Thursday, 7 March 2019
Enroute from Busan, South Korea, to Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Another day of smooth sailing as we start moving southward toward Okinawa (2 ports), Taiwan (3 three ports), and the Philippines (1 port).  Tomorrow--day five of cruise--is, happily, a sea day, time to figure out what drawers and closets I stuffed all my things in on day one.  And perhaps to bring the blog closer to up-to-date. 

Wednesday, 5 March 2019
Fukuoka (Hakata), Japan

A rainy day in the metropolis of Kyushu, sixth largest city in Japan, and the place with two names--Fukuoka and Hakata--derived from the combining of two separate cities over one hundred years ago.  It is raining pretty hard, but there is little wind, so it is not difficult to maneuver.  I am glad to be on a shore excursion this morning, it makes getting around much easier.  I pal around today—I have become quite the social butterfly—with Gerri, a retired military medic who lives in Phoenix.  She is traveling solo and seems to be interested in cultivating my company.

The first stop of the tour is the Kushida Shrine, in the heart of downtown Fukuoka.  This is a Shinto shrine and is quite busy with locals looking for help from ancestor gods, and tourists looking for that perfect photo.  The coach drops us just a few steps from the front gate

Kushida Shrine Front Gate

The Cherry Blossoms Are Starting Early This Year . . .

. . . in Time for Locals to Hang Their "Wishes" Cards

Ceremonial Drum and Masks Inside Main Temple

Larger-Than-Life-Size Float for Parades and Processions

Torii Gates on Temple Grounds

From the temple it is a short bus ride through Fukuoka's main shopping and business districts, criss-crossed by canals and bridges.  Even through the raindrops, the bus windows reveal a clean and modern city, although few people are walking what would otherwise be very busy streets.

At the next tour stop we will have a chance to see Fukuoka and its surroundings from the highest point in the city--the observation platform at the top of Fukuoka Tower.  The building is Japan's tallest seaside tower at 234 meters, although the observation platform is just over halfway up, at 123 meters.  Asian cities seem to be competing for who can build the tallest observation tower with the fastest elevators.  The views extend around full-circle, offering visions of the city and the sea, but today, mostly clouds and mist.

We have some free time to wander in the lobby of the tower, where there is a gift shop and a "Seven-Eleven" with an ATM machine that speaks in English, guiding me through the easy process of getting Japanese Yen at a good rate--and getting it directly from my Debit Card so there is no credit card fee.  This morning's breakfast in the dining room was not very filling (they brought me Eggs Benedict with crabmeat, which I cannot eat, instead of the traditional Canadian Bacon).  There isn't time to wait for another order, so I satisfy myself with fresh fruit and a cinnamon danish.  But by noon, I need some further sustenance, so a small bag of plain cake doughnuts from 7-11 will have to do (very fresh, I must add).

The final stop of the tour is the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, a compound of buildings further out from the city center.  Our coach takes us to a busy shopping neighborhood halfway up a hillside, but there is still 15-20 minutes of walking up through the busy streets and then steep steps to reach the temple itself (we are warned in advance).  The shops lining the street are varied and colorful, from small local fruit stands to the international combine of Starbucks, but there isn't time in the rain to stop for photos, and the line in Starbucks is too long to wait for coffee (I'm glad I bought those doughnuts).

This temple is most famous for its ancient plum trees, still in blossom:

And there are the usual individual shrines, Buddha statues, wooden cards for requests to the gods.  This is also an active monestary and behind the buildings one can see the quarters where the monks live and study.

Young Japanese worshipers dress in their best kimonos and take each other's photos:

We return to the ship in the early afternoon.  I had planned to go back into the city center to wander the shops and markets, as well as see some smaller temples, but the rain is coming down very hard, so I decide a late lunch at Dive, the poolside snack patio, with a German-style hotdog and French fries, followed by an afternoon nap is a much better idea.

Tomorrow is another port, another city, and another country and currency.  I will have quite a collection of spare coins when I return home.  So my next posting will be from Korea, where, hopefully, the sun will be shining.