March 2-5 Japan

This is ancient news, but we finally have internet connections.

March 2 – 5 - Japan


March 2nd – Day at Sea

The ‘boisterous’ seas continued the entire day at sea so that most dining venues were distinctly empty. The winds and sea began to calm a bit by late afternoon and by midnight the tempest had ended. But it took its toll: 60% of the crew was ill, and one of the guest lecturers had begun to barf in the middle of his lecture and had to stop. The thrill of ocean travels. So much for a quiet day at sea to sit by the pool and relax.

March 3rd – Kagashima, Japan

Our arrival at Kagashima was uneventful as the seas were now calm as glass. We were all asked to go through a ‘face to face’ meeting with the immigration authorities of Japan, which was quite thorough: a full body temperature scan, a fingerprint scan, a photograph, and a face to face before our landing card was stamped for the day. Since neither of us had any plans to get off the ship, it was a bit of a drill. Since it was 46 degrees and quite wet and raw outside, we were not inspired to explore the city streets. Kagashima is well known for its active volcano, and during the morning it emitted a loud ‘Boom’, and a plume of smoke!

We had looked at all the guidebooks and read all the tour descriptions, and nothing told us we wanted to get off the ship, so we used the day for laundry and reading. Since the spa is fairly empty on port-days, they had a special of two treatments for $100.00 which I used to have a hot rocks massage, and a neck and shoulder massage. The spa was obviously desperate for business since there was no one there but myself. I’m guessing that this is a crowd less interested in being pampered, and thus the revenue flow was not what the ship and Canyon Ranch would like.

March 4 – Nagasaki Japan

Having skipped seeing the sites of Kagashima, we felt obliged to get off the ship and see something of Japan, so with our passport and landing cards in hand, we headed off to see the Nagasaki Peace Park and the Museum associated with the dropping of the bomb.

In the port terminal which is right in the heart of the town, there were men dressed as samurai warriors (if you wanted your picture taken next to one), and ladies selling tourist junk if you were too lazy to go to town, but more importantly there was an information desk which provided maps, instructions and guidance in English. We had been warned that English signage would be spare if not non-existent, so we wanted to be sure we knew what we were up to. We bought a one-day tram pass, were instructed as to how to use the tram and off we went on a crisp, cold (45 degrees), sunny day.

Our tram ride was uneventful. Two voices accompanied us on the ride: a programmed voice of a woman informing us – in Japanese - of tram stops and other important things (at least we think that was what she was saying), and more importantly, the tram conductor himself who in a very calm, cadenced voice announced each stop and thanked each person as they got off the tram and paid their fare. We transferred from the Green line to the Blue line, and at the appropriate stop hopped off and headed to the park.

The park was based at ‘ground zero’ of the bomb that was dropped on August 9, 1945. There were various monuments to honor those who died, with special memorials for the Koreans, Russians and other nationalities struck down that day. There is a large, black obelisk at the exact “hypo-center’ where the plutonium “Fat-man” bomb exploded 500 feet in the air. We continued on to the museum, a very modern building, which reminded me of the Guggenheim. A spiral ramp led us to the lowest level of the museum where there were dioramas, historic time lines, photographs and videos associated with the destruction. An entire exhibit was dedicated to the theme that such bombs should never be used again, along with details on other nuclear sites where bombs have been tested since 1945 (Bikini, Nevada, New Mexico, Kazakhstan, etc). We did not read every sign and notice since we pretty much knew the story. Bob ,who had mixed feelings about visiting Japan and this site, had to admit that the Japanese tried to be very even-handed in their descriptions. They did acknowledge Pearl Harbor and their attacks on Nanking, but for the most part the allies were thoroughly chastised for their actions.

With the afternoon moving on, we headed back to the ship, reversing our tram experience in a tram car so jammed with local residents that we felt like sardines. We both looked out the windows at the passing stores, restaurants and shops, but nothing compelled us to get off and take further looks around.

Nagasaki is a busy port which, were it not for the sad history of the bomb, would probably not be considered a tourist destination. Other than the park, and signs leading to it, there was absolutely nothing in English. I felt much the same as when I first arrived in Greece, where the alphabet gave me few clues as to whether I was looking at advertisements for food, clothing or telephones. For the first time in a long time, I felt that in order to visit this country, I would definitely need a guide. I’m sure that the big cities have more dual-language signage, but outside these major hubs, it would behoove one to have a guide.

