Our second excursion of the cruise and this one was one of the Viking “included” excursions - Sapporo Highlights:

Explore the history and culture of the island of Hokkaido during visits to a holy site and open air museum. Embark on a scenic drive with your guide into the picturesque city of Sapporo, spread at the foot of Mt. Moiwa, and visit to the Hokkaido Shrine. Set in deeply forested grounds, this sacred place exudes a tranquil and contemplative atmosphere. After time to reflect, continue outside the city and travel back in time to the island’s frontier days at the Historical Village of Hokkaido. Featuring buildings from the mid-19th to early 20th century, this open air museum showcases the industries, lifestyles and culture of the times through authentic recreations of a town and several different villages. Tour the replica of a traditional sweatshop, or take a horse-drawn carriage ride—or sleigh during the winter months—while learning about this important period in Hokkaido’s history.

Our excursion visited the Historical Village of Hokkaido first. It was relatively quiet and I managed to capture a photosphere (360 degree) view of the village square that is the first area you reach after entering the open air museum:

It was very interesting to wander along the streets looking at the different buildings but it was only possible to go into some of them, so it wasn’t always easy to determine what life was like in the various scenarios.

There was a collection of buildings - Aoyama Family Structures for Herring Fishing - that represented fishing life, including a fisherman’s house and several store buildings:

We then continued by coach to the Hokkaido Shrine. By comparison with the open air museum, this was very busy. It is sited in Maruyama Park and enshrines four deities including the soul of the Emperor Meiji. The original shrine building was destroyed by fire in 1974 but was rebuilt/restored in 1978.

Our guide explained to us the etiquette for praying at a shrine:

• Wash your hands at the hand-washing stone basin
• Advance before the enshrined god
• Deposit some money into the offertory box
• Bow twice
• Clap your hands twice
• Keep your hands together and pray
• Bow deeply one more time

And since Japan is well known for its cherry blossom, I have to include some photos of that. The timing wasn’t quite right as the season had shifted by a couple of weeks but the blossom did look lovely.

After the excursion finished and we were taken back to the ship, it was time for lunch - Croque Monsieur with a fried egg on top!

After lunch, a short walk into Otaru to get some exercise and to see at least a part of this town before we left Japan. When we returned to the ship, we had to go through an on-board immigration process with Japanese officials, after which we were not allowed to leave the ship again.

As the ship left port, we were serenaded by a delightful ceremonial drum troupe:

Tonight, we had dinner in Manfredi’s, the ship’s Italian restaurant. My wife had Manfredi’s Lasagne al Forno alla Bolognese with a green side-salad and Amarone Cremoso al Cioccolato, while I had Osso Buco with steamed vegetables and Panna Cotta alla Nutella. For the wine, we both had Vinologist Swartland Syrah, Cape Town.

As the ship sailed away from Japan, I managed to capture this image of the setting sun against the mountains: