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Day Five - Kaga to Suganuma Village to Shirakwago Village to Takayama We left Kaga in the early morning, traveling by the Sea of Japan until we turned east, traveling through a series of tunnels as we traversed a range of mountains. We soon arrived at Suganuma Village, a World Heritage site, known for its thatched roof “gassho” houses. The houses are called gassho as the form of the roof is shaped like the praying hand gesture in Buddhism. There are nine gassho houses in the village that are still used as homes for the villagers. Thatching roofs is an art form requiring renewal every so often. There is fear in Japan that it is a dying art form as it is labor intensive and requires considerable technical skill. Pools of water are required in case of a fire. Every family is also required to plant more thatch but they often need to buy more than they grow for repairs. Leaving Suganuma, we went on to Shirakawago Village, a much larger community bordering a river. It was a cloudy morning that morphed into showers which then morphed into a steady rain and wind. We were intrepid travelers but after an hour we were cold and wet and the picturesque gassho houses became increasingly less interesting. Our next stop was the city of Takayama. Takayama is in mountainous Gifu Prefecture and is known for its wood, harvested from the surrounding mountains. The narrow streets of its Sanmachi Suji historic district are lined with wooden merchants’ houses dating to the Edo Period, along with many small museums. Our first stop was lunch. Takayama is known for its hida beef which is a variety of Wagyu beef. Our lunch restaurant served us Hoba miso, a local dish of miso, beef, green onions and vegetables, grilled on a magnolia leaf. The koji miso is seasoned with sake, sugar, and ginger and the magnolia leaf gives it a unique aroma as it grills. It was getting late in the day but before getting to the hotel, we visited Jinya, the old government building. It was a fascinating glimpse into the protocols and customs of old Japan. Our final stop was the Funasaka Sake Brewery. Sake is still a very ritualized process, with a sake master, the toji, supervising all aspects of the process. When a batch is finished in the fall, a cedar ball is hung outside of the brewery and stays in place until the next batch is brewed. Our hotel was located a bit above the city with wonderful views of the valley and mountains beyond. Its main feature, though, was not the view but the onsen - a communal bath and spa. I was shy and tired the previous night so I skipped this experience at the ryokan. The women in our group were very encouraging, though, and counseled me not to let my self-conscious body shaming from missing an iconic experience in Japan. So, taking a deep breath, I donned my yukata, and shuffled along in my sandals to the bath. It was incredible. The picture I included is from the hotel website as pictures in the spa are strictly forbidden, of course. The spa protocol is to shower in your room or thoroughly wash in an area of the facility before entering the pool. There was a steam room, an indoor pool and a series of small and large pools outside with varied water temperature. The outside pools overlooked the valley and the night lights and low clouds made for a very atmospheric experience.

We used Gate One Travel. We have been on two other land tours with them (Cuba and Macau Pichu) and we think they run excellent tours. The itinerary is packed, though, but they always include interesting activities that we wouldn’t necessarily stumble upon on our own. We will be with them until Monday, when the group travels to Osaka for flights home and we return to Tokyo for two nights before joining the pre-cruise group in Tokyo. FYI, our Tokyo hotel was the Keio Plaza in Shinjuku which is right around the corner from the Tokyo Hilton. We dropped two suitcases off there before leaving Tokyo and they will hold them until our return. Japan also has a very easy to navigate luggage transfer system so there is never a need to lug your luggage around.

Day Four - Tokyo to Kanazawa to Kaga We arrived at the main Tokyo train station bright and early to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kanazawa. It was a mass of humanity and we quickly secured our bento box lunch for the ride and navigated to our platform where the train arrived and left exactly on time. The ride took us through Nagano, the site of the Winter Olympics, and the majestic mountain range in the distance. Kanazawa was spared from allied bombing during WWII so there are many picturesque districts dating back to the Edo and Meiji eras. Our first stop was the Kenrokuen Garden, originally the outer garden of the Kanazawa castle. This was an exquisite garden, reported to be one of the most beautiful in Japan. i was most impressed with the manicured moss, painstakingly attended by devoted staff. The trees were shaped into living sculptures, often supported by wooden beams to save them from the winter winds and snow. Kanazawa is located between the Japanese alps and the Sea of Japan, so it is known for its very rainy climate. The winds blow from the north west (Siberia), and pictures of the winter landscape were beautiful and austere. Kanazawa is also known for its production of gold leaf which is used in much of the Japanese decorative arts. We visited a gold leaf workshop which was very interesting to see the process of fabricating paper thin sheets of gold. We then went up to the classroom area and made our own gold leaf decorated chopsticks. This will be such a nice keepsake! Of course, there was a gift shop with some absolutely beautiful things to buy, but difficult to bring home in one piece. In the late afternoon, we finally arrived in Kaga. Our Ryokan was a modern building bordering a lake but done in a spare, beautiful, Japanese aesthetic. Our guide instructed us in the required etiquette, including how to tie our yakuta, when and where to go shoeless, how to place our shoes in the shoe case, and how to navigate the onsen - no bathing suits allowed, birthday suits required. Our kaiseki dinner was incredible. I lost count of the number of courses we were served. We waddled out. I had to remind my husband that he needed to monitor his gaping yukata. No flashing allowed in a kaiseki dinner! A final note- Georges had a close encounter of the third kind! Not with aliens, but with an alien toilet! The Japanese are known for their wonderful Toto toilets. They are everywhere, both in public and private venues. They heat the seat, play music to mask unmentionable noise, and clean your nether regions. In the ryokan, he mistook a flashing button for the flush, got spayed in the face, couldn’t turn it off and yelled for help. I couldn’t turn it off either and the bathroom was quickly flooding. I finally unplugged the damn thing and showed him the flush which, remarkably, looked EXACTLY like the flusher we know and love.

