1 upcoming voyage calls at Nakatsu
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 Nakatsu
A castle town at a river mouth, with a gorge behind it that is one of the best known in Japan. Kuroda Kanbei — the strategist who served Hideyoshi — began the castle in 1588, and it is counted with Takamatsu and Imabari as one of the three great water castles, built where the sea can reach the moat. The man on the old ten-thousand-yen note grew up a few streets from it.
Within reach of the port
Nakatsu Castle
Begun in 1588 by Kuroda Kanbei at the mouth of the Nakatsu river, then held by the Hosokawa, Ogasawara and Okudaira in turn. The sea comes into the moat, which is what puts it among the three water castles.
Fukuzawa Yukichi's house
The thatched house the founder of Keio University lived in as a boy, kept as it was, with a museum beside it. He is the face on the old ten-thousand-yen note, which makes this a more familiar building to Japanese visitors than to anyone else.
Yabakei
A gorge of eroded rock pillars inland from the town, at its best in autumn. The deeper part, Shin-Yabakei, has a viewpoint said to take in eight scenes at once, and a tunnel cut through the rock by a monk with a chisel over thirty years.
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.