Almost two years on, here is a summary of the last Asian port of our Semester at Sea voyage.
After leaving Shanghai, we sailed to Kobe, Japan. I kept up a journal of the days in Japan but it is at my house at Ohio State (I am at my parent’s house for a few weeks before the start of my last fall quarter) – instead of waiting to pick it up I’ll give you a brief rundown from what I can remember.
Of all the ports we had been to thus far, Japan was on one hand the most like home, yet definitely different. I say it was similar to home simply because it was the most ‘developed’ and ‘Westernized’ of the countries on our itinerary, especially in the cities. Yet Japan’s culture is unique – for much of its history its language, food and customs were totally separate from the West.
Like I said, we docked in Kobe, a city on the southern part of the main island of Japan. Kobe was definitely a modern city, although it seemed on the small side, especially compared to Japanese megacities like Tokyo and Osaka. Small is a relative term; there are over a million residents in Kobe, and the city has a lot to offer. On the first day there I saw a Shinto shrine, had an amazing traditional Japanese meal (no sushi – that would have to wait), and walked through the downtown area and along the waterfront with Henry, JR and Robb.
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| Overlooking the harbor of Kobe |
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| At a temple in Kobe |
The second day I wanted to go see Himeji Castle, a large complex built in the 17th century that was a half hour or so outside of Kobe. We took the metro but got on the wrong train (of course we didn’t ask for directions but just got on one we thought was going in the right direction). Instead we got off and stumbled upon, of all things, a football game – and yes, an American-style football game. Apparently several Japanese universities have football programs modeled after the US colleges. Well it didn't compare to fall Saturday at OSU, but a football game was probably the last thing I expected to see at the stadium. After watching for half an hour or so we moved on to explore the surrounding area and found a winery. We got a tour of the facility and tasted some of the wine grown at the vineyard – maybe not quite the South African experience but surprisingly good.
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| Himeji Castle - gotta visit next time! |
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| Japanese bullet train |
That evening Henry, JR, several other SAS students and I caught an overnight bus to Tokyo. Robb was set on taking the bullet train, which sounded cool but at $300 one way Kobe-Tokyo it was a little out of my price range. The plan was for Robb to spend the night at a hotel in Kobe and take the train early the next morning. We would then meet up with him at the station in Tokyo. He copied down for us the part of his ticket which, according to him, was the station where he was arriving.
After a 9 hour bus ride, we arrived in the city and asked a local who could speak English what the piece of paper that Robb had given us said. The guy looked at us funny and then told us all it said was “inside Tokyo.” Apparently Robb had copied the part of his ticket that just stated his destination city (as in from Kobe to Tokyo). So all we knew was that Robb would be arriving somewhere in Tokyo, the largest city on earth with over 30 million people in the metro area – good odds of finding him, right?
Well I don’t want to build it up because we didn’t find him. We actually got to the right station where his train was headed, but it was the largest station I had ever seen. There was little chance we would have found him, even though he was a six foot six white guy with dirty blond hair.
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| Good luck finding Robb |
After searching around the labyrinth of a station and the adjoining underground mall for over an hour we called it quits and decided to find a place to stay for the two nights we would be in Tokyo. It was surprisingly easy to navigate the subway system, but we still had to search around for an affordable place that was close enough to a station so we could easily get around. The “cheap” room we found was a small two-bed room for ~$140 a night. The staff wouldn’t let us go up to the rooms until one pm, and we were too tired to do any sightseeing so we just waited in the lobby until they gave us the key and we could take a nap.
After recharging we explored the area around our hotel, which was a commercial district full of electronic stores and several restaurants. Henry and I were eager to try the sushi, which didn’t disappoint. The only thing was that I didn’t realize that there was already wasabi (the green stuff) in the roll, plus that it was hotter than back home. So I mixed up a bunch in my soy sauce, and after the first bite could feel my nostrils burning. Well I learned quickly to tone down the amount of wasabi! Even with too much it was still amazing. As for JR, the extent of his diet in port usually consisted of some form of fast food or Italian. While Henry and I ate at the sushi joint he found a place to get a bowl of pasta.
During the next day and a half we tried to see as much of the city as we could manage, although it was merely a fraction of what Tokyo had to offer. We visited Roppongi and the Tokyo Tower (which had an excellent view of the city), saw the bright lights of Shibuya, and ran into some fellow SAS students in Shinjuku while checking out the nightlife.
Along the way we met an employee of the Yankees who was in Japan on business – I can’t remember if he told us exactly why he was in Tokyo but we got a good look at his World Series ring. He was still friendly with Henry and JR, both from Boston and Red Sox fans. We met a former major league baseball player who had moved to Japan to play baseball professionally, two Americans who were teaching English in Japan, and university students from Hong Kong who were just in Tokyo for the weekend (nice get away trip for a few days, huh?).
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| Tokyo Tower |
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| Streets of Shinjuku |
The last day of our stay in Japan we caught the train to Yokohama to meet up with the ship, which is part of the greater Tokyo area but a city in its own right. We ran into Robb in Yokohama, who luckily found some other SAS kids to travel with in Tokyo. He was not upset at us, but we felt bad especially since it was his birthday. At least we saw him before getting back onto the ship. As our last hurrah in Japan we went to the 7/11 (“club seven” as we now knew it), picked up some beers, and took a seat near the docks to enjoy our last few hours before heading off to sea for 9 straight days. Many students passed by and said hello on their way back to the ship, and we got several teachers to stop and have a drink with us. We talked with our dean and his family, but unfortunately he didn’t take us up on the offer for a beer.
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| port of Yokohama at night |
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| From left, Henry, me, Robb, JR, and Bobby having some beers near the harbor |
As the on-ship time drew near we had to say goodbye to Yokohama and head back to the MV and the high seas.
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