Muroran, Japan

           On 29 Sep 2013, after again setting our clocks back on hour the previous night, we awoke to our alarm about 6:30 AM, had a quick breakfast, and then proceeded to the immigration inspection point on ship, where Japanese officials took our fingerprints and stamped a photocopy of our passports.  Then, we proceeded to our excursion meeting point, rather than returning to our cabin.  For a change, we were the second couple in line, rather that at the end of the line, where we usually end up.




Ainu Village

Ainu Village Bears

During our one-hour coach ride (on the left side of the road, as in England) to the Ainu village, our excellent tour guide, Sha Mah Dah, described elements of Japanese culture.  One of the passengers asked him how many bedrooms his 65-meter apartment has.  He described the absence of the word privacy in the Japanese language.  Traditionally, the entire family sleeps on mats in the same room; in the morning, the mats are carefully folded and stored in the closet.  However, members of the younger generation are beginning to desire separate bedrooms, as they imitate Western culture. 

The village we visited contains several recreated thatch-roofed buildings set along a lake.  The Ainu culture as it is known today dates from about 1200 AD.  The Ainu originally lived on Japan’s main island as well as other islands, but they were pushed north to the island of Hokkaido by the expanding Japanese empire.  Since the Ainu were peaceful and had no weapons, eventually the empire overpowered them and claimed the island.  Today, their language is no longer used.  While in the village, we were entertained by native dancers.  One dance was meant to send the spirit of a bear to heaven.  It was interesting to note the similarities between some elements of the Ainu culture and that of the Eskimos.

We returned to the ship about 1:00 PM and went directly to lunch.  Afterwards, Sally went for a swim in the pool, and we both sat in one of the hot tubs for a few minutes.  Today the weather finally became sunny and warm; in fact, it was 70 degrees, which was even more than predicted – and the water in the pool was probably about 80 degrees, which surprised Sally.

For more than an hour, a high school band and young dancers on the pier entertained passengers watching from the starboard side of the ship, until the ship pushed off.  After a very long day, we danced for only about 45 minutes after dinner before retiring to our cabin.