Ryan Markiewicz, Author at Logistics Plus

Mt. Fuji

by Ryan Markiewicz | May 26, 2026 | Berlin's Wall

Mt. Fuji is the highest and most revered mountain in Japan. Today was our day to visit it, but since the weather was totally cloudy we did get to go on it, but never got to see it hahahahaha. So here are some pics we screenshot from websites and the local museum.

It was cool to drive there as Japan continues to amaze at how green everything is. If you think about it, it’s just a series of islands that are simply mountains jutting out of the Pacific Ocean. Japan is 70% mountainous, and everything is green—varying shades of green—really beautiful.

Enjoy the pictures. And the knowledge that you have seen as much of Mt Fuji as we did yesterday hahahahahahaa

Onward! -JB

Mount Fuji is Japan’s highest and most iconic peak

It remains deeply sacred and a major cultural and recreational destination

The crater atop Mt. Fuji. The volcano has been dormant since the last blast in 1707

It is one of Japan’s three holy mountains (along with Mt. Tate and Mt. Haku)

Seems weird that we went halfway up but never saw it

The peak is visible from Tokyo on clear days. On the ground, the volcano is surrounded by the famous Fuji Five Lakes region

Tea plantation. They say the pure mountain water flowing down into the valleys from Mt. Fuji makes for wonderful tea (and rice for sake)

This is what wasabi is made of. 90% of the wasabi (Japanese horseradish) in Japan comes from near Mt. Fuji

Divine Wind – Interesting Story

by Ryan Markiewicz | May 21, 2026 | Berlin's Wall

The “divine wind” story is one of the most famous legends in Japanese history — and it’s where the word kamikaze comes from.

In the late 1200s, the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan tried twice to invade Japan after conquering huge parts of Asia, including China and Korea.

First invasion — 1274

The Mongols sent a massive fleet across the sea toward Japan. They landed in Kyushu and fought effectively, using coordinated tactics and explosives unfamiliar to the Japanese samurai.

But then a powerful storm hit the Mongol fleet. Many ships were damaged or sunk, and the invaders withdrew.

Second invasion — 1281

Kublai Khan came back with an even bigger force — one of the largest invasion fleets in medieval history, possibly over 100,000 men.

The Japanese had prepared this time, building coastal defenses around places like Hakata Bay in Fukuoka.

The Mongol fleet lingered offshore for weeks. Then a huge typhoon struck.

The storm devastated the fleet:

ships smashed together
many sank
thousands drowned
survivors were killed or captured ashore

The Japanese believed the storm had been sent by the gods to protect Japan. They called it:

Kamikaze (神風)

Meaning:

kami = divine/spirit/god
kaze = wind

So literally: “divine wind.”

Centuries later, during World War II, Japan revived the term “kamikaze” for suicide pilots. The idea was symbolic: just as the divine wind once saved Japan from invasion, these pilots were expected to sacrifice themselves to protect the nation.

Modern historians think the Mongol fleets were especially vulnerable because many ships were hastily built river/coastal vessels not ideal for open-ocean typhoons. But the storms themselves were very real.

-JB

Our voyage from Hong Kong to Tokyo

Container port

Container ship arriving in Osaka

Unlike the Mongol invaders, we came in peace

Samurai

A model Japanese warship

Hiroshima

by Ryan Markiewicz | May 20, 2026 | Berlin's Wall

All,

Hiroshima is, of course, the site of the first atomic bomb dropped on August 6, 1945. The bomb, which detonated above the ground (I did not know that), leveled much of the city, with well over 100,000 deaths from the blast, heat, and radiation. Today’s nuclear weapons are hundreds of times more powerful. A sobering thought.

But Hiroshima today is a beautiful modern city with over a million inhabitants—living proof of rebuilding and resilience.

We visited the Peace Park and museum, which displayed the damage done to the city and its people. More than the statistics, it was the personal items—clothing, watches, photographs—that hit hardest. Though obviously a very different event, if you have been to the 9/11 site in NYC, it carries a similar somber and reflective feeling.

We also visited Miyajima Island, which has been considered sacred since ancient times. The shrine there was first built in 593 and later rebuilt in 1168. Its famous giant gate sits offshore and appears to float on the water at high tide, while at low tide, you can walk right out to it on the beach.

One thing Japan continually reminds you of is how comfortably the very old and the very modern exist side by side.

