Big In Japan

A Princess Cruises stay-and-cruise adventure that begins in Tokyo and takes you to South Korea offers a tantalising glimpse of very different worlds, says Liz Jarvis.

- Liz Jarvis

Everyone around me is naked and I’m really not sure where to look. Blushing furiously and keeping my bikini firmly on, I avert my eyes from the flesh on display in the Japanese thermal baths of Diamond Princess and make my way outside towards the open-air pool. As I make myself comfortable on one of the luxury day beds, Mount Fuji suddenly looms into view, its majestic peak rising against the sky.

My Asian adventure began in Tokyo, where I spent a few nights getting acclimatised, enjoying the bright lights of Shibuya crossing, Asakusa, the tranquillity of the Meiji Shrine and a lot of conveyor belt sushi washed down with copious quantities of sake before embarking on my Diamond Princess voyage. Tokyo offers an intoxicating blend of tradition, style and sheer craziness, and it’s one of the best cities in the world for a stay-and-cruise adventure. Plus, of course, there’s the never-ending array of surprises offered by Japanese toilet controls – particularly confusing if you’re fighting jet lag and press the wrong button.

I join Diamond Princess in Yokohama and we glide out to sea on a late summer’s evening just as the sun is starting to set. My balcony stateroom offers the perfect vantage point to admire the pretty big wheel (a hallmark of many Japanese ports and cities).

As I’m still very much in Japanese mode, my first dinner is at Kai Sushi, the fabulous onboard sushi restaurant that serves authentic, freshly-prepared seafood delicacies including nigiri sushi and sashimi.