Kushiro, Japan - Oct 03,2014

Hooray, we are on Japan soil. Well good news and not so good news, there is a Typhoon looming just south of Japan (you may have heard), well we have learned this morning that they (Japan) are closing the Tokyo port on October 6th as a result of this Typhoon. We will not be visiting Tokyo on this trip, we have been rescheduled to now sail on the West side of Japan and stay out of harms way. Yes disappointing, but safety of guests and crew as well as the ship is once again forefront and of course if should be. More on our new ports tomorrow, but for today, wow, Kushiro, what an amazing port of call.

Although this is not the biggest city on the island of Hokkaido, Kushiro, has long been an important port town here on Hokkaido. Kushiro is known as "the town of mist" because of the fog that rolls in off the Pacific. It is considered the cultural capital of the eastern part of the island with many universities and museums. Kushiro is also the gateway to some of Hokkaido's most impressive natural areas including Kushiro Marsh National Park, Japan's largest wetland home to endangered species and very popular for canoeing, kayaking and hiking. The nearby Kushiro Tancho Nature Park is the site of the first artificial breeding of the Tancho Cranes (or Japanese Cranes) a very rare and beautiful species, once almost extinct. Hokkaido is also the home of the fascinating Ainu Native Culture and a visit to the Ainu Kotan or village is where you will find rows of shops selling wooden knick knacks as well as other locally made handicrafts. The traditional Ainu dances, which have been designated an Unesco cultural experience can also been seen here in the Ikoro theater.

Ellie organized a van with guide and driver to meet the eight of us at the port this morning. So with a very comfortable van and guide Grace off we went to explore this amazing place. Grace told us that we would not see cranes today for a variety of reasons, we were disappointed but remained optimistic that this once almost extinct creature would be found during our travels. Well as you can see by our pictures we not only found some but we found many - probably about 30 in total by days end. Not only did we see them but we also was them in flight, Grace, our guide told us that she has never seen one fly. Lets just say that she also had her camera out. So from here the day just got better and better, Grace took us to all the sites in and around Kushiro, including lakes, parks and the Ainu Village, once again amazing. We were so fortunate as we entered the 1 pm show with just the eight of us and two other local couples for what I would call a private show because as soon as we left four HAL full buses pulled up for the next show. Our bonus is that Grace knows one of the dancers who came out to have her picture taken with us. After a full day of touring Jeff mentioned that we had not seen a Japanese Garden and that a visit to Japan would not be complete without a visit to a garden. Well it so happens that Grace knows of a great private garden on the way back to the ship. She stopped in and the owner was delighted to open his garden to us. Thanks Grace and driver, sorry I do not have his name, for an most incredible day.

There are three uploads today as Jan took over 600 pictures and they were so hard to edit down, hope you enjoy...