Kochi

Today our port was Kochi, with a population of 670,000 people, located on the island of Shikoku. Our tour today was to a Japanese craft paper making shop and museum in the city of Nagoya Chinka. On the way, our guide observed some of the following:
-85% of Japan is covered in mountains, and it made sense to us because everywhere we have been there were mountains covered in green and lush forests.
-he noted that today was the longest day of the year in Japan and joked that you didn’t need an alarm clock because the roosters start crowing very early in the morning.
-there are far fewer rice fields than previously partly due to dietary changes. Many of the fields that we saw were essentially abandoned.
-Kochi produces 20% of the eggplants produced in Japan (……. yum) and there were miles and miles of green houses along our route that proved this.
-There is a high divorce rate in Kochi, which he said correlates to Kochi having the highest percentage of alcoholics in Japan.
-He also joked that the high rate of divorce in Tokyo correlates to the wives high level of spending.
We soon arrived at the craft village on the Niyodo River, noted for its clear water. The Washi paper in this craft village on the river is made by hand using raw materials sourced from the surrounding forest. Extraordinarily clean water is also essential to the process which is why the village was established by the river. Stronger and more durable than ordinary paper, Washi paper was traditionally used for arts, crafts and writing. Although the Chinese originally created paper, Buddhist monks introduced it to Japan in the 7th century so they could write down their scriptures. The paper is made from the inner bark 3 indigenous plants and while the process has become mechanized, the artisans at the craft village still work by hand.
We were shown the various steps, and then each of us made our own eight pieces of paper using a special wood frame that we dipped into the murky solution (looked and felt like very diluted cream of wheat) removed, compressed and tilted to dry and then placed on drying sheets. 4 people at a time did this, ultimately producing 8 pieces of 4”x6” paper each. While we waited for the paper to dry, we took a short five-minute bus drive to see what they called the sunken bridge. The bridge is barely wide enough to let a single, small car drive across. There is no two-way traffic. Instead, one side has to wait until vehicles from the other side have completely made the crossing. There are about six or eight stations jutting about 3’ from the edge of the bridge that pedestrians are supposed to stand on to allow the cars to pass. Unfortunately, there are no railings so that didn’t work for me, but Lee went across and back. The bridge is called sunken because during typhoons of which Kochi gets many, the water completely submerges the bridge. The bus then went back to the village so we could pick up our paper. While each of ours was ready for pick up by name, we saw a lady ironing others to flatten and dry each sheet.
We were back to the ship in time to have lunch and some quiet time before the ship set sail at 4:00pm. At approximately 3:15pm there was a very entertaining, colourful, cultural and musical Kochi sendoff performance on the pier that everyone on the starboard side of the ship could enjoy. They danced and sang, they played music, and they read out loud speeches to us telling us they were very happy to have us visit, wished us safe travels and hoped that we would return another time. It was quite lovely.
At 5:00pm we attended an enrichment lecture on Busan, and South Korea which explored Korea’s history, culture, foods and wildlife.
At 6:00pm, our tour director announced over the intercom system that it’s time for everybody to go out in the hall with our wine glasses for the famous Regent Block Party and meet our neighbours, during which time the captain and chief officers literally run through all floors from top to bottom welcoming the passengers. They served champagne and wine and hors d’oeuvres and it was a fun event. One of our neighbours has been on three world cruises.
Dinner tonight was at the French restaurant, Chartreuse. We weren’t that impressed with our dinner, but it may have been more to do with our food choice than anything else, will certainly try again.Read more