1 upcoming voyage calls at Aomori
Times shown are as scheduled and can change. Weather, sea conditions and port operations may shorten a call or prevent it — always check the latest information from NYK Cruises, and once aboard, from the ship.
About Aomori
The last city on Honshu before the strait, and the one with the deepest snow of any city its size in the world. Two things bring people: a summer festival of illuminated paper floats, and a Jomon settlement on the edge of town that was occupied for fifteen hundred years and only found in 1992. The ferry pier is a short walk from the station and the centre.
Within reach of the port
Nebuta
Enormous lit paper figures hauled through the streets from 2 to 7 August, with dancers around them. It was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1980. Outside those dates the Nebuta hall by the water keeps several of the previous year's floats, which are worth seeing at rest.
Aomori Nebuta Festival (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
Sannai-Maruyama
A Jomon settlement of 42 hectares, lived in for some fifteen centuries from about 3900 BC. Made a Special Historic Site in 2000 and inscribed by UNESCO in July 2021 as part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan. Twenty minutes from the port.
Sannai-Maruyama Site (Aomori Prefecture, official, English) ↗
Hakkoda and the bay
The mountains south of the city carry some of the heaviest snowfall in Japan and a ropeway runs up them. The bay itself is scallop water; the market by the station sells it over rice with whatever else came in.
Aomori City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
Shore excursions
NYK Cruises run their own guided excursions at each port, booked by guests themselves through My ASUKA PLANS — the booking window opens before departure and depends on your cabin class. They are conducted in Japanese. Going ashore independently is always an option.
Official sources
- Aomori Prefecture (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it