April 21, 2023 Aomori, Japan

Early in the morning, we crossed Tsugaru Strait which separates the northern island of Hokkaidō and the largest Japanese island of Honshu as we journeyed south from Otaru into Mutsu Bay toward Aomori. Tomorrow, we go back across Tsugaru Strait to Hakodate. The captain announced that there will be strong 35 to 40 knot gale winds again this evening for the crossing. Tsugaru Strait connects the Japan Sea to the west with the Pacific Ocean to the east.

We watched to ship manoeuvre into its berth after passing through the breakwater. With the assistance of two tugboats to hold the ship steady as the 35 knot wind tried to blow it into the dock. Westerdam was docked by 8 a.m. It was sunny and 12° C as we walked on the Promenade Deck before breakfast in the dining room. The Shirakami Mountains were hard to see from the haze in the distance. They have a World Heritage Site designation because they have the world's largest virgin forest of beech trees.

The official Cherry Blossom Forecast report on April 2 had predicted that Aomori would have cherry blossoms starting to bloom on April 18 and full bloom by April 22. We saw lots of cherry trees in bloom. The cherry blossom, called the sakura, is steeped in tradition and meaning. It shares the title of Japan’s national flower, appears on Japanese coins, and is the subject of many Japanese folk songs. Japanese cherry blossom meaning involves Buddhist religious influence and can be considered a metaphor for the ephemerality, or brevity and mortality, of life, along with life’s beauty.

There were five busses for the three and a half hour Aomori Highlights tour and two busses each for three other tours. There is a shortage of English speaking tour guides or Holland America would have offered more tours. Much of the tours were sold out in mid-January.

The bus drove through Aomori and viewed rice fields just newly planted, to the first destination which was Seiryu-ji Temple where Showa Daibutsu, the 21 meter tall bronze sitting Buddha statue, is located. The Shrine area is entered under a welcoming gate and shallow granite stairs which lead you to the main hall, Kondo, built in 1992. Seiryu-ji Temple is located on the Kuwabara Hill, on the outskirts of Aomori. A feature of the temple is the 39.5 meter high Five Storied Pagoda. Each level represents one of the five elements – earth, water, fire, wind and sky. The temple was built in 1992 and incorporates the latest anti-earthquake technology. On the way up to the statue there was a hand purification station with a dragon spout in order to enter the buddha. Although the path there are other statues of deities, one for Longevity of life and one to ward off dementia.

Beyond it along a path through a wooded area where again, moss covers the ground, is the Showa Daibutsu. There is a display on the inside main level containing relief hangings of some other buddhas that relate to the Chinese zodiac. To enter you needed to remove your shoes as you did when you entered the main hall, Kondo. There is an explanation on posters in Japanese and English of the levels of Evil (hell) and Paradise (heaven). It can take up to three years for a soul to be judged as to where it will spend eternity. The sitting Buddha statue is Dainchi Nyorai. It took five years to build in the mid 1980s. It is the symbol of wisdom, kindness and inner power.

We visited the main hall, Kondo, which besides a place to pray and meditate also sold nice souvenirs. The was a great view of the temple’s cherry trees.

The final stop was back in Aomori just a fifteen minute walk from the ship. It was Nebuta Museum WA-RASSE, it is the combination of the first and second place finish names chosen by a public vote in 2011. It is a museum to showcase the history of the Aomori Nebuta Festival held in early August each year. Nebutas are giant floats that are made with a skeleton of wood and wire framing enclosing hundreds of lights to form figures based on Japanese mythology and legends. Next special Japanese paper is attached and then the structure in painted. The process takes about six months, then the floats are carried by over three dozen costumed men in a parade each night for six nights and the final night of the festival they are placed on barges and floated in the harbour with a fireworks show. There are also costumed Haneto dancers associated with one of about 20 floats. During the visit in a large area of the museum, there were three performers who taught visitors the Haneto dance for dancing the parade. They then played Japanese music using a flute, cymbals and a large Taiko drum. There were five huge 2022 floats on display. One was based on Chinese Mythology – Nirai kanai about Emperor Xuanzong’s dream to ward off ailments. Another was based on Japanese. Mythology – Eight Great Dragon Kings. The third float was based on Japanese Legend – about the village where wisteria grows “ Fujisaki”.

It was a fascinating stop.

The guide announced that those passengers that wanted to stay in the area and not return to the ship with the bus, could tell him so that he could know how many passengers were actually returning to the ship after the museum visit.

We elected to walk back to the ship and explore Aomori a bit more. Across the parking lot was the A-Factory with lots of products made from apples including an apple cider brewery, and gelato kiosk plus Aomori souvenirs. We walked along the shopping street on the way to the shiny inverted “V” building on the waterfront that housed the Information Centre, tourist related businesses, interesting shops and great free Wi-Fi. Instead of taking more than 20 minutes to load a photo, this Wi-Fi could upload 20 photos in 30 seconds. However, there was a 10 minute limit to the connection that you could renew, but if you forgot to save the labeling of the photos as you went the connection timed out and you would have to do the work all over again, this time saving every minute or so. Photos from the past five days were uploaded and labeled.

One of the shops sold fresh puff pastry with apple filling. We bought four, which was today’s lunch which we ate in a picnic shelter along the waterfront with a view of our ship. They were delicious. We also bought some Sakura candies.

We walked back to the ship within ten minutes in a strong wind, temperature about 13° C, but the sun was shining. There was no passport check as we passed through port security to get to the ship. There was the regular security carding back on the ship and bag X-ray once on the ship.

We dropped off our coats and purchases and climbed the stairs to Deck 10 to get Carmel Lattes at the Crow’s Nest lounge. Followed by a cocktail and beer at Happy Hour before going to dinner in the dining room being assigned a table with Doug and Judy for a good meal and chat. The show this evening was the magician and comic Steve Marshall with new material.

Since the ship will not leave Japanese territory tonight, the ship’s shops and the Casino cannot operate.

Total steps today were 15099 and 32 flights of stairs.