Our third full day of our pre pre cruise tour took us to south to Hakone National Park. Rain was forecasted and we awoke to rain and heavy low clouds. Knowing that Fuji-San is elusive, I kept my hopes up. As we traveled further south, the sky became brighter. Cherry trees were peaking out in between dense Japanese cedars. We rounded a mountain and gasped at our first sight of Mt. Fuji still hiding her face with a veil of clouds. The Shinto gods were smiling on us because, as the day progressed, Fuji-San revealed herself in her full magnificence. Our first stop in Hakone was a visit the Itchiku Kubota art museum. Kubota was a textile artist who mastered an ancient technique of hand dying and manipulating fabric. He used the Kimono form as his canvas and created art that is stunningly beautiful. For me, this would be a destination. The museum was his home and garden and that, alone, was worth the visit. We then went on to the Hakone Ropeway for a gondola ride through the Owakudani volcanic caldera. The cloud cover had descended at that point so our gondola ride was completely shrouded with fog. We emerged at Lake Ashi for a scenic boat ride. Fuji-san couldn’t bare to say goodbye and closed her cloud curtains at the end of the lake.

I’m not sure, but suspect it is because it is Sakura season.

We were there from 1965 to 1969, stationed at Yokosuka. Our netsuke collection is pretty extensive as my father haunted antique shops in the back alleys of Yokohama and the surrounding towns. I should probably get them appraised.

Our second full day of touring took us first to a calligraphy class in a more residential section of Tokyo. Our teachers were incredibly welcoming, organized, and supportive as we tried to master this meditative practice. There is definitely a learning curve and after going through about ten pieces of paper we were given our final gold rimmed board. This was my result: the character for friendship. We then traveled to Asakusa and the Sensoji temple. The mass of humanity was daunting. Many had rented kimono and were memorializing the day with individual and family photographs. We had free time for lunch and shopping. Most of the shops sold tourist stuff and the restaurants had long cues of waiting customers. We passed and wandered to a less crowded back street and stumbled upon a vegan restaurant with, most importantly, AC and beer. It hit 80 degrees in Tokyo yesterday after a prolonged, cold spring. Sakura is just blooming and should be in full bloom next week for the pre cruise portion of our trip. The next stop was the Ueno area and the national museum. It was Sunday and warm so we saw people at leisure, pursuing their hobbies. IMG_0160.mov The museum is very special with a stunning collection and beautiful gardens. It was late in the day, so we were already tired so I went directly to the netsuke collection as my father collected them when we lived in Japan in the 60’s. I was intrigued with the collection of more modern netsukes done in the latter part of the 20th century which deviated from the more traditional symbols from folk tales carved in wood, bone, or ivory

Our first full day of touring which included the Imperial Palace garden, the Tsukiji fish market, a Sushi class, and finally the Meiji Jingu Shrine. The Tsukiji market is not the site of the iconic tuna auction. That takes place in a new venue outside of Tokyo. The old marker has shops and restaurants in tiny alleys. It was so crowded that it was difficult to navigate with long lines of people waiting for spots in the many restaurants. Our guide even mentioned that after COVID, the government needs to address over tourism. Lunch at the sushi restaurant was a blast. We made our own sushi after an expert demonstration then ate huge amounts of sushi, tempura, and shabu shabu. All topped off with macha mochi. Most of my pictures are in my camera. I failed to bring my card reader so I’ll post better pics after I make it to the camera store. We were so exhausted after the day, we fell into bed for a nap, then skipped dinner in favor of a drink at the rooftop bar and then egg salad sandwiches and a strawberry and cream sandwich from a 7-11. Don’t roll your eyes, now….they were delicious!

