After having traveled or toured for 10 days straight, we decided to take the day off and enjoy the quiet on board – and a couple of massages. Also helping with the decision was the fact that the town was too far away to walk to and all the tours included a visit to the fish market – described as crowded, slippery floors, and lots of interesting (very dead) animals (my description – not the ship’s).
Our trip to Nagasaki included a visit to their Peace Park but no museums. They, too, had the remnants of a building as one of the primary memorials but also had memorials that had been presented from countries all over the world. Just as somber as Hiroshima.
We began our Nagasaki day with a long drive to Arita, a famous pottery town. When I’d lived in Japan, I’d visited Seto, another pottery town, and had bought some wonderful souvenirs for a very reasonable price (which I still have!). Turns out that we were in Arita during an annual 5 day festival which meant that the streets, which had been blocked off to cars, were full of vacationing locals and every shop was having a sale – ad the weather was perfect. We began with a visit to a VERY high end gallery/museum – photos weren’t allowed for one section. Apparently, because this factory makes products for the emperor’s family, we’re not supposed to take pictures of their stuff – at least that’s what we were told.
These are lion-dogs (heads of lions and bodies of dogs) which guard Shinto shrines, and us from birth to death. The one on the left has an open mouth, which the guide told us is how we’re born – crying. Our mouths are closed at death, like the one on the right. Ever since she told us that, I’ve been checking out all the lion-dogs at the shrines. Sure enough, there’s one with an open mouth and one with a closed mouth.
