Chasing the Sun - Hagi to Gyeongju, South Korea

Hagi – charming Hagi, boasts one of the best-preserved samurai and merchant quarters in Japan as well as a ceramic tradition that dates back nearly 400 years. Hagi is also known as the place where a group of samurai spearheaded the revolt against the Kyoto shogunate in the mid-19th century, eventually restoring the emperor to power and moving the capital to Tokyo.

The mayor welcomed us enthusiastically and encouraged everyone to buy pottery!

We were welcome to Hagi by dancers dressed in purple kimonos.

Our group occupies 3 buses that rotated between three sites:

The old samurai quarter including time to shop and visit a traditional merchant’s house. This was the garden at the merchants house.

Toko-ji temple, with its atmospheric grounds featuring hundreds of moss-covered stone lanterns that guard the graves of five Mori lords

Visit to the kiln of a master potter to learn how the highly acclaimed Hagi-yaki is made

Lunch was delicious!

We cross the Korean Strait to South Korea overnight and have been warned to secure all of our things in our cabins because the seas a little more energetic overnight.

May 15 – Gyeongju, South Korea

From the city of Ulsan we drove about an hour to the ancient city of Gyeongju. Before a visit to the National Museum we saw the remains of tombs of the rulers of the Shilla kingdom.

These tombs look like mounds of dirt, but inside them there is a large “coffin” that would have held not only the ruler’s remains, but all of his servants, concubines, etc… that he would need in the next life. 

The National museum displayed many of the artifacts from these tombs including gold crowns, pottery, armor and weaponry.

Fertility was a major theme during this period and I thought it interesting that their symbol for fertility was an embryo because we all begin life the same whether we are fish, horses, chickens or people.  There were many of these “half moon” shaped pieces of jade hanging on the gold crowns and incorporated into jewelry of the time.

We had lunch at the Hyundai Hotel complex followed by a folk dance performance.

Next stop was to visit Bulguksa to see, one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples in Korea. The original was built in 523. The colorful buildings must have been spectacular in their prime!

Then back to the ship to cross back to Japan! 

There was a full moon rising that reminds me of the beauty of ocean cruising!