Maizuru - Home of Parramatta's newest friend Amagiri
31 October 2007
The name Maizuru means a crane that has spread its wings. Originating from a 16th century castle, built for a warrior lord, which looked like a crane flying in the sky! Rich in nature, Maizuru is located on the scenic Maizuru Bay on the rugged west coast of Japan, an area with vast coastlines and beautiful green mountains.
Maizuru is the main international trade port for the Kyoto region. Kyoto is more internationally renowned for the Kyoto Protocol; an international treaty designed to limit global greenhouse gas emissions. Of equal interest, Kyoto was also the imperial capital of Japan for 1100 years from 8th century to 19th century.
Maizuru Harbour is the most protected on the Japanese Coast and the location of the west coast district headquarters for the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF).
LSCIS Mitchell, ABCIS Krik and POCIS Spencer, as HMAS Parramatta berths into Maizuru Harbour.
As Parramatta sailed through the narrow entrance of Maizuru Harbour the scenery was endless and akin to the south island of New Zealand. It wasn't long before the characteristic Japanese architecture started to appear along the water's edge.
After proceeding for 45 minutes down the bay, Parramatta was met by her host, the JMSDF ship Amagiri.
JMSDF Band plays as HMAS Parramatta berths alongside in Maizuru, Japan.
In excess of 100 personnel were on hand to welcome Parramatta into Maizuru, including the 35 strong JMSDF band. A formal welcome was extended to the crew by the JMSDF Director Administration Department, Captain Kenichi Ito.
Personnel from Parramatta attended an official reception hosted onboard Amagiri, that soon became a culinary and cultural extravaganza that may never be surpassed.
The buffet consisted of endless quantities of the finest Japanese kobe beef, traditional seafood and exquisite local deserts. As well as this, a continuous supplies of fresh tempura seafood and barbequed poultry was cooked onsite - amazing!
Commanding Officer of Amagiri, Commander Tatsuya Fukuda called on Commanding Officer of Parramatta, CMDR Lee Goddard and the Ship's WO, Damien Grimley to participate in the custom of 'breaking of the Sake vat'.
Commanding Officer, CMDR Goddard and SWO, WO Grinley join the Commanding Officer, CMDR Fukuda of JDS Amigiri in opening the Sake barrel at the Japanese Welcoming Function.
The ceremony involved wearing customary jackets and smashing open a Sake vat with wooden mallets before distributing in customary square wooden drinking goblets.
CPOMED Barding, LEUT Tindal, SQNLDR Halloran, WOSN Butterworth and LEUT Ryan at the Cocktail Party in Maizuru.
Shortly thereafter, the guests were treated to a samurai sword duel and a martial arts demonstration. The evening provided an insight into Japanese customs and culture and came to an end with cup of jasmine tea in the Wardroom.
The second day saw several of Parramatta's crew being fortunate enough to participate in a tour of the modern JMSDF facility.
The Senior Sailors from both ships took part in an informal barbeque, held in a beautiful park just outside of Maizuru. The informal setting did nothing to quell the superior quality of food. CPO Chris Scott-Branagan stated "Stories were exchanged; items of uniform were swapped and promises of further engagement were made. The Japanese hospitality was so genuine".
HMAS Parramatta competed in Softball with the JMSDF.
Parramatta's sporting reputation was again on the line, this time in the form of softball. It soon became apparent that softball is played very seriously in Japan and if their professional uniform was anything to go by Parramatta's team was in for a challenge. With the final score of 27-5 to Japan, Parramatta put the loss down to inexperience.
The second night saw Parramatta returning the hospitality, by hosting a reception for Amagiri personnel, other key military personnel and local dignitaries. In attendance was Vice Admiral Kato, Commandant of the Maizuru District JMSDF. Vice Admiral Kato also created quite a lot of interest for several of Parramatta's budding historians when it was discovered that he was a WWII Zero pilot.
During the reception, CMDR Goddard called on Amagiri's Captain, Commander Fukuda and extended the hand of friendship by presenting a hand crafted didgeridoo.
The guests onboard were treated to another unique cuisine experience of Australian and local foods skillfully prepared by Parramatta's chefs. Many of the guests were completely overwhelmed by the opportunity to taste crocodile and kangaroo for the first time.
The Ceremonial Sunset completed a fantastic evening, and like previous performances the guests were simply delighted by the moving ceremony.
During the visit both ships conducted an open day, with 391 people visiting Parramatta in three hours. At one point the line to come onboard Parramatta spanned 80 metres! Thankfully, both the RAN and JMSDF bands were on hand to entertain the waiting crowd.
Parramatta conducted some in company manoeuvring at sea with their host ship, Amagiri. The four hour exercise demonstrated the professionalism of both Navies. The JMSDF provided a number of helicopters, which were used to capture imagery during the event.
With a fairly small population, and being somewhat isolated from the other major cities of Japan, most of the crew simply enjoyed the tranquility Maizuru had to offer. The main highlights for nearly all onboard were the abundance of traditional restaurants and, of course, the karaoke bars.
A small number of personnel onboard also took the opportunity to travel further a field, with some traveling to Kyoto, Hiroshima and even Tokyo. All in all this was a very memorable port visit!
