Eternal Japan and South Korea: A Voyage from Kanazawa to Kobe

Meet fellow travelers at the designated meeting point and transfer to Heritage Adventurer, where your captain and expedition team will welcome you aboard. Enjoy welcome drinks and dinner as you spend the night on board.

Kanazawa is a thriving center of the arts, long known for its lacquerware, outstanding collectable pottery of the Kutani style, gold-leaf workmanship, delicate hand painting of silk for kimonos and painted silk, and classical Noh theatre dramas. The narrow and winding cobblestone streets have a quaint, photogenic charm, with old-fashioned streetlamps and wooden lattice windows hiding elegant restaurants and craft galleries. Around each bend is a traditional house, museum, art gallery, craft shop, historic Samurai residence, and even a Geisha house to explore. The fascinating open-air market displays a vast variety of items, from flowers to fish and local handicrafts, and next to the Kanazawa Castle ruins is one of Japan’s premier highlights, the famed Kenroku-en Garden, ranked among the country’s top three gardens.

From the port of Sakaiminato, visit Matsue, the "town of water," which nestles between a scenic lake and a large lagoon. Visit the cultural attractions of the town, including the 17th-century Matsue Castle, before enjoying a boat ride along the local canals. After lunch on board, spend the afternoon at leisure or visit the Adachi Museum of Art, which is set in a beautiful natural environment. The museum is reknown for its superb Japanese gardens and collection of contemporary Japanese paintings, comprising some 1,500 of the country’s most highly regarded paintings produced after the Meiji period.

Hagi was a minor fishing port until Mori Terumoto fortified it in 1604 and it was Mori Samurai that helped spark off the antiTokugawa revolt in the mid-19th century. Today it is better known for its traditional pottery making. This morning, explore the Teramachi District with its temples and shrines, the Jokamachi District, where you find the old Samurai houses, and also take time to explore Hagi Castle, Shizuki Park, and Tokoji Temple. Return to the vessel for lunch, and this afternoon is free to relax or perhaps travel to the outskirts of the city and the Yoshika Taibi Memorial Museum, which is dedicated to a large collection of Hagiyaki pottery, which was highly prized in the Edo period as wares for tea ceremonies.

Crossing over to South Korea, embark on a full-day excursion to magnificent Gyeongju, a World Heritage Site that is often described as the world’s finest open-air museum, embracing ancient Korean history and Buddhist culture. As the ancient capital of the Shilla Dynasty, Gyeongju’s cultural heritage dates back to the first millennium. Today, as you stroll through some of the hundreds of excavated monuments, temples, tombs, and pagodas, there will be time to explore the National Museum with its exceptional collection of finely worked gold jewelry, metal weapons, and distinctive pottery. For lunch, sample Korean delicacies and enjoy a cultural performance of traditional dance.

From your berth in Masan, head inland to the Haeinsa Temple. Regarded as one of the three great temples in Korea, it was first settled in 802 AD, and its name derives from a verse in a Buddhist Sutra as "reflections on a smooth sea." In the 13th century, when Korea was at war with the Mongols, the government commissioned the Tripitaka Koreana, a complete copy of Buddhist scriptures, in the hope of Buddha’s intervention in the war. They were carved onto 81,258 double-sided wooden blocks and stored on floor-to-ceiling shelves in the Janggyeong Panjeon building. Visit the main worship hall of the temple. Returning to Masan this afternoon, you may wish to visit the vibrant fish market selling the daily catch.

After a leisurely morning at sea, return to Japan and the port of Ube for your exploration of the historic, southern Yamaguchi prefecture. There will be a choice of tours, and you may wish to travel inland to visit the picturesque five-story Pagoda of Rurikoji Temple and the surrounding park. Dating back to 1442, the pagoda was built in memory of Yoshihiro Mori Terumoto, who ruled the area during this period. Alternatively, drive to Hofu Tenmangu, believed to be the oldest Tenmangu in Japan, having been built in 903, at the site where court officials and scholar Sugawara Michizane stopped on his way to Fukuoka following his exile. Afterwards, visit the museum, which houses more than 20,000 national treasure items, including swords, armoury, calligraphy, and scrolls. Have a chance to explore the beautiful gardens.

This morning, land on Shikoku Island and the port of Uwajima situated deep inside the sawtoothed coast of Uwajima Bay. The city of Uwajima is emerging as the nation’s largest pearl cultivation center, and visitors can learn about the processes of implanting, harvesting, extracting, and sorting pearls on a visit to a pearl farm. You can also see Uwajima Castle, which is built on top of the hill with panoramic views over the town and harbor, and the Tensha-en Garden, built in the Samurai era. Enjoy an afternoon at leisure to explore at your own pace.

Arrive this morning in Hiroshima for a visit to the compelling Peace Memorial Park. The park is dotted with memorials, including the Cenotaph, which contains the names of all the known victims of the A-bomb, and the permanently lit "Flame of Peace." Just outside the park, the A-Bomb Dome is a haunting reminder of the destructive forces that were unleashed on the city, being one of the few original buildings to survive. In the museum, see photos, videos, and the victims’ personal effects relating to the bomb. Over lunch, sail to Miyajima, which is considered one of Japan’s top scenic wonders and provides a picture-postcard vista of the scarlet Torii gate, the giant camphor wood gates at the entrance to the Shinto Shrine. You can use zodiacs to go ashore and explore the Itsukushima Jinja Shrine, founded in the 6th century and dedicated to three sea goddesses.

From the port of Uno-Ko, visit one of Japan’s most famed gardens, Koraku-en, which translates as "garden of pleasure after." This 17th-century formal garden has 28 acres of walking trails, ponds, plum and cherry trees. This afternoon we will continue to Kurashiki, where you can explore the old merchant quarter and its fine 17th-century wooden warehouses painted white with traditional black tiles, along a canal framed with weeping willows and filled with koi. There will also be the opportunity to visit the Ohara Museum of Art, which includes rare works by Matisse, Picasso, and Renoir as well as collections from Japan’s renowned Mingei movement, including ceramics by Hamada Shoji.

This morning, sail into Kobe, Japan’s seventh-largest city and third-largest port. Considered one of Japan’s most beautiful cities, Kobe was rocked by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of 1995, which killed more than 5,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of buildings. Today, the city is completely rebuilt, though a few signs of the terrible event remain. After breakfast, there will be a complimentary coach to a central hotel or to the Osaka airport. To allow time for disembarkation procedures and travel from Osaka, booking flights departing before 1300 hours is not recommended.