Caution: Ports May Not Match Memories From Past Visits
Day 16, 2024 Majestic Japan
Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024; Kushiro, Japan
Perhaps every port can’t delight me. Sadly, Kushiro ended up being one of those ports today.
I’ve been here twice before and thoroughly enjoyed exploring it on foot with my friend Joyce. The highlight has been the Washo Market with its katte don bowl of rice and the freshest of fish.
Kushiro is known not just for its rich fishing grounds, but also as the winter home of the endangered red-crowned crane. There are crane motifs all around the downtown streets – on everything from the light poles to the manhole covers. During my 2017 and 2018 visits, the streets were lined with restaurants and shops selling Shiseido makeup, used books and LP records, and Japanese clothes.
This morning the streets seemed deserted (although with beautiful flower beds) and many storefronts are closed. I could only find a few crane manhole covers, as many sidewalks seemed to have been covered in asphalt.
Even as I walked the kilometer to the Washo Market, I didn’t see landmarks I remembered from the past. Perhaps I was on a different street, or my memory had confused these streets with another port.
Apparently, as I later read in an article in the Japanese Times, “the bubble economy collapsed, the fishing industry faltered, businesses shuttered and the population grayed.”
Washo Market was a familiar touchstone. Outer booths sell packaged goods that would be a mystery to me if they didn’t have sample open packaging. Fish is the main commodity, from whole fish to trays with sliced raw fish for sashimi. Amazingly, there wasn’t a whiff of fish odor in the building.
There were lots of ship passengers — many with the familiar stickers from their shore excursion groups – wandering around looking lost. I spent some time showing them the process – stopping first at a booth for a small bowl of rice, then selecting the desired fish from any number of booths. Most of the fish is raw, but labeled in English. Prices are in yen. A hundred yen converts to 70 cents U.S. these days; it was worth about a dollar last time I was here six years ago.
Once again, I passed on trying the whale – I guess my whale-watching excursions in Alaska are just too recent. But I did decide to splurge on a colorful tray of crab, and it was worth every penny.
I had yet to find a good place to sketch and paint. First, I tried the Nusumai Bridge, but the surrounding area was just buildings that could have been in any city. I then walked down the Kushiro River, where fishing boats tie up. I sketched a single boat, but the angle wasn’t great and the sun was unrelenting, with no vantage point in the shade. We have left the cold weather behind.
When I started sweating, I gave up. I resigned myself to the reality that I won’t go home with a plein air watercolor for every port.
Also along this Fisherman’s Wharf is the MOO, short for Marine Our Oasis, a multi-story building with a fish market, souvenir shops, restaurants and an area where volunteers put on shows. Next door is the EGG (Ever Green Garden), an egg-shaped pavilion that also offered shows and demonstrations.
On past visits, Holland America’s smaller Amsterdam also docked here at Fisherman’s Wharf, but now we are at an industrial pier a few miles away. A complementary shuttle took us to the MOO, and I think a lot of passengers without excursions didn’t get any farther. We got off to a slow start this morning as the Japanese immigration process was greatly delayed by their inability to quickly set up their electronic stations. They took digital photos and fingerprints and closely scrutinized our passports and immigration cards. I had a ticket for an 8:30 a.m. inspection, but waited more than an hour. Others didn’t finish their immigration until close to noon.
The line to return to the ship was long but the buses came quickly. Back at the dock, a half-dozen Japanese mini food trucks awaited our return, including Bob’s Burgers.
The silver lining of my less-than-memorable day in Kushiro is that I put a lot of steps on my exercise tracker. And reinforced my philosophy of avoiding repeat experiences from previous cruises, as they may not live up to expectations. Instead, try something new. Next time I’m in Kushiro, I will go out to the marshes to see the cranes, even if there aren’t many outside of winter when they return in numbers.
I saw 36 cranes just out in fields along the roads; didn’t even have to go to the reserve to see them. Most definitely get out of the city next time; it’s beautiful out there with rolling forests and croplands. Not at all what you think of when you think of Japan.
Linda R.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll look forward to it next time!
I am loving your comments on this cruise and it is one of my past favorites….thank you Jo!
I was having a glass of wine and picking up two huge bags of Dale Earnhart Sr. memorabilia to list on eBay at a friend’s house last night. I told her I’d forward your post on the Cabin Crawl. I thought she’d enjoy it because she’s taken many cruises and is trying to decide what to do next. One question she had was whether I thought you were getting bored with it. I explained about your friendships with both travelers and crews, but this post is kind of to the point. I guess they’re right–“You can’t go back again” and relive the past.
The market is fascinating. Funny about the whale experience. I don’t eat octopus after the movie My Octopus Teacher. Just can’t do it.
I was there in 2017 and 2018 with you, and in 2019 and this year without you This year I didn’t go very far because of the terrible weather, but I still have great memories.
Has anyone mentioned the shortage of English speaking tour guides? That was a huge problem earlier this year.
I felt very similar to what you described when we went to Budapest in August 2022. Ray had not been there and I was excited to show him some of the places where my sister and I had been in 2018. But in Fall 2022, things were just reopening from the Pandemic. I was surprised and disappointed to find 3/4’s of every street still closed. The Ruins bar did not even open until 3:00 p.m. and then was just one bar with no food. We actually had a hard time finding somewhere to grab some street lunch. Now, I am more mentally prepared that there are still many places that have not, and might not, recover from the Pandemic and change in tourism.
Sorry your day was less than great, although your post doesn’t come through as negative. I think the long delays in disembarkation would be very discouraging.