Kushiro, Japan

New-to-us port #61.

We arrived at our last port in Japan bright and early this morning to find blue skies and crisp temps that were definitely on the chilly side. But in the sun it was quite comfortable. In other words, a perfect day for a walk.

Kushiro, located on Hokkaido Island, is home to a Special Natural Monument. The designation is not for a building or statue or any such thing, mind you. It is for the largest bird of Japan … the endangered red-crowned crane … aka the Japanese crane. Reduced to a population of just over a dozen at one time, there are now about 1,800 birds that reside permanently in East Hokkaido. That doesn’t mean that they are easy to see, however, as their gathering time in the wild is from late October to late March.

I would like to have seen these birds. But to do so, we’d have to go to the Kushiro Crane Reserve or the Zoo. We opted out of doing either. Instead, we went to the Kushiro City Museum … about a mile or so from where Insignia was docked in the city. The walk was a pleasant one that took us across Nusamai Bridge, with its statues of the four seasons, and through local neighborhoods … deserted early on a Sunday morning. There were a couple of fairly steep inclines along the way, so we got a cardio workout as a bonus.

Having arrived at the museum 30 minutes before the doors opened, we first followed a trail to an overlook from which we enjoyed views of Lake Harutori, with the Pacific Ocean just beyond it. There were several big white birds sitting on the water that might have been cranes, but going further down the trail to the edge of the water would have put us at the mercy of the swarming mosquitoes, so we resisted the temptation.

The Kushiro City Museum, designed to resemble a stylized crane with outspread wings (have to use your imagination here), was built in 1983. It tells the story of Kushiro from prehistoric times to the present day. Here, one can learn about the Ice Age animal migration, the formation of the Kushiro wetlands, the Ainu culture and the early settlers who came here from other parts of the Japanese Archipelago.

We spent about an hour and half at the museum, studying the various exhibits displayed on three floors. Of particular interest was a small selection of the 1.4 million prehistoric artifacts found in the area … some dating back to the Jomon Period (13,000 BCE to 400 CE). We also got a fascinating glimpse into the Ainu people who settled the area that is now Kushiro. On the top floor, we found dioramas showing cranes doing their mating dance in the winter and the pair in the marsh later that summer with their chick. Informative panels added to our base knowledge about these endangered birds

Our plan had been to take it easy today. To that end, we were going to take a taxi back to the city. Alas, there were none in the vicinity. We ended up walking back, joined by Younga and David, who had also opted to make today a museum day. On the way, we stopped at the Kushiro Art Museum … housed in the continued education building. Our visit was a bit disappointing as the exhibit was all about pop-up books … mostly for children. Interesting, but not what we were expecting to see.

By this time, it was past noon. Time to feed ourselves. We had hoped to go to the fish market for lunch, but on Sundays it apparently closes at noon. Instead, we headed to the Fisherman’s Wharf MOO, which has shops and eateries. We almost left hungry as every eatery and restaurant we checked out was closed.

Luckily, before we left the building, we ran into Akshay, one of the security guys at the gangway. He had found a ramen place on the second floor that he said was good. He did not steer us wrong. The place was little more than a counter at a narrow, kitchen-only set up, but the food was very tasty. Our timing was good, too. By the time our food was placed in front of us, there was a line of people — tourists and locals — waiting to take their turn at the counter.

After lunch, we bid Younga and David goodbye, bought some cookies from a vendor at the MOO, and walked the short distance back to the ship for a face-to-face with the authorities in order to be scanned out of Japan.

A great day in Japan came to a close with Insignia sailing at 3:00p.

Bye Bye Kushiro! Bye Bye Japan. Or so we thought! …Read more