Where in the World are Bill and Bob?

Dutch Harbor is part of the city of Unalaska on Amaknak Island in the Aleutians, the southern chain of islands off the Alaskan mainland. Fishing is the major industry, and the harbor ships over a billion dollars of cod, pollock, and crab annually. Dutch Harbor was bombed by the Japanese in World War II, thus becoming only the second US location ever to suffer aerial bombardment  (Pearl Harbor was the first). The day we arrived was cold and drizzly.  Nonetheless, a huge array of fishing boats were moored in port, and the landscape was stunning. We even saw whales, eagles, and lots of sea otters. Notice the eagles nesting on top of the rock

We are in the middle of the Bering Sea heading to Alaska and just crossed the International Date Line. Going east (as we are) you add a day; going west, you lose a day. So we get two June 28s! Groundhog Day for real, anyone? Although the Cossack, Semyon Dezhnev, sailed the Sea in 1648, both the Sea and the Strait are named for Vitus Bering, a Danish-born Russian explorer who sailed the Sea in 1728. Bisecting the area and running north to south, is the International Date Line, a somewhat arbitrary delineation separating one calendar day from the next. As with crossing the equator, certain rituals apply: When we crossed the equator, we transitioned from Scallywag to Shellback (see January 29 post). Crossing the IDL, we have now been initiated into the Silent Order of the Far East Mysteries.

Kushiro, a major fishing port on the eastern side of Hokkaido Japan’s northernmost island, is our last stop in Asia. In addition to fishing, the city is the gateway to vast marshlands, home to the elegant tancho or red-tailed crane, the symbol of long life. We had local soul food - a specially seasoned fried chicken dish called zangi and admired all manner of other foods, especially fish at the oldest market, Washo. Then wandered the wharf market called MOO, and it’s glass enclosed atrium next door called EGG. Since it was Sunday, the city seemed pretty sleepy, with the exception of a fair at the waterfront with some local entertainment (including girls on unicycles). On to Alaska after 4 days crossing the northern Pacific.

In 1854, Hakodate on Hokkaido island was  the first Japanese port to be opened to international trade and it didn’t take long before the Americans, Russians, British, and French arrived and established themselves in an area of town called Motomachi at the foot of Mt. Hakodate. In Motomachi, a Buddhist temple butts up against the Catholic, Episcopal, and Russian Orthodox Churches and the houses look more Western than Japanese. Old warehouses along the waterfront have now been converted into shops selling everything from high end jewelry and clothing to tacky tourist trinkets. Near the cruise terminal is the morning market selling all manner of fresh fish and fruits (cantaloupes for $50), and a highlight was the squid tanks: customers were given a fishing pole, hooked a squid, which was immediately filleted for squid sushi.  I demurred.

Aomori sits at the northern end of Japan’s main island of Honshu, and because it is pummeled by blizzards and ice storms from Siberia, it is the snowiest city in the world averaging 26 feet annually! The city was heavily bombed in WWII, so most is new and rather uninteresting. However, on its outskirts are some gems: Hirosaki Castle completed in 1611 and famous for the 2,600 cherry trees that grace the park including one that is 130 years old; Seibien House, Garden and Mausoleum (containing the largest lacquer work in Japan) built by a wealthy merchant in the early 20th century; the tallest seated Buddha in Japan at the Seiryu-ji temple; and the Sannai Maruyama archeological site that dates back to 3,900 BCE. We covered all that in one very exhausting day!