Muroran / Sapporo, Japan – September 26th

We arrived in Muroran very early this morning. Shore excursions started before 8 p.m. and we set sail tonight at 6 p.m. That might seem like lots of time but for those of us who went to Sapporo, there was very little time. Sapporo is 2 to 2.5 hours away by bus so 4 to 5 hours of the day were in transit, which didn’t leave a lot of time for touring. My tour met at 8:15 and every tour seemed to be going at the same time as the line ups were rather long. It was 8:45 before the bus pulled away but we still had to be back by 5:30 for all aboard – and we made it at 5:35.

We made three stops in Sapporo. The first was the Historical Village of Hokkaido which is set on over 50 acres and includes real or replica homes from the mid 19th to 20th century. The largest portion depicts a town but there is also a fishing village, a farm village and a mountain village. As a group we wandered down main street of the town and talked about some of the buildings. We went into the sake factory but just looked at the other buildings. When the group split up we had about 40 minutes before we had to be back on the bus and that was not near enough time. I wandered around the fishing village and then started through the farm village because I specifically wanted to see the silkworm house. It was quite interesting and had some good displays. I’ve always found silk worms and that whole process to be quite amazing and I was always glad I wasn’t in the industry. Anyway, by the time I was done the silkworm house and the farm machinery shed, my time was up and I had to run to the bus. I do have to add that old tractors in Japan look just like those in Canada. It rained lightly while we were here but nothing to prevent us from walking around and it was still warm. Hokkaido, by the way, is the name of the large northern island of Japan and it’s like a separate province within Japan. The island became part of Japan in 1869, which is why a lot of the exhibits in Sapporo museums start around this time.

Lunch was our second stop and I was going to remember what hotel we were in but alas, I have forgotten. It was just hotel catering for several of the buses from our ship but it was delicious. We had a salad with strange things in it, most of which I couldn’t identify but they were very tasty. Then we had a carrot soup that was really good. The main course was chicken and boiled potatoes and they were also good. Dessert was a sherbet or sorbet. It was frozen so hard we couldn’t get our spoons into it. One person at our table sent hers flying right out of the cup but she did manage to catch it before it hit the floor. It was hilarious to try and eat it but we did all manage – most of us with a spoon holding the ball and a knife chipping away at the edges. I’m not sure if the re meal was really Japanese cuisine but it was all good.

Our last stop was downtown Sapporo at the TV Tower at the end of Odori Park and we had about 90 minutes to wander around. Many of the folks followed our tour guide to go shopping but I went off on my own. I went first to the Clock Tower, which was only about 4 blocks away. This was constructed in 1878 by the Americans I believe as a drill hall for an academy. It’s a wood building that looks quite out of place among the tall office buildings in downtown Sapporo. I couldn’t go inside to see the exhibits because you needed cash (Japanese yen only) and I didn’t bother getting any yen for my quick visit. I just walked around the outside of the building and took a few pictures.

From there I walked another 4-5 blocks to the former Hokkaido Government Office Building commonly referred to as the Red Brick Building, which was built in 1888 in a neo-baroque style with an octagonal dome. The building itself is quite lovely, especially so as it stands against the other taller more modern buildings of the city. At the time it was built it was the largest building in Japan and is equivalent in size to a current-day 10-story building so quite large. Inside there were various exhibits that were mainly in Japanese but with a bit of English from time to time. One of the rooms was obviously the main meeting room and there were pictures of many dignitaries around the wall and a large, old conference table in the middle. Another room dealt with trade and the various commodities that were being exported and where. Another room was very interesting and talked about four smaller islands, including Sakhalin, north of Hokkaido that were once Japanese but are now Russian and all the negotiations and agreements that have been made over many years to get the islands back. Another interesting exhibit showed more of the ancient history and climate aspects including plants and animals and ancient fossils.

The grounds around the old government house were beautiful with large ponds on each side of the entrance gates, beautiful walkways and benches around the ponds and beautiful flowers both in beds throughout the garden and in the ponds and around their shores. It was a wonderfully relaxing park in the middle of all the government buildings and businesses downtown. The botanical gardens, much larger and I hear much more beautiful, were another short walk away but I didn’t have time to go there. I simply had time to walk back to Odori Park and the TV Tower to meet the tour. You can go up to an observation deck in the tower and I was hoping to do that as well but time just did not allow me to do so.

I did stroll back to the tower through Odori Park, which is a block wide and several kilometers long with beautiful gardens and flowers and fountains and sculptures. It was a Sunday when we were in town and the place was packed for the Autumn Festival. The part I walked through had an entire block of food booths and the food all smelled delicious. The next block was mainly for liquid refreshments and Sapporo beer was definitely the favoured beverage. There were small entertainment spaces and a few larger stages further down. It would have been a fun place to have spent the entire day but I only had 20 minutes as I walked back to meet the tour group for the return trip to the ship in Muroran.

The trip went by quickly with our tour guide telling us about the island, its history and some of the people. She even tried to teach us Japanese and taught us a Japanese song, which we did quite well at I thought. The scenery was very green and lush looking and the views on either side were interesting. For much of the trip one side of the bus would be looking at active volcanoes with smoke coming from their peaks and the other side would be looking at ocean vistas. Everything was perfectly clean and spotless and picture perfect – both along the country side and in the city. Hokkaido has almost a quarter of Japan’s land mass but less than 10% of its population so there is a lot of beautiful countryside either just in green treed hillsides or in farmland.

The port city of Muroran is a small town which I didn’t get to see much of as I was on my Sapporo excursion. Those who went ashore and visited in Muroran said it was a lovely little town. The oil refinery right by the dock didn’t make the town look all that attractive during the day but once lit up at night even it looked quite lovely. The bridge in Muroran looked beautiful during the day but it also looked more spectacular when lit at night. As the ship was ready to sail a group of school children did a presentation for us on the port. It’s a wonder the ship didn’t tip over because I’m sure every last passenger and crew member was standing on the starboard side watching their show. They were very good and kept shouting soyanara and waving at us as we sailed away. And as we sailed out of the harbour at 6 p.m. the sun was already set, the refinery was lit up and so was the bridge. I was standing on deck 15 aft taking pictures of the bridge when the moon came up as a beautiful orange ball. I know my simple little camera certainly didn’t do it justice but it did make for a glorious picture.

Well, I think that’s all for Japan although I guess we are still sailing on the Sea of Japan as we cross over to Vladivostock, Russia for a visit tomorrow. Right now it is almost 70 degrees and it’s partly cloudy. I’m in my cabin typing and the patio door is wide open and it is beautiful. It’s supposed to be cooler tomorrow but even the 60s or 50s would be fine for touring Vladivostock.

I should note that Chay, my cabin steward, is an exceptional person but he did make a wee mistake last night. We have had to put our clocks back an hour almost every night of this cruise and last night the same note was on my pillow with my nightly chocolate treat. I reset my clock and watch and went to bed early as I was exhausted and I wanted to get up early and go to the fitness class at 7 (Yes, I know that’s hard to believe but it is true,). Anyway, I woke up at 6 and got up to check out the sunrise. Much to my astonishment, when I threw back the curtains it was very bright outside and the sun was well up in the sky. I quickly turned on the TV to get the report from the bridge and found out it was actually 8 a.m. and we were supposed to turn our clocks one hour forward last night (not back) so I was two hours out. I gave Chay a rough time about it but I really wasn’t too upset as I was well rested and I had a great excuse for missing the morning exercise class. Luckily it wasn’t a day we were in port and on tour.

Sayonara, and I’ll hopefully be back after Vladivostock Russia with another posting.

Jayne