No upcoming voyage currently calls at Kushiro
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 Kushiro
A fishing and paper town on the edge of the largest wetland in Japan, and cool enough in summer that people come north for the weather. The marsh begins a few kilometres inland and runs for 26,000 hectares of low peat bog and meandering river — no viewpoint takes it in, which is the point of it. The port is in the middle of the town, on the river mouth.
Within reach of the port
Kushiro Marsh
The Ministry of the Environment calls it Japan's largest wetland, and it became the country's first Ramsar site in 1980, seven years before it was made a national park. Observatories on the western edge look out over it; a single-track railway runs along the eastern side in summer.
Kushiroshitsugen National Park (Ministry of the Environment, English) ↗
The red-crowned cranes
A dozen or so birds were found here in 1924 when the species was thought gone from Japan, and they were made a natural monument in 1935. The population is over a thousand now, and unlike cranes elsewhere these do not migrate — they are in eastern Hokkaido all year.
Kushiro City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
Nusamai Bridge at dusk
The bridge over the Kushiro river in the middle of town, with four bronze figures on it for the four seasons. The sunset from it is what the town is known for domestically, and the fish market is a few minutes away.
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.