Tourists can ride on a traditional Japanese boat in Ritsurin Garden, one of the country’s oldest “strolling gardens,” maintained for almost 400 years. © Sanga Park | Dreamstime.com

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Miyajima Island, located an hour from Hiroshima, is known as “shrine island” for its famous Shinto shrine. The Buddhist Daisho-in Temple is also located on the island. © Sean Pavone | Dreamstime.com

I wandered through the grounds of Japan’s Daisho-in Temple until I found the perfect spot: a small pond covered in lily pads and surrounded by trees, flowering bushes and mossy rocks. A tiny, perfectly crafted pavilion sat at the pond’s edge.

With a contented sigh, I lowered myself onto a bench for a moment of quiet contemplation.

I was on Miyajima Island, on a hill overlooking the strait between the island and the port of Hiroshima, on Heritage Expedition’s “Japan’s National Parks, Art & Culture” voyage, a small-ship expedition cruise circumnavigating Honshu, Japan’s main island.

For two weeks we docked at small towns and cities on Japan’s coastline — most of them inaccessible to large cruise ships — to see national parks, temples, shrines, museums and gardens rarely visited by Western tourists. We also stopped in Ulsan, South Korea, as well as Hiroshima and Osaka, where the cruise began and ended.

I’ve been to Japan many times but never realized just how beautiful it can be. Outside its cities and towns, the country’s largely rural landscape was carved by volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis. The scenery is dotted with rice paddies, and lush dense forests cover the hills and mountains.

As we left most every port, the locals cheered, waved, sang, shot off firecrackers, played taiko drums, or in one case, treated us to a choreographed exhibition with dancing high school girls painting calligraphy on a large canvas on the ground.

A small cruise ship

The ship, the Heritage Adventurer, accommodates 140 guests on four decks, with a lounge and two dining rooms. Most of the passengers on this cruise were from the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Germany. They were in their 60s and 70s, educated, well-informed, thoughtful and curious, especially about the political and economic situation in the U.S.

Every day, we had at least two options for full-day shore excursions, including spectacular hikes and visits to museums, art galleries, historic villages, temples or shrines. We also had the option of staying on the ship and getting a massage; using its pool, spa or gym; lounging on the deck or in the library; or taking a nap in our staterooms.

The staff and crew gave daily presentations on topics ranging from Japanese history to its current obsession with exotic ice cream flavors.

The quaint villages we explored had at least one ice cream shop that showcased this national trend. They demonstrated Japanese ingenuity in the often unusual — if not downright bizarre — flavors, such as wasabi, squid ink, gold leaf, red bean, miso and sweet potato. I indulged often, though I stayed away from the more offbeat flavors.

National parks

Since this cruise’s theme was the national parks, art and culture of Japan, we visited several of Japan’s 34 national parks. From waterfalls to scenic hikes; placid lakes to migratory birds soaring over idyllic wetlands; a bay cruise among hundreds of pine-covered islands to cable cars hovering over steep, lush forests — the natural attractions were diverse and often breathtaking.

My favorite park was Akiyoshido Cave, one of the largest limestone caves in Japan. A one-kilometer path winds through the cave along a roaring underground river, through a soaring cavern and past astounding stalactites and stalagmites. Since my youth, when I was an avid reader of science fiction, I’ve always been interested in the otherworldly, and my leisurely stroll through this subterranean wonderland scratched this ethereal itch.

Art museums

Many of our daily options included visits to art museums, craft shops and galleries. I especially enjoyed the Adachi Museum of Art, which is a 45-minute ride from the port of Sakaiminato. This museum is renowned for its collection of modern Japanese art, as well as its award-winning gardens.

I appreciated the soft, graceful art of Yokayama Taikan, a pioneer in the development of pre-WWII Japanese painting. Most of his paintings depict landscapes swirling with clouds, mist and fog. The minimal shapes, subtle shades and gentle monochromatic gradations soothed me like no other art ever has.

Peaceful culture

Nothing has shaped contemporary Japanese culture more, particularly its attitudes toward war and peace, than the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

We made a short but impactful visit to the city to see the Peace Memorial Museum, Peace Memorial Park and, most moving of all, the Children’s Peace Monument. At the monument, a large group of schoolchildren recited and sang what I assume was a wish for peace. We didn’t understand the words, but we felt the meaning and intent. Many of us, including yours truly, dabbed more than one tear from our eyes.

Traditional Japanese culture is perhaps best reflected in the Japanese garden. Among the ones we visited were two of the most famous gardens in Japan. The first was the extensive, award-winning garden that adjoins the Adachi Museum of Art. The mix of forests, grassy hills, rocks, ponds, streams, bridges, pavilions, gravel lawns and waterfalls is framed by mountains in the background, a “borrowed landscape” that is not actually part of the garden but enhances its beauty.

The other was the Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, on Shikoku Island. We spent a good two hours wandering through its forests and along its koi-filled streams, observing its teahouses, pavilions, colorful water lilies, bridges and stone lanterns.

Smaller, more intimate gardens surrounded the many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines we visited, like the Daisho-in Temple. Maybe it was the steep hill, the time of day, or the lure of stores in the charming town below offering fried oysters and “deer poop” ice cream (with chunks of chocolate) inspired by the island’s famous wild deer, but for several tranquil minutes I had the pond, pavilion and garden all to myself.

In Japan’s small cities and countryside, I found intimacy and calm. If I were rich, I would buy a house with lots of ground, cover the walls of the house with Yokayama Taikan wall hangings and screens, and install a Japanese garden or two. Then I would throw away my blood pressure meds and spend a good portion of the day just gazing, strolling and chilling out.

Heritage Expeditions hosted Don Mankin on this trip.