Great Food, People, Scenery; Return to Japan Always a Thrill

Days 93-94, 2026 Grand World Voyage

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 7-8, 2026; Naha (Okinawa) and Amami, Japan.

The sound of children playing at recess told me I had arrived at my destination. Google Translate proved it. The “Amami City Obama nursery school.”

While putting together a walking route in this small Japanese town, I saw the school on my map app. What a great photo opportunity, I thought, and later I could research the connection between this small Japanese town and the 44^th president of the United States.

Oops. There is no connection. Obama is a Japanese name meeting “little beach.” There is a town named Obama on the Sea of Japan, not too far from Kyoto. That would be a 22-hour drive (including ferry) from my location in southwest Japan.

I didn’t mind my side trip to the school. Today I was on my own and enjoying more than five miles of aimless exploring. We have six Japanese ports, and Amami is the only one I haven’t visited before.

Amami turned out to be a town with not a lot open during the day, including most of the restaurants. It’s not really a tourist town, so most signage is only in Japanese.

Most of us from the ship found a covered block-long promenade with a few shops, and I had fun browsing Japanese greeting cards. A second-hand store had a few kimonos, but the supply was picked over by the time I arrived.

Beer and breweries are popular in Japan, and the islands of the Amami archipelago are no exception. A poster in a shop window illustrated labels from the many local breweries of the area.

The best part of my day was just observing life in a small Japanese town. The sound of whacks led me to men playing croquet in the park. A group of boys on bicycles yelled “hello” as they rode by, giggling as the practiced their English.

I paused at the harbor to sketch a couple of ships in what I’m calling “dry dock.” One had been docked long enough to sprout a small tree. I’m sure neither will ever return to the water.

Our first Japanese port was Naha, Okinawa, on Tuesday. Every Holland America cruise to Japan that I’ve taken has stopped here, sometimes overnight. This year we only had one day, and it rained off and on – enough to cancel group plans to rent go-carts for an early morning ride through town. International Drivers Permit required.

The rain even dampened our plans to walk the pleasant mile to the busy shopping street of Kokusaidori, and instead of waiting 20 minutes for an inexpensive shuttle, we hailed a taxi for about $6. We ducked into Ichiba Hondori, a covered shopping arcade, to window shop. Locally brewed Orion beer is hugely popular here, as is Spam (introduced by American GIs, I believe). Their logos were on everything from t-shirts to socks. Shisa also are everywhere — a cross between a lion and a dog in Okinawan mythology.

Back on Kokusaidori, we joined friends at the Okinawa Local Cuisine Hateruma for lunch, ordering electronically from tablets at each table. It’s very much a Japanese thing. I was surprised by the delicious bright green sea grapes. The wagyu beef I grilled at the was great, too. Some of the more adventurous of our group chose a selection of sashimi and other Japanese treats.

I hadn’t planned to attend Rijsttafel, an Indonesian dinner adapted by the Dutch. as I’ve gone before. But I realized it would be another opportunity to wear the Indonesian skirt I bought in Bali, and the Pinnacle Grill was decorated to the hilt, so off I went.

For the past couple of weeks on board, we’ve had a season of birthdays. The spouses of two friends reserved the King’s Room for gatherings of a couple of dozen people. We ordered off the dining room menu, with the addition of birthday cake for dessert, serenaded by dining room stewards.

As this wasn’t a significant birthday for me, I chose instead just to eat with a few friends in the dining room. (I celebrated last year’s milestone in bigger style.) Instead of cake, I requested a pecan pie – without chocolate (which strangely seems to be included in Holland America’s corporate recipe). It was wonderful.

Elaine decorated the room, with help from the guest relations team for our door.