reveal herself. Believe it or not, one of the best photo spots, was at a truck stop, behind a Starbucks. (Starbucks are everywhere here).
She remained visible until dusk, even, ironically, from our stateroom balcony on the Azamara Journey.
PS – By the time we got back to our ship, we had a notice of a partial rebate for the day’s adventure.
It was a perfect day to be outdoors! Sunny, breezy, and temps in the high 60s. Finally!
We spent the morning sailing the inland sea between some of the hundreds of islands that make up the Japanese archipelago. The port at Takamatsu is impressive. Beautifully paved and landscaped, the local business community seemed to be out in full force to welcome the ship’s passengers and officers.
This is the area where bonsai began, and in the afternoon, we had an opportunity to visit a bonsai farm. Later, we spent some time at the serenely beautiful Ritsurin Garden.
We visited the Kagawa Bonsai Farm and met with the owner and his family. I had no real idea what went into these plants, and how rich a history they had. Dating back to the time of the samurai, bonsai was an important art, adapted from earlier Chinese culture. This region is dry and sunny and well-suited for their growth. Pines are the specialty here, although some flowering plants are also used. More than 40 years ago, young plants were dug up in the mountains, but the practice was banned by the government for impeding new forest growth.
We learned so much and had a very entertaining Q&A session with the pleasant 4th generation owner, whose son will take over the business, and become the 5th generation to run the enterprise.
It would take pages to explain all we learned, but I can report the process is painstaking. Each year they curb the size by pulling out first-growth new needles (one by one); some of the plants we saw cost thousands of dollars. They are gorgeous works of art, and 80% of the world’s bonsai trees come from this area.
The Ritsurin Garden was my favorite garden of the trip so far. It was less crowded than the more famous Kenrokuen Garden we visited in Kanazawa, but even if you took away those crowds, I’d still rank this one higher.
There were some wide-open spaces, several ponds, lots of water features, even a waterfall, and beautiful flowering trees. Yes, cherry trees, but also some beautiful Japanese magnolias, all set against a mountain backdrop. Dating from the 1620s, it was truly an island oasis in the middle of a modern city. I’ll let my pics tell the story.
When we returned to the ship, the city had a food truck giving out free servings of the regionally famous Udon Noodles (delicious). We got to see some talented young female performers do a very original dance/calligraphy performance. It sounds odd, but was lovely and interesting to watch. We even had a canon salute send-off from the local castle. We experienced warm welcomes and entertainment at most ports, but Takamatsu really outdid themselves.
Today was another dreary day – maybe just the type of setting to visit the somber Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome, Peace Memorial Park, and Museum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Like a visit to the 9-11 Site in NYC, there is no way to really capture the suffering caused by these horrific events. The flame in the Park is kept burning, and will be extinguished when there are no more nuclear threats – unfortunately, I don’t believe in our lifetime.
The domed ruins have been left as a reminder of that tragic day. The actual target was the unusually shaped bridge nearby and the site of impact is on the other side of the park. The huge museum was jam-packed with visitors from all over the world. Not surprisingly, I found the most impactful part of the museum the stories of lives lost and forever changed. Captions will give a few examples. One tip, if you are with a group, you skip the long lines and come in through a separate entrance on the opposite side of the museum.
The city itself is completely rebuilt and modern; full of life today. Since I’ve been asked, I will say the Japanese people we have met have been totally welcoming to Americans. We are solid allies these days.
In the afternoon, light rain began as we boarded the 10-minute ferry to Miyajima Island. Considered a divine island, it is the home of the vermillion-lacquered Itsukushima Shrine and the iconic 50-foot-tall Otorii gate of the same color, which during high tide appears to be floating. We had light rain on and off as we walked around this 6th-century (first built in 593) UNESCO Site, but it didn’t interfere with what we wanted to see. I was surprised to learn the entire shrine had floating walkways and can also appear to be floating. Tides today were not high enough for that vision. But as the normal tide pulled back farther, people began to walk out to the massive 60-ton gate. The current (9th) wooden gate was built in 1875 and is considered one of Japan’s three most scenic views.
The hilly, wooded island also hosts other Shinto shrines and the 5-story Goju-no-to pagoda dating from 1407. Wild deer are protected and roam freely, and although tame, do aggressively approach visitors to try and eat anything, including paper. The area is also very commercial with an aquarium at one end and several pedestrian streets lined with cute shops, restaurants, and food stalls. We enjoyed a very tasty chocolate ice cream cone on our walk along the various paved and sandy paths back to the ferry.
Tonight, during dinner back on board the Azamara Journey, we watched the rain come down in torrents, thankful we had such a light rain in the afternoon. Tomorrow promises to be a better weather day. Fingers crossed.
