Seto Inland Sea Cruising
瀬戸内海クルージングthe inland sea between Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu
About the Seto Inland Sea2 upcoming voyages cruise the Seto Inland Sea
- Autumn Holiday Tanegashima & Kochi Cruise
Kobe → Tanegashima → Kochi → Kobe
- Calls here
- September 20, 2026
- Day
- 2 of 5
- Autumn Himeji & Seto Inland Sea Cruising Cruise
Yokohama → Himeji → Seto Inland Sea Cruising → Hofu → Yokohama
- Calls here
- November 26, 2026
- Day
- 4 of 7
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 the Seto Inland Sea
Not a port either — a day spent crossing water that most ships cross in the dark, which is the entire reason it appears on the itinerary as somewhere to go. The Inland Sea was designated on 16 March 1934, together with Unzen and Kirishima, as one of the first three national parks in Japan. Counting the sea it is still the largest of them, reaching into ten prefectures and one urban prefecture, and what it was designated for is exactly what you get from the rail: a sea full of islands, with land on both sides for most of the day.
What you see from the deck
The Akashi Kaikyo bridge
The ship passes beneath it going in or out of Kobe, and from the deck it is straight overhead. The centre span is 1,991 metres — among the longest of any suspension bridge anywhere — and the towers stand about three hundred metres above the water.
Honshu-Shikoku Bridge Expressway (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
The Kurushima strait
Between Shikoku and Oshima, and one of the three fastest tidal races in Japan — the current runs to around ten knots. It is the one fairway in the country where ships change channel with the tide, taking the middle passage when the water is with them and the western passage when it is against, and three suspension bridges cross it in a row.
Japan Coast Guard, 6th Regional Headquarters — tidal currents (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
A worked sea, not an empty one
Terraced slopes, citrus on the south faces, stone quarries, shipyards, and small ferries crossing in front of you all day. This was the main road between western Japan and the capital for as long as either has existed, and it still looks like it.