I also couldn’t snap a decent photo of my passport soni just entered the info. Where you get to immigration they photograph you and take your fingerprints.

Registration is on the website. Easy and free. I logged in again to change our arrival flight number while in transit as we were arriving on a different flight and a different airport. Also, I did the whole bit of registering our over 39 day supply of meds which were all Ozk to bring into Japan. But, no one asked about medicine and no one looked.

We made it to Japan but not without travel glitches. We left home at 4 am for a 7 am flight to SFO. Of course, it was late. Two hours delayed which meant we wouldn’t make our flight from SFO to Haneda. United rebooked us to Narita but when we got to the lounge, I realized that we would miss that flight and all flights leaving today, Fortunately, the agent in the lounge was a sweetheart and quickly rebooked us through Houston with a wonderful 1.5 hour layover in the Polaris Lounge. The 14+flight to Narita was not a picnic in the sky but we were grateful to be winging our way to the far east after fearing delay after delay. We managed to wiz through immigration and customs and we were on the Orange limousine bus to our Hotel in an hour and 15 minutes from exiting the plane. Japan is extremely efficient and everything was very easy to navigate. Word to the wise: get the “visit Japan” QR code for each of your traveling party. We had to show it at immigration and at customs. I had a screenshot on my phone and that worked well but we each needed our own code. We are hitting the wall now after being in transit for 24 hours. I hope to report on the cruise but this entry will be about our land adventures in Japan.

We leave for Japan on Thursday. We booked a 10 day land tour with Gate One prior to the Regent pre cruise and voyage departing on 4/13. I agree with the previous posters. I lived in Japan for four years as a teenager. It is a fascinating country. We booked the tour in order to make things easier as we are no longer spring chickens. After the tour we will travel on our own from Kyoto to Tokyo. We booked two extra days at the Tokyo Hilton before joining the pre cruise tour. But, we plan to join the tours only for transportation to various parts of Tokyo and then do our own thing. Also, the Japan travel forums on Facebook have been exceptionally helpful.

What happened on that cruise?

YEAH! Love your humor. “Trans-slender”…….epic!

This leaves me scratching my head. Who would leave something valuable unattended in a deck chair? Seems like someone wanted to get litigious.

Yes, and tight! Once seated we couldn’t easily navigate our chairs or even attempt to leave the table. They offered to put us elsewhere but it all looked equally crowded and noisy.

I always love traveling with you! I hope one day it will be in person rather than virtually. Igauzu Falls was one of my all time favorite visits. Take the ride underneath the falls! It was something I’ll always remember!

What perplexes me the most is the silence from the corporate office. In this day of social media where rumors and speculation can easily get out of control, I would think that corporations would have a dedicated person with “ears to the ground” to report on the issues that aggravate their customers. Much of the teeth gnashing on this thread and on Facebook could be cleared up easily with an official response from RSSC. In fact, this was true in the past but seems to have gone away, especially with Mike Moore’s departure. Even a canned response (“thank you for your feedback. We have alerted xxxx department to explore this issue”) would be helpful.

@Mike Moore it has always been very helpful to read your responses to various issues that are important to this community. I hope that Regent will assign another administrator to monitor this board and Facebook. Regent can gain valuable information about their product and nip problems in the bud. Good luck in your next journey!

I’m curious about this. We were also on this cruise and, although it was not my favorite cruise ever, it was not terrible at all. We managed to see the Falklands, the scientific team was fantastic, and many of the excursions were interesting. I think the negative for me was the lack of special events like the dance parties, the block party, and deck bbq. The cruise director was Andy Heath. I asked him about this and there was a big problem scheduling the band. (???) Some of the ports were a bit of a snore, but that is true on many cruises.

IMG_5467.mov the ride underneath!

Iguazu! It is really spectacular. Imagine Niagara Falls times one hundred. I took the zodiac under the falls which was great fun. Even though we had a nightmare scenario getting back to BA (cancelled flight, spending the night on hard plastic chairs in the tiny Iguazu airport, missing the BA tour) it made for an iconic travel story.

Hmmmmm…..something not belonging to the wife?

Capt. Jablin crossed my mind yesterday out of the blue. We crossed paths on the Navigator in 2017. I was a Navy brat so I had to introduce myself as we were both walking on the upper deck. I guess his spirit was giving a final salute.

I was reading Regent reviews on CC and came across this quote: “They advertise about having great internet. Reality is that for several month past and until May 2024 they have really bad wifi due to a fight with Starlink.” Does anyone have any information on this?