1 / 7Selion TowerPhoto: 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0
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Checked against official sources · updated · Takumi Yamada
A free observation deck at 100 metres, a 10-minute walk from the berth — the Sea of Japan one way, snow mountains the other. Orient yourself before you head into town.
- Our number 1 for Akita, out of ten. It is the first thing we would spend the hours on.
- Short enough to be certain of: 1 hr door to door, so even a tender day works.
- Free to visit — the 100 m lookout has no admission charge, per akita city..
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Perfect" — do it first, then take the bus into town with a clear idea of the time. mind the weekday bus back.
- 9:00–21:00, open every day of the year — individual shops keep their own hours; the city says they are listed on the tower's own website..
- It is a view, so it is weather. Check the morning sky before you commit the hours.
- No single published ride covers this one. Budget for a taxi both ways, or fold it into a guided day.
Why Selion Tower is famous
A 143-metre tower on the harbour with a free observation deck, which is unusual enough in Japan to be the reason it is on this list. It is a ten-minute walk from the berth and it orients you: the Omono river, the Sea of Japan, and the city sitting back from both.
Port Tower Selion is the landmark of Akita port, a 100 m tower that is the heart of the 'Akita Port' roadside station. Akita City describes a free observation deck from which you can see from the Oga Peninsula to Mt Chokai, with a sky lounge for light meals and, on the ground floor, shops selling local products.
For a cruise passenger the point is simple. It is a short walk from the berth, costs nothing, and gives you the lay of the land: the port below, the coast, the city on the horizon. It is the one stop of the day that cannot go wrong on timing, which matters in a port where the bus to the city runs infrequently.
The catch: it is a lookout, not a destination. Allow half an hour, and decide on the way back whether you want the longer trip into town. On a hazy or rainy day the view is the whole of the point and it will not be there.
Things worth knowing
- There is no entry fee for the observation deck, and the building is open from 9:00 to 21:00 daily.
- The city says shop hours are on the tower's own website, so check the lounge hours there if you want a meal.
- On clear days the city lists the view as running from the Oga Peninsula to Mt Chokai.
- The tower is next to a roadside station, so the ground floor sells regional goods you can carry on board.
Selion Tower and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Questions people send us
Is Port Tower Selion free?
Yes. Akita City lists the 100 m observation deck as free, and the tower is open daily from 9:00 to 21:00.
How far is Port Tower Selion from the Akita cruise berth?
About a 10-minute walk, according to this site's transport board. It is also the Selion bus stop, where the bus to Akita Station leaves.
What can you see from the tower?
Akita City says the view runs from the Oga Peninsula to Mt Chokai on a clear day.
Routes that already include it
Each one is a finished day timed from the official timetables, with this stop in it. Read the route rather than assembling it yourself.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
3 hr for bothBabahera ice & local sake
Akita sake and local crafts in one shop downtown, in the basement of the Atorion building (9:30–18:30).
See the detail
4 hr for bothKiritanpo hotpot
Toasted rice sticks simmered in chicken broth with burdock and maitake — Akita’s soul dish, born in hunters’ huts.
See the detail 4 hr for bothInaniwa udon at Sato Yosuke
Silk-thin udon hand-stretched by one family since 1860 — served cold with two dipping sauces.
See the detail