Japan 2019 - Part 2: Japan Cruise

We added a Princess Cruise to our Japan itinerary so that we could travel to a few port areas and expand our view of Japan. Moreover, a few days on a cruise ship in the middle of our trip would be a way to unwind a bit from 9am to 5pm land-based touring. 

Diamond Princess
About 2,700 passengers and 1,100 crew members sail on the Diamond Princess. The ship has 18 decks and is about 1,000 feet long. Princess Cruises deploys the Diamond Princess primarily in Asia and Australia. The ship has been customized for guests familiar with Asian accommodations by adding a specialty restaurant focusing on sushi and Japanese cuisine, an Onsen style bath facility (bathing suits required), Japanese selections added to the daily main dining menu and toilet washlets added to the cabins and public restrooms. For the 2019 season, Princess will host 60 Asian departures.

During our cruise all announcements and written documentation (including menus) were shared in English and Japanese. Princess arranged excursions were offered separately in English and Japanese. A few of the Japanese language excursions were actually less expensive than the English versions. This caused some early confusion for English speaking travelers who signed up for a lower cost excursion and/or didn't notice the difference in language offerings. These folks soon found themselves lost in translation. Princess attempted to remedy this issue after the first excursion exposed the problem.  

Getting to the Port
The cruise itinerary we selected started and ended at the port of Yokohama. From our land tour termination in Osaka, we rode the Shinkansen Nozomi "bullet" train almost all the way from Osaka to Yokohama. This particular train is the newest Shinkansen train and can travel at speeds up to 186 mph. 

We spent one night at the Yokohama Bay Sheraton, conveniently located at the Yokohama Rail Station. Not only is this hotel only ten minutes by taxi to the port, it is located next to a large retail shopping center. My wife and I used this opportunity to each purchase a shirt from the moderately priced Uniqlo store.  Dining at the Sheraton can get a little costly - $160USD per person for a delicious looking Japanese Kaiseki style banquet dinner. We opted for a less-expensive international dinner buffet at the hotel's Compass restaurant. We stopped at the nearby Starbucks in the morning as this was our only stay which did not include a visit to the hotel breakfast buffet.

Port Visits
Toba - This is a small port town with a population of about 20,000. The area is well known as an oyster source and for Mikimoto pearls. We spent about a half day visiting the two main shrines of the Ise Grand Shrine, Naiku and Geku. Naiku is located in the town of Uji-tachi and is dedicated to the worship of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. Geku is located about three miles from Naiku and is dedicated to Toyouke-Omikami, the god of agriculture, rice harvest and industry. Visitors were restricted from entering these two shrines but were welcome to walk along the Edo-period paths. We browsed along the many food and retail shops along Ohara-machi, across the Ujibashi Bridge at Naiku. There, you could find a nice strand of large Mikimoto pearls for about $7,000 USD. We passed on this purchase.

Himeji - I prearranged through the Himeji Goodwill Tour Group, a private full-day tour of Himeji Castle, Koko-en Garden and,atop Mt Shosha, Engyoji Temple. This volunteer-based tour cost $9 USD (1,000 Yen) to reimburse personal travel costs for the guide. We also covered the cost of our guide's lunch and the local bus and taxi transportation for the three of us for the three destinations. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we enjoyed our day outing. Note that volunteer tour guides are also available for other Japan cities.  

Himeji Castle, also known as the White Heron Castle, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest castle in Japan. Originally constructed in 1333, it was significantly expanded in 1581 and mid-1600s. The castle covers over 260 acres, with 82 buildings and a 150 foot tall main keep. The main keep contains six floors and a basement - though from the exterior the keep appears to have only five above-ground floors. The castle has elaborate maze-like paths and advanced defensive measures to repel invaders but, according to history, the castle was never attacked. 

