Yesterday after lunch we went to Mikimoto Pearl Island. We got to hear
about all of the research done by Kokichi Mikimoto to discover how to
make a cultured pearl. The cultured pearl and the natural pearl are
done in the same way. 
The
only difference is that rather than waiting for the two pieces to find
their way to the oyster by chance they are inserted into the oyster.
The picture shows how they insert the necessary pieces into an oyster.
We then went to a room which was built over a dock of sorts were we
could view the women divers. A boat pulled up to near the dock and the
women divers jumped in the water. 
They
dress in white to repel the sharks and have worked alongside Mikimoto
San since the beginning which is over one hundred years. They used to
place the mother oysters deep on the ocean floor and bring them back
and place them in the floating wooden buckets as you see in the picture.
Today we got up had breakfast and notice that here was a viewing area
from the roof of our hotel. 
As
you can see the view from our hotel was absolutely spectacular.
Instead of starting our day by getting on a bus we walked to the nearby
train station. We practiced getting on quickly so the bullet train entrance
later this morning would be easy. The train left the station and we
proceeded to the station where we would get off.
We left normal train and proceeded to the track were we would board
the bullet train. We got a chance to see the bullet train that came
before us and Cindy caught me looking at it.
Brad and Jolene worked out a strategy so that we could get on the
train without a worry. We spread out to 5 entrances of the train 
so
that 60 of us could all get on in the one minute when the train was
stopped. Even though we entered in the doors of 3 or 4 different cars;
once we were on we walked to our reserved seats in car 14. The strategy
worked and everybody got on with ease.
Howard Tours had lunch for us once we were situated in our seats. This
was the first time we had bento boxes while in Japan and they were quite
tasty. We got off the train and went by bus to Lake Hakone.
There was word of an impending storm so it was decided that today we
would go up the Hakone Komagatake Ropeway Aerial Tramway. The gondola
has a capacity of 101 persons, covers a distance of 1800 meters, and
takes 7 minutes to ride to the top (or the bottom). On clear days you
can see all the way to Sagami and Suruga Bay and the distant Seven Islands
of Izu. 
On
a clear day one can also se a magnificent view of Mt. Fuji. This was
not a clear day. The picture shows the clouds that we are approaching
as we get closer to the top. We thoroughly enjoyed the adventure but
the only scene we could see when we got to the top was anything that
was within 3 feet of our eyes.
When we got back down from the hill we took a boat ride on lake Hakone
to see some of the sights but the fog and the rain closed in on us so
we got to enjoy the boat ride but we did not get to see much.
We went to the hotel and then since there was an “Onsen”
a hot spring. Everybody went to the onsen. There was a man’s side
and a women’s side. The water was very relaxing and Cindy and
I enjoyed the experience very much yet we had to hurry up so we could
back to our room since this evening we were in charge of the Sunset
Party.
You should have seen the face of the front desk person when Cindy and
I asked him to bring 30 glasses and ice to our room. “For one
room?” We had a lovely time even though outside of the hotel there
was what seemed like a typhoon. We followed the party with a dinner
in our room with Barbara and Dude Angius, Peter and Gloria Hon, and
Lee Lynch all of them are 5170ers.
(I could not get a hookup on the internet so I wrote the email but
could not send it so it will be sent tomorrow the 31st).
Saying goodbye from the Hakone Palace Hotel in Lake Hakone, Japan
See you tomorrow on the we bsite
Ron and Cindy Sekkel
