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Japan

Tsuruga, Japan

Tsuruga: Fukui's Japan Sea Port and the Historic Gateway to Kansai

Tsuruga is a port city at the head of a bay on the Sea of Japan coast of Fukui Prefecture, sheltered by mountains on three sides. Visitors to Japan must carry their passport at all times, so take yours ashore.

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know

Cruise ships use either the Mariyama wharves in the new port area, where large cruise ships tie up, or the Kanegasaki berths in the old harbor, so check which one your ship is using. Tsuruga Station is about 10 minutes from the port by car.

  • The Kanegasaki bus stop is about 10 minutes from the port on foot.
  • Tsuruga had about 66,000 people in 2018.
  • Japan uses the yen (¥, JPY).

Tsuruga on Your Own

The old harbor front at Kanegasaki has the city's main museums and restored port buildings close together. If your ship is at the Mariyama wharves, ask it how passengers reach the old harbor; Kehi Jingū and Tsuruga Station are elsewhere in the city.

  • Kanegasaki waterfront: The Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum, the Red Brick Warehouse and a rebuilt copy of the 1913 Tsuruga Port Station all stand near Kanegasaki Park.
  • Kehi Jingū: The shrine's great vermilion torii faces National Route 8 on the west side of the grounds.
  • Statues: About 20 bronze statues of characters and scenes from Leiji Matsumoto's anime and manga line the downtown streets.
  • Loop bus: The Gurutto Tsuruga tourist bus runs from Tsuruga Station to Kanegasaki Park in about 8 to 10 minutes and also stops at the Red Brick Warehouse.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.

Getting Around from Tsuruga

Tsuruga Station is the city's transport hub, with the city's tourist bus, taxis and fast trains to Kyoto and Osaka. Walking from the station to the museum on the waterfront takes about 30 minutes.

  • Shinkansen: Since March 16, 2024, Tsuruga has been the terminus of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, with trains to Fukui, Kanazawa and Tokyo.
  • To Kyoto and Osaka: The Thunderbird limited express reaches Kyoto in about an hour and Osaka in about 1 hour 20 minutes.
  • Local trains: The Hapi-Line Fukui and the JR Obama Line also start at Tsuruga Station.
  • Timing: If you head for Kyoto or Osaka, check train times against all-aboard first.

What to Eat in Tsuruga

Tsuruga is a fishing port, so seafood leads, and Fukui Prefecture has its own take on the pork-cutlet rice bowl.

  • Sauce katsudon: In Fukui, katsudon means a pork cutlet dressed with Worcestershire-style sauce over rice. The version cooked with egg is called tamago katsudon.
  • Seafood: Fresh fish turns up at local markets, sushi shops and restaurants, and blowfish is one of the local delicacies.
  • Echizen crab: Crab is a winter delicacy, and the fish market in the old harbor is one of the places where Echizen crab is landed.
  • By the water: The south building of the Red Brick Warehouse is given over to restaurants.

Tipping in Japan

Tipping is not part of Japanese culture, and a tip left on a restaurant table is likely to be handed back to you. Some Western-style hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill instead.

  • Guides: Tour guides and interpreters are an exception to the no-tipping custom.
  • Leave nothing on the table: Never leave cash on a table or a hotel bed as a tip.

Culture and Sights Near Tsuruga

Tsuruga's sights tell the story of a port that looked across the sea to the continent. Its great shrine and pine grove are older still.

  • Kehi Jingū: Echizen Province's leading shrine is believed to date back to 702. Its vermilion torii, 10.93 meters high and built in 1645, survived the 1945 air raid that burned most of the shrine and is an Important Cultural Property.
  • Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum: The museum tells of the Polish orphans from Siberia who landed here in 1920 and the Jewish refugees who arrived in 1940 and 1941, with interviews with survivors and their descendants. Its name uses the Polish word for museum.
  • Red Brick Warehouse: Standard Oil of New York built these two oil warehouses in 1905, measuring them in feet and using Dutch bricks.
  • Tsuruga City Museum: The city's history and folk museum is housed in the former head office of the Ōwada Bank, built in 1927, and has more than 300 paintings.
  • Kanegasaki Castle site: A castle stood on this 86-meter hill above the bay, and its ruins are a national historic site.

History of Tsuruga

Tsuruga's natural harbor has linked Japan with the Asian mainland since ancient times. In the early 1900s it was the starting point for travelers bound for Europe by way of Vladivostok and the Trans-Siberian Railway.

  • 9th century: A guesthouse for envoys from the kingdom of Balhae stood at Kehi no Matsubara.
  • 1337: Kanegasaki Castle fell after a siege during the wars between the Northern and Southern Courts.
  • 1570: Oda Nobunaga's campaign in Echizen stripped Kehi Jingū of its lands, including the pine grove.
  • 1882: The railway reached Tsuruga.
  • 1899 and 1902: Tsuruga opened as an international trade port, and a regular shipping line to Vladivostok began three years later.
  • 1912: Boat trains began running from Shinbashi Station in Tokyo to the harbor at Kanegasaki to meet the Vladivostok ships, part of a rail and sea link to Europe.
  • 1920: Polish orphans rescued from Siberia landed at Tsuruga.
  • 1940 and 1941: About 6,000 Jewish refugees holding transit visas issued by Chiune Sugihara in Lithuania landed here after crossing Siberia.
  • 1945: An air raid on July 12 destroyed 68% of the city's built-up area.
  • 2024: The Hokuriku Shinkansen reached Tsuruga on March 16.
  • To learn more ashore: The Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum, in Kanegasaki Park on the old harbor front, covers the port's history and its refugees. Check opening times before you go.

Family Experiences Near Tsuruga

Tsuruga's waterfront keeps the museums close together, which suits a family day. Pick by age and add the beach in summer.

  • Younger children: The Red Brick Warehouse has a diorama hall with HO-gauge model trains, and an old diesel railcar is on display outside.
  • School age: Hunting for the bronze statues of Leiji Matsumoto's characters makes a game of a walk downtown.
  • Teenagers: The Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum tells the refugees' stories, with interviews with survivors and their descendants.
  • Summer: The beach at Kehi no Matsubara opens for swimming in summer.

Accessibility at Tsuruga

The waterfront sights are near one another in Kanegasaki, and the tourist bus links them with the station. Ask your ship about accessible transport from the berth before setting out.

  • The Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum is about four minutes on foot from the Kanegasaki Park bus stop.
  • The Red Brick Warehouse has its own stop on the tourist bus.
  • Kanegasaki Castle site is on a hill 86 meters high.
  • Kehi no Matsubara has walking paths through the pines.

Beaches Near Tsuruga

Tsuruga's beach is Kehi no Matsubara, a pine grove facing the bay and one of Japan's three great pine groves. It has been a national scenic spot since 1934.

  • The grove: About 1.5 kilometers long, it has about 17,000 red and black pines averaging around 200 years old, and 85% of them are red pines.
  • Swimming: In summer the shore opens as the city's Matsubara swimming beach.
  • Closures: On two or three days a year the grove is closed while it is sprayed against pine wilt.
  • Park: The grove is part of Wakasa Bay Quasi-National Park.
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