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Travel to Japan by Ship via USA
My first experience of travel to Japan was by ship.
Beginning my journey at Liverpool, I had sailed to New York on the "Sylvania" and then across the USA by Greyhound Bus to San Francisco.
Leaving my home island of Anglesey in North Wales, this was always going to be a fantastic voyage of discovery and excitement for me.
It was then a two week journey on the "President Wilson" across the Pacific where we encountered both calm waters and sometimes, mountainous waves.
But on the misty December morning we steamed into Yokohama harbour in 1965, the air was still.
You expected a hush but already small boats, tugs and freight
ships were beginning to churn up the placid bay as the "President Wilson" cut
a gentle furrow towards the quay.
Get more like this Travel to Japan story and the latest local news and videos by receiving our free Anglesey Today Newsletter. Just complete the simple form here. it's a easy as 1-2-3! Once we had berthed, the quayside suddenly teemed with activity. Dockworkers and baggage handlers with their trolleys moved swiftly in all directions. From the deck of the ship, high above the quay, they looked rather like ants. They all knew what was to be done and nobody wasted time in doing it. Our Field Leader had come to meet me at the ship and after we had claimed my five pieces of luggage, we went by taxi to the station to catch the Bullet Train.
We had to be careful to be at the right door to board the train because the doors were only open for about a minute and I had five suitcases! Once in the train, we sped on our way past high-rise buildings, small towns, paddy fields and bamboo groves. One of the first sensations in the train was that of solidarity.
And I reflected how my travel to Japan up to now had been at a gentle pace, namely by sea and road. This was altogether a different dimension.
As it approached a bend, the track banked to compensate for the curve and a cup of tea wouldn't have jingled.
Japan has countless hills, some small and some big but most are pointed at the top. So, instead of weaving its way among the hills, the Bullet Train true to its name just goes straight through them.
Sometimes there might be a succession of four tunnels and then, if a town is in its way, the train merely flies over it on stilts. And it isn't just one train that chugs along these lines every hour. On the main line from Tokyo to Hiroshima, a distance of 500 miles, the trains, consisting of sixteen carriages, hurtle along every seven or twelve minutes.
There are three types of trains. The slowest stops every 50 miles or so, while the fastest travels the whole distance with only three stops. The stopping train pulls in at a side platform barely three minutes before a super-express thunders through the station. Its doors open and close and in a short while the stopping train is also the super-express. My destination was Kyoto, the cultural capital of Japan with its old Imperial Palace, and narrow streets. Once we left the main arterial roads, it felt as if the houses closed in on us. Gone were pavements and sidewalks. House walls or garden fences had been erected on the edge of the roadway while electricity and telephone poles (they often shared the same pole) stood in the roadway. No wonder that bicycles and buses were the preferred way of travel.
Owning a car might mean having to knock out a room on the ground floor to form a garage for it. Yes, Japan is crowded, but it is a delight to observe how the limited space is utilised fully and neatly.
Looking back I can certainly say that my travel to Japan by sea, coach and train was an exciting and unforgettable experience.
Of course you could travel to Japan by just flying from Manchester airport, but look at all the sites you would miss on the way.
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