Don't Let the Rain Ruin the Fun

3 days of fun in Tahara, Japan

DAY 1

As the train pulled up to the Tarhara station Tuesday night it poured down rain; it was raining so hard that we opted to take a cab even though it was only a 3 block walk. That night after settling in we debated what the plan of action for the next day was going to be. Jen left the decision solely up to me since I was the one in a foreign country. My choice: brave the rain, have some fun, and get wet. Who knows when I'd ever be in Japan again, I had no intentions of missing a thing!

So Wednesday morning we headed to the peninsula to catch the ferry to Ise. Ise is said to have the most beautiful shrine in all of Japan and although I have only seen a select few it was by far the most beautiful and serene I had seen. Jen and I both agreed that the rain added to the serenity and beauty of the entire park and we both we taken back by the view that surrounded us: the clouds in the mountains, the canopy of trees, the river and bridges, it was all amazing!

After touring the Inner Shrine we headed to the quaint little tourist town for some shopping and lunch. We dined on Ise's famous Udon noodles, found some Mikimoto Pearls for cheap, and I even tried some squid jerky; which I don't recommend. The shops were fun and the atmosphere, despite the rain, was filled with a high energy. We even stumbled across some Taiko drummers.

When it comes to traveling I really enjoy the off the beaten path type activities and am not one who likes to get caught in all the tourist traps. Even though this performance was strictly for the tourists I enjoyed the rich Japanese cultural display of music. They beat their drums in perfect sync, calling out commands over the sound. You could feel the music in your bones, literally. It was breath taking and I reveled in the moment, it was INCREDIBLE!!!

After lunch and shopping we headed back towards the ferry in hopes of squeezing in a tour of the Mikimoto Pearl Museum. It was not originally on our agenda but once we got to Ise and saw the museum we made room in the day. Jen immediately felt horrible at not bringing our parents over to Ise. Mom has been teasing Jen for months about Jen buying her some Mikimoto pearls; all this time Jen was a ferry ride away from their headquarters and never knew it. She had even taken them down to the peninsula but they decided not to take the ferry. To make up for it, we bought mom some pearls. :)

The museum was short and explained how pearls are naturally and unnaturally cultivated and grown. It was quite interesting to learn that the oysters actually undergo what is considered major surgery in hopes of growing a pearl. The insert a seed into the nucleus of the pearl and as long as the pearl can recover from the "evasive surgery" a pearl should form. Can you say GROSS?!

Every hour the famous Japanese Women Divers give an exhibition on their technique of pearl cultivation. These women got out in the freezing cold water in thin white suits and dived with out oxygen tanks. They explained that these women are trained from the age of 8 to be a diver and pearl cultivator; lucky for us we got to sit in a heated room to watch! It was a fun and rainy day!