Botanical Takamatsu

KFBuchsbaum

March 30

It was a perfect day to be outdoors! Sunny, breezy, and temps in the high 60s. Finally!

We spent the morning sailing the inland sea between some of the hundreds of islands that make up the Japanese archipelago. The port at Takamatsu is impressive. Beautifully paved and landscaped, the local business community seemed to be out in full force to welcome the ship's passengers and officers.

This is the area where bonsai began, and in the afternoon, we had an opportunity to visit a bonsai farm. Later, we spent some time at the serenely beautiful Ritsurin Garden.

We visited the Kagawa Bonsai Farm and met with the owner and his family. I had no real idea what went into these plants, and how rich a history they had. Dating back to the time of the samurai, bonsai was an important art, adapted from earlier Chinese culture. This region is dry and sunny and well-suited for their growth. Pines are the specialty here, although some flowering plants are also used. More than 40 years ago, young plants were dug up in the mountains, but the practice was banned by the government for impeding new forest growth.

We learned so much and had a very entertaining Q&A session with the pleasant 4^th generation owner, whose son will take over the business, and become the 5^th generation to run the enterprise.

It would take pages to explain all we learned, but I can report the process is painstaking. Each year they curb the size by pulling out first-growth new needles (one by one); some of the plants we saw cost thousands of dollars. They are gorgeous works of art, and 80% of the world's bonsai trees come from this area.

The Ritsurin Garden was my favorite garden of the trip so far. It was less crowded than the more famous Kenrokuen Garden we visited in Kanazawa, but even if you took away those crowds, I'd still rank this one higher.

There were some wide-open spaces, several ponds, lots of water features, even a waterfall, and beautiful flowering trees. Yes, cherry trees, but also some beautiful Japanese magnolias, all set against a mountain backdrop. Dating from the 1620s, it was truly an island oasis in the middle of a modern city. I'll let my pics tell the story.

You can buy tickets for a boat trip around the ponds.

Japanese Magnolia.

There are areas with concessions and a Tea Room where you can experience a traditional tea ceremony (which we enjoyed) with a sweet to offset the bitter Matcha Tea. They seem to have a Matcha version of everything in Japan.

Ritsurin is handicap accessible and has wheelchairs at the entrance. Many paths are paved and others are well-marked when not appropriate for wheelchairs (as this one). There are scattered areas to just sit and contemplate.

When we returned to the ship, the city had a food truck giving out free servings of the regionally famous Udon Noodles (delicious). We got to see some talented young female performers do a very original dance/calligraphy performance. It sounds odd, but was lovely and interesting to watch. We even had a canon salute send-off from the local castle. We experienced warm welcomes and entertainment at most ports, but Takamatsu really outdid themselves.