Our port today was Shimizu, with an opportunity to view Mt. Fuji. Who hasn’t wondered what it would feel like to gaze at Mt Fuji? Well, Mt. Fuji was very shy today so we really never got to gaze at her magnificence. Despite this, we had an amazing day touring in the area, learning about the Shogan period, and tasting authentic green tea. Our tour, booked through Viator, with Local Travel Partners, and guide Miyuki, were excellent.

Shimizu has a population of 32K and is a suburb of Shizuoka (230K). Its main industries are agriculture (tea), tourism (Mt Fuji) and shipping. We were greeted at the pier by Local Travel Partners manager, Hirokane and then met Miyuki. She jumped with joy when she heard we were from Ohio. It turns out she studied English at Ohio Wesleyan University, just a short 30-minute drive from our home.

Our first stop was the Miho no Matsubara Pine Tree Grove and beach. This area is a UNESCO world heritage site and boasts a 650-year-old tree. The pines go right up to a 4.5-mile-long black sand beach, which boasts a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji when the skies are clearer. Today, we enjoyed a walk along the beach and amongst the ancient trees.

Afterwards, we headed to the Nihondaira Ropeway, a cable car that takes you to the famous Kunozan Toshogu Shrine. The Shinto shrine was built in 1617 to enshrine Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, making it the oldest of the Tōshō-gū shrines in the country.

A shogunate (or bakufu) was a hereditary military dictatorship in Japan, holding de facto power from 1192 to 1867, while the Emperor remained a largely ceremonial figure. Led by a shogun (military dictator) and supported by samurai, key regimes included the Kamakura, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa (Edo) shogunates. These governments maintained stability, enforced feudal class structures, and frequently restricted foreign influence.

Nearby, there was a Mt Fuji observatory which we stopped at, and while there was still no observing of Fuji, there was a nice view of the harbor below. Our next stop was a green tea plantation, where we learned about harvesting the tea buds to make green tea. We enjoyed a sampling and purchased some high-quality tea.

Miyuki was a wonderful guide. Honestly, she probably makes top 5 of all time; that’s how good she was. She told wonderful stories, using hand-drawn artwork by her daughter and used travel time in the bus to educate us using maps and pictures. She knew the best vantage points for photos, and just when we were starting to run out of energy, she provided a delightful little bag of Japanese treats that we enjoyed so much. Her English was very good, and she timed everything perfectly.

After our tour, we were dropped off at the S-Pulse Dream Plaza, a multi-floor shopping and dining complex right next to the ship. We enjoyed a late sushi lunch with Kathryn and Kevin and browsed the stores. On the way back to the ship, there was a small lovely craft market where Sharon purchased some origami earrings. People were getting their names written in Japanese and local dignitaries were saying goodbye before our 4pm departure.

Thankfully, several photos of Mt Fuji were captured by ship mates, throughout the day, as the clouds shifted.

Tomorrow: Tokyo, Japan

Highly Recommended: Miyuki (Guide) and Hirokane (Manager) with LocalTravelPartners.com