No upcoming voyage currently calls at Funakawa
NYK Cruises publish new voyages a few times a year. Tell us when you would like to sail and we will write to you when a call here is scheduled.
About Funakawa
The port of Oga, on the blunt peninsula that pushes out into the Sea of Japan north of Akita. Oga is where the Namahage come from: masked figures who go house to house on New Year night, roar at the idle and the badly behaved, and are fed and sent on their way by the head of the household. It is a living custom rather than a show, and the state designated it an important intangible folk cultural property in 1978.
Within reach of the port
Shinzan Shrine and the Namahage halls
The shrine the custom is tied to, said to have been founded in the reign of the twelfth emperor. Beside it the Namahage Museum keeps the masks each hamlet carves for itself, no two villages alike, and the Oga Shinzan Denshokan stages the house visit in a real thatched farmhouse so that you can see what it is actually like.
The peninsula itself
Oga is volcanic, and the coast road round the western end runs under cliffs and past sea stacks with water on three sides. The city runs the whole peninsula as a geopark.
Oga 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
- Namahage of Oga, an important intangible folk cultural property (Oga City) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it