The view from the waterfront at Mojiko towards Shimonoseki (above) and an old shipping line headquarters building, looking a bit like a Mechanics' Institute or public library in Wigan (below):
Mojiko is full of shipping-related signs:
A once-proud Scottish shipping company:
On the fast ferry to Shimonoseki:
Statues commemorating sword-wielding thugs - sorry, I mean warrior heroes:
A new A-Line ferry is born in the shipyard at Shimonoseki. Adjacent is the former nuclear-powered test ship Mutsu, nowadays diesel-driven and used as a research vessel:
Cranes for handy-size bulk carriers:
Ferries from Shimonoseki to South Korea - a long-established and important route over the Sea of Japan:
Heading for Shimonoseki:
Another building in the English provincial manner; apart from the roof garden, it could be a bank in Derby:
Downtown Shimonoseki:
Food Holes Hallo Day:
Police station pictogram:
Shimonoseki waterfront:
Sword-wielding thugs re-enactment:
Fast ferry back to Mojiko:
Kyushu Railway Museum:
The type of whizzy 1960s electric train we like to see:
A Gekko train, which can be converted for night-time use as a sleeper - very ingenious:
The luggage racks open down to form upper couchettes, while the seats can be pulled together to make beds:
As demonstrated by this vintage publicity image:
Old Japanese train headboards:
Staff insignia:
More headboards:
My favourite bit - a big exhibition about catering on Japanese trains:
A selection of food packaging:
Menus and advertising images:
Old uniforms, worn by alarmingly ghoulish waxwork figures:
And so to Kitakyushu Ferry Terminal - a fine example of the Japanese neo-vernacular:
While terminal 2 favours the post-modern symbolism of a Hanku Ferry's funnel:
Trailers awaiting loading:
City Line and Hanku Ferry departures and arrivals:
Our next ship, the splendid Ferry Suo, which will take us back to Kobe:
Japanese ferry terminal check-in desks thoughtfully provide pairs of glasses to aid the long-sighted when filling out the requisite forms. These are not in frames that one would be tempted to steal, though:
The embarkation waiting area for checked-in foot passengers:
The Ferry Suo's entrance foyer, with a typically Japanese grand staircase:
Leaving Kitakyushu:
A wide choice of delicious-looking dishes to select in the cafeteria servery:
My dinner - mmmm!
My three travelling companions:
The cafeteria:
Post-dinner captain's uniform modelling - by now, a shipboard ritual:
Ferry Suo pictograms:
Second Class dormitory accommodation, requiring the removal of shoes before entering:
Capsule cabins - compact and bijou:
A karaoke room for hire:
Please don't get drunk:
Japanese passengers in their kimonos showing the correct usage of a ferry's grand staircase:
Next morning off Kobe:
Breakfast service:
Me with a charming young lady who was travelling to Kobe especially to visit the hairdresser:
A man in the Scenic Grand Bath admires the bridge:
The Ferry Suo's foyer:
Arriving at Kobe:
Disembarkation:
More to follow shortly!
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