Japan and Korea visit October 2014

We crossed the International Dateline on September 30th and so we jumped ahead to October 1st in keeping with the imaginary line on Earth that separates two consecutive calendar days and keeps us on time as we traveled westbound to Japan.  Our first port was Kushiro on the northernmost large island of Japan which is Hokkaido.

Our original plans were to disembark the Amsterdam in Kushiro and begin a five day overland tour of Japan that would have had us fly to Tokyo, then travel by rail to Kyoto and on to Nagasaki and we would board her again.  

However, we learned Typhoon Phanfone was heading towards Japan from the south and was forecast to strike Tokyo and much of the eastern coast of Japan and so we decided to cancel this overland tour and stay with the ship.  Our Captain announced we would instead head west through the Inland Sea and travel along the western coast of Japan in order to miss this forecast very large storm.

So rather than rush to the airport in Kushiro, we instead walked to the MOO which is a large building with a market inside located very near to the port.  Our friends, Ken, Fred and Karen, joined us and Karen and Steve were invited to dress in traditional Japanese clothes.  Steve’s imitation as a Samurai warrior drew more laughs from the local people, especially because his feet were too big for the platform shoes.  Tom, being more modest, decided to stay behind the camera.

After a few more photos, and because the skies were threatening rain, we returned to the ship.  And we tried reassuring each other that our decision to stay with the ship because of the impending storm was the right one, despite our feeling disappointed.

Our first new port on the west coast of Japan was Kanazawa and we were delighted that the Tour company we booked to see Japan had already made arrangements for us to tour the new cities.  Our guide met us at the dock and we were dispatched by taxi to several sites, including the Kenrokuen Garden, the Castle Park, the Samurai House, and one of the beautiful tea houses in the Geisha District for lots of photos, and lunch with friends.

We even saw Hank, the ship’s Hotel Director, and his wife, Christel, who manages Guest Relations on the Amsterdam, riding by us on their tandem bicycle.  They say they explore cities visited by the ship in this fun way, whenever they can.

Our next port was Fukuoka, which is a very large city, and our guide met us and we traveled by train to Dazaifu, a “City of Ancient Culture” with its many historical temples and shrines.  Established about 1,300 years ago, Dazaifu, or “Government-General Headquarters”, ruled all of Kyushu (including Tokyo) for a period of some 500 years.    

The day was full of interesting stops and we were deservedly tired when we returned to the ship that evening.

Our last stop in Japan was Nagasaki, site of the 2nd atomic bomb explosion that ended WWII.  We visited the Peace Park, with its many memorials honoring the victims, and heard the City’s bells sounding at 11:02am or at the precise moment, 69 years ago, the sky over “ground zero” was covered with a pitch black nuclear cloud.  The Atomic Bomb Museum provided a somber, yet stirring, remembrance of this sad event and focused attention on its warning to all Nations should the use of nuclear weapons not be universally banned.   

Despite the threat of a typhoon that caused us to change our itinerary, we all believe we experienced the culture of Japan in this visit and now we look forward to seeing Korea.

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Located southwest of the Korean peninsula, Jeju is the biggest island of Korea and it is a popular vacation destination.  

The highlight of our half-day visit to Jeju Island was climbing to the top of Sunrise Peak, a volcanic crater, providing us with memorable views of the land and ocean below. 

You might recall the recent South Korean ferry disaster happened as many high school age youngsters were returning from Jeju City.  Nearly 400 passengers perished and we learned this tragedy was especially grievous for many Korean couples who are having only one child per family.   Their continued anger over this incident and its handling by Government officials was evident as we could see yellow streamers flying from make-shift campsites situated in a central park of downtown Seoul a day later.

Next we visited Incheon, the port where General George MacArthur landed US forces launching his famous counter-invasion of South Korea behind the communist troops of North Korea who had overtaken Seoul and nearly the entire Korean peninsula in the Korean War of the early 1950’s.  Also of interest, the One World cruise ship that sells its cabins to those who might want to live at sea (hmm, maybe we should consider this in the future haha) was parked nearby. 

We spent a full day touring Seoul and attended an evening performance of Nanta, a fun, one-of-a-kind performance compared to the Broadway show, STOMP, that uses kitchen utensils to create its rhythmic sounds in support of its story of four (4) chefs hurriedly preparing a Korean wedding dinner. 

The next day we visited the DMZ that separates South Korea from North Korea since the negotiated cease fire in 1953.  We visited a secret tunnel built by North Korea for a planned, but failed, invasion of the South that was uncovered in the 1970s and we saw a North Korean village using telescopes from an Observation point that we visited along with many South Koreans who are still hopeful these nations will someday be reunited.

Now we sail for Tianjin, China and our group’s planned six day overland tour.   We know these posts aren't coming as often as we (and you) might like, but hopefully you'll check back again in a few days to see our report on China and Vietnam.

Thanks for being patient.  We're having a ball and wish you all could be here with us.  Best wishes !!!

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