Cruises to Wakkanai
稚内the northern tip of Hokkaido, between the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk
About WakkanaiNo upcoming voyage currently calls at Wakkanai
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 Wakkanai
The northernmost city in Japan, on a neck of land with a different sea on each side. Sakhalin is 43 kilometres off the cape and visible on a clear day, which is the fact that explains the place: this was the crossing point when the island to the north was Japanese, and the ferry pier from that period still stands on the harbour. Two islands lie off the west coast and are the reason most people come.
Within reach of the port
Cape Soya
The northernmost point of Japan reachable by road, marked by a monument at 45 degrees 31 minutes north. Behind it the Soya hills roll inland, crossed by a track surfaced with crushed scallop shell that the town calls the white road.
Wakkanai City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
The breakwater dome
A colonnade of seventy arches curving along the harbour, built in 1936 to shelter the railway and the Sakhalin ferry from the swell. It is a Hokkaido heritage structure and looks like nothing else in the country.
Wakkanai City (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it
Rishiri and Rebun
Rishiri is a single volcano rising 1,721 metres straight out of the sea, an hour and a half by ferry. Rebun beyond it is low and treeless and carries alpine flowers at sea level that grow nowhere else this low. Both are day trips only if the weather holds.
Wakkanai City tourism (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
- Wakkanai City tourism (official) ↗in Japanese — your browser can translate it