Paper is important in Japan.  Not only is it made for documents, newspapers, books, and currency but fans and origami paper for creating three dimensional designs. Clothing was also made of paper.  It was cheap and it retained heat well.  In Japan paper is part of building construction. Walls are made of paper.  That is one reason incendiary bombs in World War II were so deadly.  In World War II the Japanese had discovered the Jet Stream and launched hydrogen filled (Fu-Go) paper baloons toward the US carrying incendiary bombs with the idea of catching forests in the Pacific Northwest on fire thus tying up manpower.   It was in retaliation for the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.  Most of the bombs fell harmlessly in Alaska but one killed members of a Sunday School Picnic in Oregon.   Paper is a big deal in Japan.

Westerdam called at Kochi our one stop on the island of Shikoku, but rather than stay in town we took an excursion out of town to the Ino-Cho paper museum where we learned the story of paper and tried our hand at making some.

We made Wahsi Paper, a type used for documents.  It is made from the kozo tree (a cousin to the mulberry.)  The tree is debarked, steamed, pulped, bleached and by the time it is paper it has only 4% of the wood’s original weight.  5,500 grams of wood produce 220 grams of paper.

Before going through the museum to learn all of this, we tried our hand at making the paper.

We had a silk screen with a wooden frame.  We moved the screen and frame through a vat of water with the pulp slurry.   We drained off the water, removed the wood frame from the silk screen, then put the screen down and pressed hard, squeezing the water out.  Pictures explain it better than I can.  Suzi took these of me. We made postcard sized sheets.

After making our own paper we watched a woman make larger and thinner sheets using largely the same technique.

After our hands on experience, we had to wait for the paper to dry.  We spent time in the museum and then went out for ice cream.  Way out.  We drove through a beautiful river valley. 

Along the way we stopped at a submersible bridge.  What that means is there are no guard rails so when the river floods debris will not catch on the rails and bring the bridge down.  There are step out areas for pedestrians.

Then we stopped at a Shinto shrine. 

 Finally, when our guide thought the paper was dry, we stopped at the museum and then, Through Kochi, where the suburban area is interspersed with rice fields.

That morning, sailing into port, we saw construction workers doing their calisthenics before work and we were welcomed by a man waving a giant flag with a whale on it.  This marks the 400^th anniversary of whaling in Koci.  Now, however, the whaling is largely with a camera. Whale watching. 

On the sail out we had a performance and more flag waving, a band with an accordion playing Irish music and Duke Ellington and dancers.  They also played the Japanese pop song, called in English, Sukiyaki.   The Japanese title is “I look up as I walk.” It was a hit in the States in 1963 song by Japanese crooner  Muite Arukō.  The song has nothing to do with the popular Japanese dish.  One music critic said calling the song Sukiyaki would be like calling the Rogers and Heart song “Blue Moon” Beef Stew.   

This type of sendoff is becoming a port tradition for this cruise, with each community trying to outdo the other on exit hospitality waving us off into the sunset.