Ports are not interchangeable. These are the things that happened here — and only here — told properly, then tied to what you can see, taste and book while your ship waits.
Thirty years of absurd wealth, and then the fish stopped
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What a town does when the thing that made it rich is gone
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An industry that survived by losing both of its products
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A chemist went to Scotland, married a Scot, and came back to build this
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Why a town of 100,000 has more sushi bars than it can possibly need
Read the story →Cruise seasons run spring to autumn, but the port changes underneath them. What each month actually offers — and the traps.
Blossom reaches Hokkaido at the very end of the month. The canal is at its bleakest and emptiest just before.
Mild, dry, long daylight, and the first cruise calls. The best walking weather of the year.
Hokkaido has no rainy season worth the name. This is the quiet sweet spot.
Sea urchin season. Order it at Sankaku and do not economise.
Warm without the humidity of the main islands. Busy on Sakaimachi.
The clearest air of the year and the start of the autumn table.
Excellent walking, excellent seafood, and the coaches thin out.
Hair crab and scallop come into their own. Few ships.
Cruise season is over, but February floats candles on the canal. The best the town ever looks.
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