The day started out by going to Nagoya and switching to the JR train to Iseshi. We ended up with a 1 hour layover (that we later found could have been avoided). The trip cost an additional 490 yen because the train uses another railways line for a bit.
Boy, I was really glad we planned for cold and rain. The farther we got from Nagoya the darker the clouds got. We ended up rolling through misty, rain shrouded hills. Wisps of clouds caught in the treetops as rain dimpled the streams and pods as we passed by. Everywhere we looked there were greening fields of newly planted rice.
And unfortunately for me the camera wants to auto-focus on the rain spotted glass instead of the afore mentioned scenery :)
After about 2 1/2 hours we arrived in Iseshi. Only to find out that to see the Pearl museum (Jo's destination of choice) we needed to be in Toba. 4 stops further on. The fun thing was that while we had half an hour to kill, there was a street market just a few yards from the station. So we wandered around a bit, were accosted by the local International society, and got some lunch. Then, off to Toba.
The place we were going to was Mikimoto Pearl Island. The basic story is that he was one of the first to set things up for the cultured pearl industry. And if you like pearls you'd be in heaven here. Any question you might have about how pearls are formed, found, etc... can be answered by someone here. The sheer amount of pearls on display is mind boggling. And there are tons on display...from 60 yen to over 36,000,000 yen (that's $360,000) for one the size of a Quail egg.
The other attraction here is the Ama.
Ama are the women who dive for oysters. Those of us who are old enough will remember them from Sea World. It was really cool to see them dive again. However, It is almost finished. Pearls are now cultured on rafts and no diving is required.
So, after the show we were at a loss for something to do until our train arrived. So we went to the Toba Aquarium. I'm not sure what I expected...but this place sure wasn't it. First it was huge. Second, the number of species that where on display was phenomenal. While the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best, this place holds it's own. Not as nice or animal friendly. Still it really does a nice job.
A few of the things we got to see where:
Manatees
Leafy Sea Dragons
Cones
one of these
deep water specimens
and giant dinner..ummm...lobsters
We could easily have spent most of the day just in the aquarium. Still, we had to come "home". So on the trip we decided that tomorrow will be a trip to Uji.