Onward! -JB

This building was one of the few in downtown Hiroshima that survived the atomic bomb

This is how it looked at 8:14 on August 6, 1945

And this is how it looked after the blast

More of the city of Hiroshima after the first atomic bomb

Lots of deer roam wild on Miyajima Island

And some of them don’t know their boundaries (look closely – it’s a deer not a dog 🙂

Itsukushima Shrine

The gate seems to float on the water at high tide and is on the beach at low tide

Sundown in Hiroshima

Beppu

by Ryan Markiewicz | May 19, 2026 | Berlin's Wall

Our next stop in Japan was a seaside resort called Beppu. It is not a big city, more a getaway from the city, famous for the hot springs that come from the volcanic activity beneath it. There are hundreds of places to sit (naked hahahaha) in these hot springs that are supposed to be good for your body, skin, and overall health. Hallie and I were not really interested in seeing all our shipmates naked (Viking, as you can imagine, is an Older crowd 😉), so we skipped the “hell waters” and instead went to visit a park famous for Macaques, or Japanese snow monkeys.

They warned us about the monkeys being aggressive (and I’ve seen aggressive monkeys before. They snatch your glasses, jewelry, cell phones and then “barter” them back to you for food—no kidding). But these monkeys all seemed very tame and just wandered around between us. Nothing scary at all.

We also visited a place with 60 stone Buddhas carved into the mountains – think Mt Rushmore, only way smaller and WAY older 🙂 which was pretty cool to see.

Another very enjoyable day in Japan (and another 13,000 steps PLUS half an hour on the bike), so starting to feel it hahahaha. But tomorrow is Hiroshima, so we’ll do it all over again.

Onward!

Stone buddhas. Hundreds of years old.

Pretty amazing!

Guess which Buddha has the hardest head

Bamboo is a grass, Crazy how tall is grows!

Famous Japanese snow monkeys

Hallie wanted to bring one home 🙂

Some beautiful scenery 🙂

Southern Japan Cities

by Ryan Markiewicz | May 18, 2026 | Berlin's Wall

All,

Our first stops in Japan, on the southern island of Kyushu (one of Japan’s four main islands), were Nagasaki and Kagoshima.

Nagasaki is most famous, of course, for being the site of the second atomic bomb dropped by the United States to end the war against Japan, three days after Hiroshima. But the city is layered with history far beyond that.

It was one of Japan’s rare “windows to the West” during the years when much of the country was closed to foreigners. Dutch traders were allowed there. Christianity took root there. And tragically, it was also the site where 26 Christians were crucified in 1597.

We visited the famous Glover Garden overlooking the harbor, where Scottish merchant Thomas Glover once lived. Oddly—and somehow beautifully—the music playing through the gardens was Scottish bagpipes. I did not expect that in Japan.

Glover was sometimes called “The Scottish Samurai” because of his role in helping modernize Japan and his connections to Mitsubishi and Japanese shipbuilding.

We also attended a lunch where geishas served food and performed traditional dances. Elegant, quiet, graceful. Very different from anything in the West.

Kagoshima, meanwhile, feels completely different.

It is dominated by Sakurajima, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. We visited while it was steadily spewing white smoke into the sky. At one time, Sakurajima was actually an island, until lava flows connected it permanently to the mainland.

We also visited the home associated with “The Last Samurai,” along with some of the most beautiful Japanese gardens I’ve ever seen. Incredible craftsmanship and serenity.

Both cities are port cities. Beautiful. Clean. Quiet. Friendly. Exceptionally well cared for.

But the moment that struck me most happened as our ship departed each harbor.

In both places, a local band (one a symphony orchestra, the other a marching band) played music from the dock while hundreds of local residents stood waving goodbye and shouting warm farewells to the ship and its passengers.

I have traveled a fair amount and honestly cannot remember seeing anything quite like that before.

And there was something deeply moving about it happening in Japan specifically.

Many of the people on the ship are Americans—the same country that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Yet today Japan and America are among the closest of allies.

And I noticed one older Japanese-American passenger quietly wiping tears from his eyes.

I think I understood why.

History does not disappear. But sometimes people can still find a way to move forward together.

Onward! -JB

The city of Nagasaki. Our ship in the background. Nagasaki was the 2nd city that was bombed using a nuclear bomb. Three days after Hiroshima in August of 1945, after which Japan surrendered.

The volcano

One of many shelters on this volcanic island, Sakurajima. It is where the 4,000 residents take shelter from the lava and rocks whenever the volcano erupts.