Yobuko morning marketPhoto: gtknj / CC BY 2.0
Yobuko's morning market runs every day except New Year's Day, 07:30 to noon, with opening times set by each stall.
- Getting there
- Walk about 25 min to Nishi-Karatsu-ekimae, then the Showa bus, 25 min; or a taxi, 16 km, about ¥6,300 each way (our estimates)
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
A street of stalls in the squid port of Yobuko, open every day but New Year’s Day, 07:30–12:00: dried squid on racks, fish, vegetables and sweets, sold by the women who run the stalls. It closes at noon, so it only fits a call that arrives at 08:00. The Yobuko bus stop is a minute away.
- On a 4–6h ashore call our verdict is "Yes, on an 08:00 arrival" — bus there and back with the market, the boat and a squid lunch: about 5 hours.
- 07:30–12:00 — every day except 1 January; each stall sets its own hours.
- 3 hr door to door needs a 5-hour call: a 2–3 hour stop cannot hold it. Pick something closer instead.
Things worth knowing
- Take the bus back from Yobuko at 12:35 on an 08:00–15:00 call; the next one is an hour later.
- The Ika-maru sails hourly 09:30–16:30; rough seas cancel it.
- Bus fares are not printed on the timetable: carry coins.
Yobuko morning market and your ship
Both pins on one map, so the distance is a fact rather than a feeling.
Where the 3 hr goes
The hour before all-aboard is not in this bar; it is already set aside. The minutes are our estimates from timetables and maps, not timed on the ground.
If your ship is late, cut the 1 hr 25 min in the middle. Never cut the hour at the end.
Questions
Can I visit Yobuko on a Karatsu cruise call?
Yes, if the ship arrives at 08:00: the morning market runs 07:30–12:00. Walk about 25 minutes to Nishi-Karatsu-ekimae and take the Showa bus, 25 minutes, or a taxi, about ¥6,300 each way by our estimate.
What time does Yobuko morning market close?
At 12:00. It opens at 07:30 every day except New Year’s Day.
Routes that already include it
Finished days timed from official timetables and our estimates, with this stop in them.
What to put beside it
Each of these still lands you back aboard with the hour to spare.
4 hr for bothKaratsu Jinja
The town’s shrine, said to date from the Nara period, and the home of the Kunchi festival: every November the 14 floats escort its portable shrine through the streets.
See the detail
4 hr for bothFormer Karatsu Bank
The red-brick head office of the Karatsu Bank, finished in March 1912 in the Tatsuno style, red brick banded with white granite under small towers and domes.
See the detail