Shorewoods Photography-Boarding Group 2 Travel Blog

We woke this morning to a colorful sunrise as we arrived into Shimizu Port.

Today we decided to take a walking tour of this port city, versus one of the many cruise bus excursions traveling out to Mount Fuji, which we did earlier on one of our pre-cruise days.

Shimizu is an old port town with many historical buildings within walking distance, so we grabbed our cameras and headed off the ship. We were met at the port by many volunteers who helped direct us to the sites to see and how to get there. We asked about the walking tour, and not only did they provide us with a map, they took time to highlight the sites to see, and gave us landmarks to look for along the way. There is a also a free shuttle that takes you around the city, so we hopped on and used the bus to get the general layout of the town, and returned to the port to begin our walking tour.

As we were crossing the larger busier intersections, we noticed that the pedestrian crossings and traffic signals were sequenced so that all traffic stopped, and pedestrians crossed the streets in all directions at the same time. The traffic would then have their series of lights with no pedestrian signals during this time. While it may have required a bit longer wait, the safety factor was evident for pedestrians and drivers alike.

We also noticed as we walked along how very clean and orderly everything was. Not only the streets and sidewalks free of litter, all the cars, and boats docked in the harbors were clean and neatly arranged.

We passed a gardener artist sculpting a tree.

As we walked along, there were many quiet, neighborhood scenes, and we were greeted by everyone we passed in the street.

The skies spilled some rain on us, so we stopped into a drug store to see if we might find an umbrella or poncho, and buy some wet wipes that come in handy to clean up before a meal. Our translator app gave us a chuckle as it translated the writing on the baby wipes we were looking at!

The rain soon ended and we continued on our way to a Shrine to Shimizu Jirocho, a Japanese Folk Hero. The Jirocho Bodaiji Temple had history on Jirocho’s life. While in his early years he was a gambler and described as a gangster, in his later years of life Jirocho became a philanthropist and supported community development and charities.  

The shrine’s gardens were peaceful and a nice spot to sit and relax during another rain shower.

The ponds were home to beautiful koi who followed us along the perimeter as we strolled along.

After our time in the gardens and shrine, we were greeted with hot green tea in the gift shop, a welcome treat on a cool, drizzly day.

We continued on our walking tour and passed Suehiro, the Shimizu Port Seamen’s Inn Museum. The building is a restored seamen’s inn opened by Jirocho in 1886. The building represents Jirocho’s work to develop Shimizu Port for tea exports. A volunteer invited us in, and was our personal guide taking us through this traditional home, and sharing how it was also used by teachers to teach English to families.

On our way back towards the port we found a multi storied shopping mall with many interesting shops and traditional foods. Again, when we entered the mall, a volunteer greeted us and asked if there was anything we were looking for and directed us to some shops we might be interested in.

We relaxed outside on the deck with a beverage and snack, rested and refreshed from a day of exploring and discovery. We returned to Millennium and were invited to the helipad at the front of the ship for a sail-away view from the port. Captain Charalampos Theocharis welcomed us from the bridge.

The sail away was a unique experience with full views of everything that was happening as Millennium prepared to set sail. People gathered on the dock and waved farewell, complete with music.

Our farewell was complimented with fireworks, brightly colored to show up in the cloudy sky.

As Millennium pulled away from port, with onlookers waving goodbye and snapping photos of the ship, a textured sky covered our route out of the harbor, and on to our next destination.

Today was a perfect day of wandering. Going off on our own timeline and taking time to savor the sights and experiences this day brought us, was a fulfilling discovery. The kindness and friendliness shown to us, and feeling safe to explore leaves us feeling content, and grateful wanderers.