Dearest Rachel -
I confess to not being entirely at ease at breakfast; the dining room has what Daniel wants to eat today, but it opens an hour later than the other places serving breakfast, and gives us but and hour to eat and prepare ourselves to head out on our tour. But somehow we manage, even at a reasonably leisurely pace, and we manage to arrive at the theater with a couple minutes to spare.
Or maybe not; we're barely seated when our number is called, and we make our way down to the gangplank on level (interestingly, they don't insist on calling the floors 'decks,' like they do on Royal Caribbean; they're called 'levels' here) three.
Today's tour is actually called "Easy Niigata," as it's only meant to take a couple of hours. Well, that might be a relative thing; since it's raining, it's a little harder to deal with than when we were on walkabout in Aomori.
We're greeted by this mascot, which looks like it should be running against several of its fellows during the seventh inning of a baseball game. Given that the game is well-beloved here in Japan (they just won the World Baseball Classic over the States, in fact), it's not outside the realm of possibility. Although I don't know if they do the seventh-inning stretch like we do back in the States.
The bus interior looks like nothing we've ever seen, with crystal chandeliers and sconces. Very impressive but Daniel asks the truly important question: is there wi-fi? Praise be, there is; for the first time since Tokyo, we have a bus so equipped.
Our guide, Kumiko-san, apologizes for the rain and the clouds. It appears that we won't be able to see Sado island from anywhere; but if we were to try, we would most likely be able to do so from my first stop. It's the 31st floor of the Hotel Nikko, the tallest building in Niigata.
When the bus stops, we run between the raindrops to get into the hotel. I don't actually notice a lobby to the place, but that's partly because the elevator bank is right there by the entrance. We take the express car straight up to the top; there are other cars, but Kumi-san advises us against taking the it, as it stops at every floor along the way. I didn't realize they had Shabbat elevators in Japan, or that they even needed them.
The observation deck includes a display of work apparently by a manga artist named Osamu Harada. I can't say I'm familiar with the name, but his style seems to be from the mid-twentieth century, so that may be part of the reason.
The view to the east, visible directly upon emerging from the elevator.
A panoramic view of the west, including the Shinano-gawa river. The nearest bridge (Bandai-basho) is famous for having survived a major earthquake in 1964.
To the north is the river's mouth; our ship is right in the middle of the shot, pointed away from us. Theoretically, Sado Island is in the distant left, but as Kumi-san explained, it can't be seen today.
More cute mascots; this time a literal couple of rice grains; as with Akita, Niigata is known for its quality rice. Kumi-san claims that you can tell a true Japanese if they can identify by taste the difference in rice from one region to another.
Kumi-san describes the old shipping routes along the coast of Japan; essentially, our cruise ship will be following that route throughout our trip. In those days, rice was the currency of the land, and it needed to be distributed throughout the country. So the easiest way to do so was by sea, especially the much calmer (in comparison to the wild - and ironically named - Pacific) Japan Sea.
From the Nikko, we head to Hakusan Park; the oldest national park in Japan.
Now, this is what I think of when I think of Sakura viewing – well, apart from the rain. Although, to be sure, there are leaves of Sakura blossoms that are raining down as well
We encounter a family coming to the shrine in honor of their child's hundredth day. Note that little Azumu-Chan is wearing his own little hakama; it's so cute.
The entrance to the shrine of Hakusan-no-okami.
At a small shrine outbuilding, Kumi-san explains the meaning of the rope hanging from the pillars; the rope its up, represents clouds, the strands of straw, dangling from the rain, and the paper, thunder and lightning. In effect, they are tangible representations of prayers for a good harvest and the rain that brings it.
The interior of the shrine complex.
Kumi-san explains both how to pray for the god's attention, as well as how to read the good luck charms that are available for sale. I might have something to ask for, as you well know, but Daniel wants nothing to do with false worship, and I understand where he's coming from, and will not do anything to offend him. Besides, it's not as if prayer to some guardian spirit would be able to supercede the will of the One God. So, while others of our tour group may make their requests, I join him on the outside.
It's a bit disappointing, but nowhere near as much so as the fact that these festival stalls won't be open until after we've left.
One last look back at the torii marking the entrance (and in our case, the exit) of the park as we make our way
***
So that's the official tour. But by the time we're back at the ship, there are five hours in port. True, it's raining every bit as badly as at Akita (which, to be fair, is rather more of a sprinkle, but it's still a nuisance to walk in), but we have a lot of time to kill... and the cruise line is offering complementary shuttle service running on the half-hour. Why not take advantage of it, and wander around the city a bit?
And so, here we are, outside of the Niigata train station (with the blue lettering on top). Our bus is still here on the left, in fact.
We actually run into Kumi-san outside our drop-off point, and we follow her into the building next to the station (which Daniel's standing in front of in the above picture. For the most part, it's a parking garage, but the first three stories are a shopping center adjacent to the train station, and we wander around in it.
Some of the stores are actually familiar (KFC, anyone?), but most are literally foreign. Then again, we're the foreigners here, so everything here is perfectly normal.
Yes, everything is perfectly normal here, even down to this stuffed bear advertising the latest sales within one of the larger stores. Nothing unusual about this at all. Then again, if the purpose of it is to get shoppers' attention, well, they've succeeded with us.
Including this display of dozens of Gatchapon vending machines, selling little pop culture trinkets.
Daniel spots one machine selling Zootopia merch and, since he knows a fellow brony who would be interested in these, he picks these up to give to him come the next MLP convention.
We do a little shopping; we'd been given a coupon for five hundred yen off any purchase of a thousand or more at this shopping complex. However, when we brought our purchases to the counter, it turned out that the particular store we were shopping at wasn't covered by the coupon. Eh, live and learn, I guess.
But for the most part, we were only scoping out a place to grab a snack for lunch. the problem is, how do we order when we can't read or speak the language?
Well, believe it or not, the burger joint actually had a menu available in Japanese, English, Korean and Chinese. So we were covered.
And you might just find these sandwiches familiar; not unlike the ones we would get at Gabutto Burger. We marvel at the fact that we're fortunate enough to have a range of experiences available in our area that most people don't. I suppose it could be argued "why did you come all the way over here just to have something you could have at home?" Okay, so the flavor was similar (albeit a little sweeter than I recall from Gabutto), but there's also the experience.
Such as the fact that, as we were finishing our meal, the staffer who had walked me through the ordering process (including handing me that menu when we were about to walk out because we couldn't read what was available) came out with more ice water to wash down our meal. We didn't even need it, but we were impressed by the level of service.
I know we can get stuff like this at home; and I know we could have gotten lunch back at the ship (and indeed, when we get back, we each grab a cupcake and a cookie for dessert). But it's the experience that's really what it's all about, and how the normal (for a local) is exotic (to us). I'm sure that the reverse would be equally true.
But until we get to test that theory, keep an eye on us, honey, and wish us luck. We're going to need it.
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