Princess cruisers have yen for Japan’s food and culture
For Halloween, let’s look at some of the more macabre entries in Atlas Obscura — crypts and cemeteries, severed body parts, odd caskets and more
When people talk about taking a cruise around Asia, they typically mean something that starts in some of the big-name Asian ports of call, like Hong Kong or Singapore. But Princess Cruises (cruise. center/princess) has, for several years now, been quietly offering some pretty special sailings that focus entirely on Japan.
Back in 2014, Princess put the 2,670-guest Diamond Princess through $30 million dollars’ worth of upgrades in order to sail the line’s itineraries in Japan. The result was an on-board experience that’s refreshingly immersed in Japanese culture, from the massive 8,800-squarefoot bathing experience designed to replicate a traditional Onsen, to the new on-board sushi-themed dining venue serving up a variety of sushi, sashimi, seafood cocktails and, for dessert, matcha ice cream with red bean paste — not to mention a variety of regional sakes (Japanese rice wines).
Since then, Diamond Princess has operated exclusively in Japan, although many readers might remember her from her summers in Alaska where she operated cruises from Vancouver and Whittier.
Sailing between April and November of 2017, Princess is offering a whole host of Japanese-themed itineraries, most of which sail round-trip from Yokohama, the port city for Tokyo. These sailings are helped along by the fact that getting to Tokyo is a one-stop deal for many Canadians, with non-stop flights available from Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.
While Princess does offer a few five-night taster cruises, you’ll probably want to take one of the longer voyages aboard Diamond Princess to really experience all that Japan has to offer.
My favourite is the eight-day Circle Hokkaido trip. Sailing from Yokohama, Diamond Princess stops in Kushiro, Otaru, Hakodate, and Eastern Russia.
THE MERRY CEMETERY
Sapânta, Maramures, Romania “When we were putting the book together, one of the most interesting things about the death-focused stuff for me was the many different attitudes people around the world have toward (it),” Ella Morton says.
“The Merry Cemetery in Romania is one of my favourite entries in the book. The epitaphs on the headstones are funny and they have pictures of the people in their last moments whether it’s being hit by a car or however they died. And it takes a sort of quirky, wry approach to death.”
CAPUCHIN CATACOMBS
Palermo, Sicily, Italy Thousands of stylishly attired mummified bodies are propped up on shelves, displayed in open coffins, and hung from the walls in Palermo’s Capuchin Catacombs.
“The catacombs also serve as a macabre history-of-fashion museum, charting the rise and fall of Palermo high style from the 1600s to the 1920s,” Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Morton write of the unique Sicilian attraction.
The oldest corpse in the catacombs, that of friar Silvestro da Gubbio, has been housed there since 1599. The most recent, that of two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo, was interred in 1920.
“The embalming procedure has kept Rosalia looking so well preserved that she has been dubbed ‘Sleeping Beauty,’” the authors write.
KANE KWEI CARPENTRY WORKSHOP
Accra, Ghana Fantasy coffins are the Kane Kwei Carpentry Workshop’s specialty. Seth Kane Kwei founded the studio in the 1950s and has since passed away.
Craftspeople continue his legacy of creative caskets, reflecting the profession, personality, or hobbies of the deceased: “They make coffins that are in the shape of a giant sneaker or a ballpoint pen or a tiger,” Morton says.
An eagle-shaped coffin is on display at the British Museum in London, and a Nike sneaker casket is part of the Brooklyn Museum’s collection in New York.
SOURTOE COCKTAIL
Dawson City, Yukon The Sourtoe Cocktail Club was founded by Capt. Dick Stevenson in the early 1970s. The Klondike Visitors Association says the club now has more than 100,000 members around the world. To become a member, the association says: “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips have gotta touch the toe.”
The severed toe can be doused in the imbiber’s alcohol of choice, although most people prefer Yukon Jack liqueur. Be sure to leave the toe in the glass after you’ve touched it to your lips; there’s a $500 fine for swallowing it.
Ask for Captain River Rat at the Downtown Hotel’s Sourdough Saloon.
SELF- MUMMIFYING MONKS OF SHUGENDOŌ
Mount Yudono, Yamagata, Japan At least two dozen monks of Shugendo (an ancient form of esoteric Buddhism) successfully completed the self-mummification process, which takes approximately a decade and was accomplished by drinking a toxic sap tea and eventually locking oneself in a stone tomb.
From Tokyo, it takes about four hours by bullet train to get to Churenji and Dainichibo temples.
At Churenji temple, you’ll be able to view the mummy of Tetsumonkai, a monk whose body is still in the lotus position.