Seaside Village, Rocky Coast and a Rare Educational Opportunity

Day 19, Grand Asia 2017

Friday, Oct. 20, 2017 – Hososhima, Japan

According to Japanese mythology, the first Japanese emperor, Jimmu, set sail from the small seaside village of Mimitsu to conquer central Japan. Today I visited the village during our stop in Hososhima on Kyushu, the southwestern-most of the major Japanese islands. True to most of our stops so far, it was a misty, sometimes rainy, day.

I joined a Holland America excursion for this port. Generally, I try to explore on my own or with a small group. The ship’s tours tend to be packed and inflexible, moving no faster than the slowest participant. On the other hand, they are well planned and provide the assurance of getting you back before the ship sails. And in small ports with few local tour guides, they get you out of to see more local terrain.

The Cape Hyuga and Mimitsu tour provided a good combination of historic sites and scenery. We started with a short drive to Mimitsu. It became a thriving seaport in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, transporting the island’s natural resources by sea to Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. But the arrival of the railroad ended Mimitsu’s glory days.

Mimitsu preserves the architecture and atmosphere of the old seaport village and is considered one of the 100 most beautiful historic landscapes in Japan. We toured a shipping agent’s home and saw the iconic mailbox wood carved ship motifs that are specific to the town.

DSC07220 Our guide schooled us on the difference in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, and we visited one of the latter. We also made two stops at the “happy house,” as our guide called the public restrooms.

As we drove winding roads to our next stop, we could see why surfers love this area. The Pacific Ocean crashed into the rocky coast that is occasionally broken by small beaches. We entered the twisty roads and narrow switchbacks of Nippo-Kaigan Quasi National Park to reach our stop at Cape Hyuga.

Those who wanted a bit of a hike took a paved path to the end of the rocky point of land jutting into the Pacific Ocean. Without the tour I would have been limited to the city streets of Hososhima, where the town offered shuttles between the ship and the town center.

The rain held off during our walk, but by the time our three-hour tour ended it was misting heavily. Crew and passengers gathered under a tent supplied with WIFI, but while the signal was strong, the service was too slow for me. I returned to the ship, had lunch and took a long nap. Tonight was our third gala night and I had the surf and turf. Again, it was one of the best steaks I have ever had, and that says a lot for someone who has spent much of her life in Kansas City and Texas.

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Our family traditionally cruised Thanksgiving week, so I’ve seen what life on a ship is like surrounded by hundreds of kids. Long cruises seldom have any, unless the family of a crewmember joins for a segment of the cruise.

We have three children traveling as passengers. One is a year-old toddler traveling with her parents. The others are an 11-year-old girl and her 9-year-old brother traveling with their grandmother and great aunt.

Mary home schools her grandchildren, so it was natural for her to bring them on this cruise. Their studies continue on the sea days, and she said the kids weren’t thrilled with almost two weeks straight of daily math class during our crossing to Japan. Of course, they are getting the best education in visiting all these foreign places. I see them occasionally playing chess on the giant chessboard on the Lido deck. They are fortunate to have the run of the HAL Kids area with activities led by two crewmembers. Mary and her sister Linda are fortunate that the ship’s kid activities continue into the evening so they can have quiet adult dinners in the dining room.

DSC07281 - Version 2Today I ran into the family on the outside deck of the lower promenade as we left Hososhima. They were waiting to watch the local pilot take that critical step from the ship onto the pilot boat as we sailed out of the harbor. What an adventure they are having!