Kushiro, Japan

Kushiro, Japan

Monday, July 29, 2019

Sometime in the night the fog horn started up again, but the fog lifted a bit as we entered the port at Kushiro, on the northern island of Hokkaido. Even though we docked right in the city center, we opted to take a short tour if only to get our bearings and get a feel for the place.

The Japanese officials were at the dock when we landed a bit before 8 am. By 9 o’clock they had set up multiple computer stations in the library and the passenger clearing began. Because we were on one of the ship’s excursions, we were in Group 1 so first in line. It was a painless process that went pretty quickly for those of us in the front of the line. This procedure lasted all morning until everyone had gone through the gauntlet. 

Since we weren’t to leave on our tour until noon, we walked down the waterfront to the Moo, a multi-storied building with individual vendors and shops selling everything from souvenirs to candy to fish to produce. All the fruit was displayed beautifully. And why not? One peach, now I grant you it was a big peach, but one peach was 780 Yen or about $8 US. Better be the best peach ever. I’ve read about the Japanese insisting on the most perfect fruit and paying for it but 4,800 Yen for a watermelon? Approx $48 US. Yowza.

The candy stores are jammed with so many mysterious things. One little shop was stocked with the equivalent of our penny candy. They had little baskets for the customers to fill. It was overwhelming. I bought a pretty box of what I hope is a selection of candy to take to the Friday quilt group when I get home. I also bought what I thought might be plum and cantaloupe jellies in little individual cups. Like Jell-O shots. Tasted one. Sort of like a Jell-O shot but without the vodka. I’ve since learned that the KitKat bars in Japan are filled with different flavors depending on the geographical location. I’ve been assured that these are available at the airport, the traditional dumping ground for foreign currency. Jim just said, “You buy it, you carry it.” 

Our excursion was to Kushiro Tancho Nature Park where the once almost extinct Japanese crane population is being restored. Our guide is a bundle of energy and so happy to show us her area of Japan. Fuji (her name was something a lot more complicated but she said, “Call me Fuji, like the mountain. Easy to say and remember.”) Her brother-in-law was a skater in the Calgary Olympics. She took her two small children there for three weeks to support him and experience it all. She said she didn’t speak a word of English but everyone was so kind, especially to her children, that she decided she would begin English lessons when she returned to Japan. And she did! Now she guides tourists in the summer and also works as a medical translator. I need a goal.

The crane park was a bit of a disappointment. Cranes mate for life. Each breeding pair lived in an enclosure surrounded by a high, electrified chain link fence to keep the critters out. These enclosures were huge—at least 30 meters wide and much, much deeper. Lots of grasses and trees and streams in each. The cranes seemed content with their housing. I asked if they could fly out. Yes, they could but a strain of bird flu had been detected outside of the park, so the wings of the cranes had been clipped so they couldn’t fly. They will regrow those feathers in about two years when the danger of the disease will have passed. When they can fly, do they return? Yes, they always return to their home area. Big birds: 5 feet tall, black and white with red on the tops of their heads. Very distinctive. A man on the dock was handing out little origami cranes. Mine is destined for our Christmas tree in December.

We crossed over Hokkaido’s most impressive natural area, the Kushiro Marsh National Park. It’s Japan’s largest wetland, home to many endangered species. Another stop at an Observatory for a more extensive view of the area and then to the Washo Fish Market back in Kushiro. All kinds of fish for sale as well as rice bowls. First you buy a bowl of rice and then you go from stall to stall adding various things to the bowl—sashimi, smoked fish, salmon roe, whatever strikes your fancy. Jim and I whimped out on that experience. Somehow having some guy pick up a piece of raw fish from an open display and plopping it in your bowl seemed like tempting fate. We also opted out on the next stop and decided to walk back to the ship which we could see looming up in the distance. It took us maybe 15 minutes, passing a 7-11 on the way. I was all for checking to see if they had my all-time favorite, Classic Coke Slurpee, but it was not to be.

Very rarely are the docks where we tie up open to the public. So often they are in working commercial ports that are strictly off limits to civilians. In Kushiro we are just one block from the city street. The dock area has a beautiful park, basketball courts and a skate board park. A guard has been posted since we landed who very officially directs any cars, taxis and buses to their designated parking areas. Well, about 5 o’clock people began to arrive and gather on the dock, including a sixth grade orchestra. They set up their chairs and music stands just below our stateroom and began tuning up. A woman in a lovely kimono approached the microphone to tell us that the kids (six in the horn section, one drummer, one marimba player and one percussionist) had been playing together for four years. 

All aboard was 5:30, set sail at 6, so we were a somewhat captive audience. There was a big banner on the dock that welcomed the Maasdam this morning and now another was unfurled that thanked us for coming and bade us to come back soon. More people are gathering. The official car director is now directing all comers to a parking area on the dock so they can join in. And finally the orchestra (all in blue jeans, bright green shirts and straw cowboy hats) began to play under the direction of their very animated teacher. Anyone who has been to a school concert or piano recital knows that sometimes it’s a bit ragged and certainly no fun if you don’t have a child in the mix but these kids were great. They played as the last of the passengers came aboard and the gangway was lifted and stowed. Their Disney medley was a real crowd-pleaser, even warranting a long toot of appreciation on the ship’s big horn. Now there are a couple hundred people on the dock, waving flags, clapping to the music and waving good bye. Trust me, this NEVER happens. The passengers in turn were clapping and waving from all decks. Kushiro isn’t the most exciting place on earth but the people are certainly special.

The crew decorated the entire LIdo buffet with Japanese lanterns and screens and dressed in special kimonos and samurai robes for tonight’s Japanese dinner. They must get bored with the same old, same old, so were all in high spirits. Lots of sushi and sashimi and wonderful short ribs. 

We’re gong to follow the coast to Tokyo, approximately 36 hours at 18 knots. And the fog that has been on and off all day is now on. Ditto the fog horn.