Shimizu, Japan

Our tour today required us to be in the meeting area at 8:15 and it was quite a scramble for us to get organized, but we made it. Once again, we lucked out on a terrific guide, a young lady who learned her English in Australia. She was very well spoken but it was a bit strange to hear a Japanese person speak with a bit of an Australian accent.
Our first stop was the 400-year-old Sumpujokoen Castle. While the moats and walls of the castle are original, some of what we saw wandering around the grounds were reproductions, including the main gate which incorporated a 90° turn into the castle which was said to slow down potential invaders and give the defenders a chance to shoot arrows and drop heavy stones on the invaders.
The architecture at the nearby Shizuoka Sengen shrine was very different. The shrine was designed in the Momoyama style (whatever that is) and featured extensive lacquer coated wooden carvings, and gold leaf highlights. Once inside, we were shown the tradition of “cleansing”. At a water flowing cleansing station, often using hollow bamboo branches to deliver the water, people wash the left and right hand respectively and then by hand, wash the mouth. There was also a museum that displayed an impressive collection of traditional Japanese artefacts such as swords, armour suits, and musical instruments.
Our last visit was to a park through which we walked paths several hundred metres long, surrounded by over 30,000, 300-year-old pine trees. When we came to the beach, it was obvious that the sand was black, the reason being that it was collected at the delta of a river that collected debris from volcanic activity and then transferred by truck to make a beach. From the beach, we were able to see the top of mount Fuji. It was very windy on the beach. There was no snow on the top but there was a light covering of clouds that occasionally gave away so we could see the top of the mountain. A recent news account ( since we returned to Collingwood) reported that on Oct 29th, 2024, Mount Fuji finally received a snowfall after going through the longest period in a year, without snow since records began 130 years ago. Snow usually begins to accumulate on Japan’s highest peak (12,391ft.) on Oct 2nd, but only showed up this year on Oct 29th., about a month later than expected, as the country recovers from one of its hottest summers. Mount Fuji last erupted in 1707. The climbing season for Mount Fuji is late spring, summer and September only. Climbers have the opportunity of mailing letters and postcards at a post office at the top of the mountain.
We returned to the ship in time for lunch and for Lee to reconnect with Craig for our get together tomorrow in Kobe.
Walked approximately 9000 steps today for close to 6 km.Læs mere