We have reached the East. Our first stop in Japan was Kobe. Kobe is a very modern city. Most of the city was destroyed by an earthquake Jan. 17, 1995 and a modern metropolis has grown in the almost 20 years since. It is extremely clean and well cared for. We saw many hip, young, well dressed Japanese throughout the city, which seemed to fit the vibe.
We started our day by taking a shuttle into downtown and going to Chinatown. This place was awesome. There were so many vendors selling street food snacks, noodles, soups, dumplings, sweet treats and one of our favorites green tea ice cream. Ty and I browsed the Chinatown streets enjoying the "piazzas" with Chinese statues, decorations and mini pagodas. These streets were extremely busy throughout the day. We ate our way through Chinatown from front to back then turned down a block to the Motomachi Arcade.
The Motomachi Arcade is basically an outdoor mall, several story stores on each side of a walk only street with a rounded covered ceiling between the store fronts over the walking road. Perfect! There were all types of stores and Ty and I walked back to front to see them all. The arcade runs several blocks and brought us back to the main road where we entered Chinatown. We then walked around downtown a bit and returned to the port.
After dinner we were treated to a show from local Kobe baton dancers and a drum band which was a lot of fun.
Japan - Day 2 Ancient Kyoto
Our second day in Japan included an all day tour to Kyoto. Kyoto was the ancient Capitol of Japan for over 1100 years prior to its move to Tokyo. This ancient city was spared bombing in WWII and many if its ancient Shinto Shrines and Buddest Temples still stand today. We started at the tour at the Kinkaku-Ji Temple which was originally built in 1397 as a retirement dwelling for the Shogun Yoshimitsu. It is covered in gold foil and is known as the "Golden Pavillion".
We then went to the Nijo Castle built in 1603. This was designed with "nightingale" floors which squeak to warn the inhabitants for intruders.
Our last sightseeing stop was at the Heian Shinto Shrine, built to celebrate Kyoto's 1,100th birthday. It features a 2/3rd scale model of the Heian Imperial Palace gardens.
We also stopped at a local restaurant for lunch and had some shopping time at the Handicraft market. After our long tour we returned to Kobe and the ship. Upon arrival we were told that our next stop in Okinawa would have to be cancelled due to categorty 3 typhoon Wipha coming up the eastern coast of Japan, in our direct path. The Captain has deemed it too unsafe to both the ship and its passengers to be able to get to Naha. Instead we will be ducking west and having our port of call in Nagasaki. Though I am extremely disappointed that our plans to meet Joe's cousin Bobby who is stationed in Okinawa will not happen, we will look forward to seeing Nagasaki. What we have seen already of Japan and its' people has shown us a peaceful, caring and prideful nation, forever changed by the events of WWII. I'm sure for me this will be an educational yet solemn port of call.
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