David's Images of the Day Photoblog
I am not going to say much here. We visited the Hiroshima Peace Park and Museum. I just wish we could learn from the past and not be two minutes left on the Doomsday Clock. Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock.
Individual Images from the slide show can be viewed here.
It was clear, but cold when I woke up. The full moon was setting over Yokohama. What I didn’t notice the day before was Mount Fuji. I could see and take pictures of the mountain right out my cabin window. Before the sun rose, the sky above the mountain was lit up with the unique blue colors of the earth shadow, and pinks of the “Belt of Venus”. Shortly after breakfast I was part of a group that departed for the Hakone, Hiroshima, and Kobe Overland Field Trip. We would rejoin the ship in three days in Kobe.
Larger individual images in this slideshow can be viewed here.
Our group departed Yokohama for an overland bus and high-speed train tour of Hakone, Hiroshima, and Kobe. The first stop on the bus was at Fuji Hakone Izu National Park where we rode a gondola up Mount Komagatake. A short hike on an icy trail brought us to the peak (1327m). I could have used crampons on my boots, and was glad I had a walking stick. It was very, very cold, but we had a perfectly clear view of Mount Fuji covered with snow and Lake Ashi below.
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
We then visited a Shinto Temple in Hakone. I focused on the “water purification” process before entering the temple. One or two other tour buses with students from the ship happened to be there at the same time so we had to be careful which bus we got back on.
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
We were dropped off on in Hakone on the shore of Lake Ashi with free time to get lunch. Several of us stopped at a local noodle restaurant for lunch. We were given menus with pictures of the different meals. I selected the “Smelts and Buckwheat Noodle Soup”. The waitress kept asking if I knew what “smelts” were. They looked like the fresh water smelts my grandfather would bring home from Lake Superior.
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
After lunch we waited at the Pier for our “Pirate Ship” ride on Lake Ashi. That was hokey. The tourist pirate ship looked exactly like the one I rode in Gdansk, Poland — except with Japanese pirates.
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
The tour bus picked us up at the other end of the lake and brought us to the Hakone Open-Air Museum.
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
The final stop for the day was at Tenseien Yumoto Spring, a traditional Japanese hotel/spa in Hakone. When we checked in, we were given traditional Japanese Kimo’s that we were to wear during our stay. The room I was in was traditional Japanese style — minimal with a low table and pot of green tea. Later on the room was rearranged with a futon on the floor. Our group had its own room to sit for dinner, but we selected our food in a traditional Japanese buffet along with the other hotel guests.
Individual images in this slide show can be viewed here.
Color versions of the images can be viewed here.
After a long 10 days crossing the Pacific Ocean, the MV World Odyssey arrived in Yokohama, Japan. It was a cold morning, but many students were up on deck to watch the arrival. Dawn and sunrise images were taken from the deck of the ship. After breakfast, we disembarked and proceeded through customs & immigration. We were told that everyone had to go through the process before we could return to the ship. I took a camera, travel tripod, warm jacket and gloves. It was cold, and there were some snow flurries. I felt safe walking around the Osanbashi Pier (and in Japan in general) with a camera since there were so many locals with cameras out taking pictures. I did several 360° degree image sequences using a Mindarin Astro rotating tripod head. These were then used to create Little Planet and Mirror Ball views of Yokohama and the ship from the Osanbashi Pier.
Later in the afternoon I made two 360° time-lapse videos. The first of people enjoying the day at the Yamashita Park along the Yokohama harbor, and the second from a park with a view of view of the Osanbashi Pier and the MV World Odyssey. The images were taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera that was controlled by a Mindarin Astro 360° rotating head on a tripod. The time-lapse videos were then created using Photoshop CC and Premiere Pro CC.
Smelts and Noodle Soup at the Soba Noodle Shop in Hakone while waiting for the “pirate ship” ride on Lake Ashi. The waitress at the restaurant kept asking if I knew what Smelts were, and did I really want them… I tried to explain I grew up in Minnesota, and my Grandfather got us Smelts from Lake Superior. It was Number 14 on the menu. I would go back, the bowl was empty when I was done.
