The Ferry Boat

As many of you know we decided to take a bit of a less conventional mode of transportation when we made our visit to Hokkaido earlier this month. We had heard about the passenger ferries available earlier during our stay, and always thought that it would be a fun way to travel. So, when it was time to make arrangements for our trip to Hokkaido, the idea reentered our minds and we decided to go for it.

There were several ferries to choose from and we ultimately ended up deciding to catch the Shin Nihonkai ferry from Maizuru. The schedule was the most convenient for us, and it was one of the fastest ferries available.

The ferries here are essentially enormous cargo ships that they decided to slap a hotel onto the top of. Their primary purpose is hauling goods between ports, secondary to that purpose was hauling people and vehicles. As a result, the schedules were created much more with the shipping industry in mind than the humans that ride the ship.

Ferry at Night

When we arrived at the port at about 10:00pm at night we spent a little time watching semi trucks drive onto and off of the boat. I was actually pretty surprised at what a big ship it was and seeing those big trucks offered the perspective I needed.

We were allowed to board the ship shortly after 11:00pm and the boat left port at about 12:30am. By the time we were pulling away from shore, Aaron and I were already settled into our room and ready to snooze.

For this trip we decided to get a first-class Japanese-style room. Our room was just big enough for us to lay both of our futons out. We had a little television, sink and a small closet to store our belongings. It was small, but comfortable and adequate. I tend to be quite sensitive to motion and I was able to mostly sleep through the night.

Once we woke up the next day we spent some time exploring the boat and enjoying our time at sea. The ferry had many of the amenities you might expect from a cruise ship including restaurants, a cafe, game room, small store, outdoor seating facilities, a nice lobby. But it also had a few, distinctly Japanese touches including a sento (public bath). The sento was actually really cool, it was fun to sit and soak in the bath while watching the ocean pass in the windows.

Outdoor Sitting Space

In the Lobby

Store

Game Room

Aaron on Deck

The highlight of the ride, however, came as soon as the sun began to set. Almost everyone that was on board gathered in the outdoor sitting area to watch the view that nature had to offer that night. While it was not the most spectacular sunset I have ever seen, it was definitely the best I have seen while in Japan and I enjoyed it immensely.

Spectacular Sunset

At Sunset

Sunset came and went and our arrival in Hokkaido was growing closer. From out there on the boat we were given a taste of what we would come to enjoy throughout our entire vacation, cooler temperatures and lower humidity. It was a welcome, though somewhat drastic, change. We expected it to be cooler, but we didn’t expect to be cold. Shortly after we arrived in Hokkaido we had to find a clothing store where we could buy long sleeve shirts to keep us warm. It was a very welcome change!

Posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 7:14 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “The Ferry Boat”

  1. Jonathan says:

    I took two overnight ferries in my round the world trip, one from Japan to Russia and one from Finland to Sweeden. Both were excellent experiences and surprisingly reasonably priced. Did you take the ferry back as well?

    How long were you on the boat for?

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