How long are you ashore in Tsuruga?

2–3 hours ashore · 2 hr 30 min door to door

The Port of Humanity, in two hours

Any mobility — the whole cluster is flat and within 300 m

On a 3-hour stop that leaves 30 min spare. Comfortable, but do not add to it.

1. +0:00
   Shuttle to Kanegasaki Green Park

   First stop on the free loop (2026 pattern). Small expedition ships have docked at Kanegasaki itself — then you are already here

2. +0:15
   Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum

   ¥500 · the Polish orphans and Sugihara-visa refugees landed on this waterfront. Give it a full hour · closed Wednesdays

3. +1:15
   Red Brick Warehouse

   3 min on foot · 1905 oil warehouses; the ¥400 rail diorama recreates old Tsuruga

4. +1:50
   Former Tsuruga Port Station museum

   Free · 2 min on foot · where the Europe-bound boat train met the ship

5. +2:10
   Shuttle back from the same stop

   Loops have run every ~30 min on call days — confirm the day’s sheet at the gangway

Running late? Taxis reach the Mariyama quays in ~5–8 minutes from Kanegasaki (est. ¥1,000–1,500) — show the driver 「鞘山北岸壁のクルーズ客船まで」 (use 南 if your ship is at the South Quay).

¥900 pp covers every museum on this plan (¥500 + ¥400 + free). Shuttle has been free on recent calls. Map, photos and what you will see at each stop →

4–6 hours ashore · 5 hr door to door

Great torii, humanity, and the original katsudon

The full Tsuruga story with a proper sit-down lunch

On a 6-hour stop that leaves 1 hr spare — the full hour this site recommends, and then some.

1. +0:00
   Shuttle to Kanegasaki — museum cluster

   Port of Humanity Museum (¥500) then Red Brick Warehouse · both closed Wednesdays

2. +1:40
   Shuttle one stop (or 15-min flat walk) to Kehi Jingu

   The 11 m vermilion torii — rebuilt 1645, one of Japan’s three great wooden torii. Free

3. +2:20
   Walk the Symbol Road arcade toward the station

   28 bronze Galaxy Express 999 and Yamato statues — Tsuruga’s ode to its boat-train era

4. +3:00
   Lunch: sauce katsudon at Tsuruga Europe-ken honten

   Closed Mon–Tue, cash only — Plan B is otta by the station

5. +4:00
   otta by the station — Chienamiki bookstore

   A bookshop worth ten minutes even if you never read Japanese

6. +4:20
   Shuttle back from the station stop

   Last full loop has run mid-afternoon — check the day’s last bus before lunch

Running late? From the station a taxi reaches the wharf in ~10 minutes (Princess’ own estimate). Keep ¥2,000 for it.

~¥2,400 pp: museums ¥900 + katsudon lunch ~¥1,200 + coffee. Shrine is free. Map, photos and what you will see at each stop →

8 hours or more ashore · 7 hr door to door

The whole story, plus pines and a fish market

Long calls — Diamond Princess’ 10-hour July pattern fits this exactly

On an 8-hour stop that leaves 1 hr spare — the full hour this site recommends, and then some.

1. +0:00
   Shuttle to Kanegasaki — museums first, before the crowd

   Museum ¥500 + Red Brick ¥400 + rail museum free

2. +2:00
   Kehi Jingu and the Symbol Road arcade

   Shuttle one stop, then walk the statues toward town

3. +3:00
   Sauce katsudon lunch at Europe-ken

   Closed Mon–Tue — swap for Sakana Machi seafood if so

4. +4:00
   Taxi ~10 min to Kehi no Matsubara

   A 1.5 km red-pine beach, one of Japan’s three great pine groves — flat, shaded, free · the Gurutto loop bus skips this stop until about the end of December 2026

5. +5:00
   Taxi ~10 min to Nihonkai Sakana Machi

   Seafood market hall — sweet shrimp year-round, Echizen crab Nov–Mar

6. +6:10
   Taxi back to the wharf (~10 min)

   Or loop bus to the station and ride the shuttle if the clock is friendly

Running late? Every leg after lunch is a ~10-minute taxi from the berth — nothing on this plan strands you more than ¥2,000 from the ship.

~¥4,500 pp with two taxi hops and a market snack · crab season adds whatever you let it. Map, photos and what you will see at each stop →

Rainy day ashore · Any hours door to door

A rain plan the boat-train era built

Wet decks — all indoors except two short dashes

Built in pieces — take as many as your stop allows.

1. +0:00
   Shuttle to Kanegasaki

   Museum and Red Brick sit 3 min apart — two roofs, one dash

2. +0:10
   Port of Humanity Museum, unhurried

   The one museum in Japan that tells this story — rain suits it

3. +1:20
   Red Brick Warehouse — diorama plus lunch under the same roof

   Restaurant wing serves until evening

4. +3:00
   Shuttle to the station — otta and Chienamiki bookstore

   Dry, warm, and genuinely good

5. +4:00
   Shuttle back

   Caution: the whole museum cluster closes Wednesdays — on a wet Wednesday, make it Sakana Machi’s covered stalls instead

Running late? Taxis stage at the station on call days; ~10 minutes back to the wharf.

¥900 pp in entry fees — the rest is coffee and a bookstore. Map, photos and what you will see at each stop →