April 15 - Miyako, Japan

 Once again, there was a welcome group to meet us.  We were told by Sarah that later in the morning, after we had left for our tour, there was a ceremony with lots of people (including little children) and dignitaries, including the mayor.  This was the first time Regent has sailed here so gifts were exchanged between the mayor and the Captain.

The Japanese do love their cartoon mascots.

This is a very cool looking way to prevent erosion along the highway.

Our tour today was "Japan: Learn About Tsunami Destruction".  We drove up the road for 20 minutes or so to a fishing village that had suffered extensive damage from the Tsunami in 2011.  This was caused by the 9 point earthquake around 125 km out in the ocean.  (This was the same earthquake that caused the catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, maybe around 100 km south of here.)  The tsunami hit this village around 45 minutes later.  They had had tsunamis before, of course, so they had a wall 10 meters high between the ocean and the village.  They were warned to expect a wave of around 3 meters, so most thought they were safe.  It was a very cold day and some people didn't want to leave their warm homes.  The village had a 6-story hotel which had no guests that afternoon, but the owner was there and he went up to the top floor to watch to see what would happen.  He made a video that they now play in that room of the hotel.  You can hear him yelling to anyone below that it was coming because they couldn't see it over the wall. The first 2 floors were destroyed, and the rest of the hotel was made useless, but they have left it there as a reminder and a lesson.  The strong steel construction is what saved it from complete destruction.  

This is the top of the original wall

Looking across the area where the fishermen have their warehouses to the new wall that is 15 meters high.  There are doors in the wall that will be closed in case of a tsunami.

If you look closely, you can see yellow markers on the right corner of this building showing where the 3 major tsunamis reached.  The 2011 event is marked at the very top of the building just under the roof.

The hotel before 2011

Some details about the event

The hotel today

What's left of the first 2 floors.

After this rather sobering visit, we went to the top of the hill nearby for some lovely views of the ocean.

And who did we run into, but Phil and Carol who were on another bus of this tour.

We got back to the ship in time for lunch at Chartreuse, which was delicious, as always.  Then time for a nap (M) and lazing around for me.  It was men vs women again for trivia and the ladies who won again.  They guys couldn't come up with the author of Gone With The Wind. It wasn't really fair because the whole slate of questions had been used on the last cruise.  The others remembered them, but they were new to me.  I don't know Michael and I missed that particular day, but it didn't matter because we got 14/15 between remembering and just plain knowing the answer.

Again there was a big sendoff for our ship.  There must have been a couple of hundred people there including lots of families with young children.  Again there were drummers and I never tire of watching them.  They'll do a very complicated number that can last several minutes and never miss a beat - they're always in sync.

They all stayed at the pier waving and calling out to us until we had sailed almost out of sight.  It really brings a smile to my face.  The Japanese are so gracious and polite and considerate.  For them it's all about the good of the many.  It is their job to see that you are happy, and it's your job to see that everyone else is happy.  We could learn a lot from them.

The 7 of us had dinner again at Compass Rose at our usual table in one of the smaller sections at the back where it isn't as loud.  I think the captain said it might be a little bumpy tonight.  Unfortunately he made his departure announcement at the same time that they Mayor of Miyako was on his loudspeaker wishing us all a Bon Voyage.