Japan

We'd been to Vancouver about 25 years ago and it was a quick visit. At the time we saw some of Stanley Park and its beautiful totem poles and a…

Last stop in Japan. We visited Kushiro Shitsugen National Park, a habitat for the endangered red crowned crane (maybe 1800 of them left) a revered symbol of immortality (the same…

Typically, Ron and I are on different excursions but for this country, we’ve been together til today. I went off to experience an onsen - Japanese hot spring bath and…

Another rainy day with a visit to Zuhio-den, Date Masamune’s mausoleum, the feudal lord who founded the city and died in 1603. Masamune was pretty ruthless and, for the Star…

The morning began with more wind than we’ve experienced since our trip began. As a result, we got to watch 2 tug boats in operation. It was initially rough enough…

We're back in Yokohama, last day of the first cruise. We'll head out tomorrow for a couple of the northern ports of Japan and then cross the ocean to Alaska.…

I think this was one of our favorite days. Kagoshima is the southernmost point we visited in Japan, and we’d definitely come back. We had an exceptionally good guide today.…