After Japan transitioned from a Shogun government to a national government in the 1860s, active use of the castle ceased. It is hard to believe that in 1870 the castle was sold at auction for $2,500 USD in current dollars but the new owner found castle demolition to be too costly. The castle survived earthquakes and World War II bombing attempts.

We were able to reach the upper levels of the tower keep by ascending steep ladder-like wood stairs. The stairs were fairly steep and one slip by a visitor going up or down would probably take out a half-dozen others. 

Himeji Castle

Koko-en Garden, Himeji

Koko-en Garden is next to Himeji Castle and contains nine smaller traditional Japanese gardens spread over 8.5 acres. We particularly enjoyed viewing the beautiful Edo-period inspired ponds and tea house.

Mitsu no Do, Engyoji Temple

Engyoji Temple, is located on the top of 1,200 foot Mt. Shosha. While you can walk up Mt. Shosha to the temple, we opted to take the tram ride up to this Buddhist monastery.  Each year pilgrims make their way to the Engyoji Temple as it is one of the 33 temples on the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage, the oldest established pilgrimage in Japan. Highlights for us were the Maniden Prayer Hall, the wood constructed main temple and the Mitsu no Do building which may have served as a dormitory and dining area for monks in training. You might recognize this latter building, shown on the right, from a scene from the movie "Last Samauri," starring Tom Cruise. 

Maniden Hall, Engyoji Temple

Mitsu no Do, Engyoji Temple

Kochi - We signed up for a Princess excursion for this port stop. The primary sites we visited were Kochi Castle and the Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum. 

Kochi Castle is recognized as one the twelve Japanese castles to have survived major fires, wars and earthquakes. First constructed in early 1600, it was reconstructed in 1748 after a fire. This castle is unique in design as it contained a residence for the castle lord. Generally, samurai served in the castle and lords placed their palaces in separate buildings. We were able to climb up the tower keep. In the photo below, you can see the visitors lining the upper balcony of the tower keep.

Kochi Castle

Kochi Castle

Sakamoto Ryoma Statue

Sakamoto Ryoma is recognized for his effort to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. Ryoma pushed for restoration of power from the Tokugawa shogunate to Imperial rule under Emperor Meiji. This change finally occurred around 1868. Sakamoto Ryoma was assassinated at the age of 31, in 1867. The museum contains artifacts and writings about his life. Unfortunately, many of the exhibits were accompanied by descriptions that were not translated from the Japanese language.

  

Tumuli Park

Busan, South Korea - My wife took a Princess sponsored excursion in Busan and visited the National Museum, Tumuli Park and Bulguksa Temple.

Bulguksa Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was originally constructed in 528 and rebuilt and reconstructed several times thereafter. Visit highlights include the Dabotap Pagoda, Seokgatap Pagoda, Cheongungyo and Baegungyo Bridges and gilt-bronze Vairocana and Amitabha Buddha statues.

Tumuli Park is the location of the ancient tombs of the Kings and Nobles of the Silla Kingdom. Only the tomb of King Michu, Cheonmachong, is open to the public.

The National Museum is the primary museum of Korean history and art. The permanent exhibits are spread over three floors. Due to the large size of the collection, I understand that the tour guide focused the tour participants on selected sculptures, antiquities, painting and crafts particularly significant to Korean history.

Bulguska Temple
Courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization

Yokkaichi - This was the only day that it rained throughout the day long Princess excursion and, frankly, the day was a bit cold.  Consequently, we didn't stay out too long - even with umbrellas and rain jackets. An early return to the tour bus was at times a welcome retreat. Our morning excursion destinations were the Ashutsu Shinto Shrine and Nagoya Castle. We couldn't enter Nagoya Castle, so our visit here was limited to walking around the castle grounds and viewing the exterior of the castle. 

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle

Our after lunch stop on this excursion was the Tokugawa Art Museum. This museum displayed swords and personal items owned by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) and successive family members. Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate. 

Tokugawa Art Museum
Courtesy of Japanvisitor.con