This was our ship’s last port of call in Japan, and so we had another face-to-face meeting with immigration. It seemed to us that the communist government of Viet Nam had less immigration requirements than the Japanese, and we felt as if we were in a highly threatened country rather than a democratic state. I’m not sure why the Japanese feel this need for caution, and I’ll have to read more about it. But it was a nuisance not only for us, but for the crew who have to organize the distribution and then the re-collection of passports. To keep everything as organized and efficient as possible so as not to antagonize the passengers, our crew had to be up very early in the morning and late at night as they got ready for the next country and the next port of call.

Dinner tonight was in Toscana, the Italian restaurant on deck nine. We joined a lovely couple whom Doris had met: Larry and David from Washington D.C. The conversation was lively, interesting, and very companionable. We sat at our table for over three hours, as course after course was consumed, and we might have stayed longer had I not faded with tiredness. To meet articulate, well-informed people who have led interesting lives is what makes these trips special.

Tonight we turn the clocks back and hour to get in synch with China, so we get an extra hour in bed to help us sleep off the many glasses of wine we enjoyed over our meal.



March 5 – at sea

Another day at sea to get ready for our first important day in Shanghai. Here we will be meeting our private guide Charlie, who plans to take us to the various locations mentioned in the letters of ‘the boys’.

I checked my email today for the first time in two days – the Japanese had stopped our ship’s satellite from receiving or transmitting so that the internet, the cell phones and other modern communications were unavailable for the period during which we were on Japanese soil.

In my in-basket was a lovely note from the gentleman at the Hong Kong City Museum who identified very specifically each of the locations of the boy’s pictures. I had left a copy of the photos at the information desk of the museum when we were there on February 26th, and I was delighted to get such a thorough response from the museum. It was a barber shop in the picture that told him exactly where the photos were taken in 1928. Now THAT’S service!

The only lecture we attended today was one with three officers of the ship: the captain, Leo Strazicic from Dubrovnik, the General Manager, Carlo Gunetti from Genoa (who had served onboard the original ‘Love Boat” albeit in the background), and the Chief Engineer from Bari, Italy. Passengers had provided questions, and the three did their best to answer them:

• The ship gets most of its provisions from the US. Every two weeks they get three 40-ft. containers of fresh or frozen food. In between, while in the Asian waters, they get back up from Australia and Hong Kong.

• When asked about the role of the pilots who come on at every port, the captain said some were useful, but many were useless. But it is a law that they come on-board as advisors.

• There are 40-50 nationalities represented by the crew, and they try to give them as much entertainment as possible since the crew is young, work long hours and live in very confined spaces.

• When asked if there was the ability to handle a helicopter for a emergency, the captain said that there was a place, aft of the funnel, to winch up a stretcher …and “if the passenger survived the winching, they’d probably live through whatever came next”.

• When asked their favorite ports the captain said Argentina, Gunetti liked Bora Bora and the engineer liked anything but Europe.

One doesn’t learn a lot more, but it is a chance to meet the crew that has our life in their hands, and to learn a little about the intricacies of the ship.

The other lecturers we have eschewed having given them each a try or two before deciding it wasn’t worth rushing to the Nautica Lounge to hear: a very ego-centric woman named Sondra Ettlinger, whose job is to tell us a bit about up-coming ports but who is mainly advertising her web site and what she perceives to be her great photographs; Colonel Stephen Bauer who served as a staff military aid to the Nixon, Ford and Carter white houses, and told juicy tidbits about the protocol and behavior of guests coming for events to the White House; and a traveling couple of academics from Alaska who put us to sleep. In this aspect we miss the Queen Mary and its superb lecturers, but then, this trip is meant to be filled with ports of interest and here the tour guides have been truly excellent. I am sure a lot is a question of cost, and Oceania just can’t lure great lecturers to their ships.

But, since tomorrow is a day for déjà vu all over again, Bob and I spent the time re-reading Daddy’s letters ,as well as other materials about Shanghai we had downloaded off the web. We’re ready for Shanghai, by gum!