Tokaido Walk (27) Miya-Kuwana (boat tour) (off Tokyo): Oct. 27, 2013

Out of 492 km of Tokaido, which connected Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto in the Edo era, about 30 km was traveled by boat, not on foot. The part was between Miya, the 41^st shukuba station from Edo’s Nihonbashi, and Kuwana, the 42^nd station.

There is no regular boat service today. But special service is sometimes offered by NPO and other organizations. Today, I had an opportunity to take a boat tour. The tour was organized by Horikawa Machi Net, a NPO based in Atsuta Ward in Nagoya Prefecture, where Miya shukuba station was. The NPO is active in preserving the region's history and culture. It also engages in activities to protect environment and to boost the development of local community. (See Horikawa Machi Net)

Old dock and historical buildings of Miya station remain here. Wide sea spread just in front of the station in the Edo era. Now, the seashore is several kilometers ahead, as many artificial lands have been made after the Meiji period.

The boat left the dock as local community’s members played “bon voyage” dram. The boat went through canals and moved into the Nagoya port.

There are factories, warehouses and other industrial facilities in the area. Highways ran over the port. 

Seagulls flied around the boat. The weather was good. The sky and the sea were blue.

There are automobile yards and container yards in the port. I found large car carriers and huge container ships anchored.

Nagoya port is expected to be the country’s largest port (including airports) in export this year. Automobile and related products account for more than 50% of total export. Electronics, steel and other industrial goods are also exported.

The boat sailed west and came to the area where three large rivers flew into the sea. The rivers are Kiso River, Nagara River and Ibi River. 

The rivers are affluent. They bring a large quantity of soil and sand. Consequently, the sea is not deep here. 

I found many small pipes stuck in the sea. They are used to grow seaweed.

The boat went up Ibi River and arrived in Kuwana shukuba station. Kuwana is in Mie Prefecture.

The boat tour took about three hours.

Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa: Oct. 18, 2013

We had a business meeting inviting our partners from about 15 countries. We had an excursion to Tokyo Skytree and Asakusa district for better communication and deeper mutual understanding.

Tokyo Skytree is only one year + old (it opened in May, 2012), but it has already become one of the most famous Tokyo’s landmarks.　It attracted more than 6.5 million visitors in one year. 

It is 634 meter high and is the highest tower in the world.

The tower was crowded as expected. It took less than one minute by a high-speed elevator to move from the ground floor to observation deck at 350 meter high. Hundreds of Japanese, Asians, Europeans, Americans etc. were there.

Panoramic view of Tokyo was under us. I saw millions of offices, houses and factories spread in the large Kanto plain. 30 million people live there.

Asakusa, which is about 1.5 km from Tokyo Skytree, is a popular visiting place for foreign tourists. Sensoji Temple (Buddhism) is the center of the area. Visitors made a line in front of the main building. The incense floated here and there.

Combination of the temple’s buildings and Tokyo Skytree was impressive.

There also locates Asakusa Shrine (Japanese Shinto) in the same site. There are shopping street from the temple to the nearest subway station. Hundreds of small shops sell traditional crafts, sweets and other gifts.

They held a special dragon-dance event in the temple. Visitors really enjoyed Asakusa.

ANA plane maintenance facility @ Haneda: Oct. 18, 2013

We had a meeting with our partners from about 15 countries and we visited ANA’s plane maintenance facility in Haneda (Tokyo International Airport).

Several airplanes including Boeing 787, the latest model, and B 777 were under maintenance process.

The facility is popular among plane lovers. It also attracts many schools as a good place for an educational trip. (Competition to make a reservation is very tough).

There were several groups in guided tours in the facility. Most of participants had high-class single-lens reflex cameras.

The facility has 18 huge gates. The planes in landing and taking-off process were well observed from the facility.