A new cruise product isn’t such a rare thing in the travel industry these days, but MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES isn’t just a new cruise line. Though technically less than a year old, the cruise line’s parent company, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL), a global transport and shipping company, has been around for more than 140 years and has been offering short cruises to the Japanese market for decades.
When the parent company decided to launch a leisure division in 2023 and create MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES, the decision was also made to expand its passenger sourcing beyond Japan. But MITSUI has no intention of becoming an international cruise line. It remains – and always will remain – a Japanese cruise line.
“Our focus is Japanese passengers… In order for us to have a Japanese experience, we need to have Japanese guests onboard,” said Anthony Kaufman, MITSUI’s head of commercial strategy during a media briefing onboard MITSUI OCEAN FUJI in late August. “But we also want to share this beautiful experience with people outside of Japan as well.”
The overall goal, he said, is to reach about 30% international guests, with much of that coming from North America. While that could change depending on demand over time, going up as much as 40%, Kaufman was clear the mix of passengers will never see international guests outnumbering Japanese guests.
“If we can do something like 20% to 30% of all our passengers from the U.S., that would be a great goal for us. I truly believe this is a great product and it’s something that the company really wants to share with people outside of Japan.”
Kaufman told TMR that the goal of reaching 30% is something he’d love to see accomplished over the next three to four years. The short-term goal is more modest.
“Reaching somewhere between 1,200 and 1,400 passengers in 2026 would be a home run,” said Albert Hartigan, partner marketing, North America for MITSUI.
Photo: Dori Saltzman
Japanese DNA
The line’s dedication to its Japanese identity serves both its core Japanese clientele and the international guests who want a “true” Japanese experience, one that Kaufman said can only be had with a Japanese cruise line.
Kaufman compared the MITSUI experience to what Princess Cruises offers in Japan onboard Diamond Princess – a product he’s very familiar with. Kaufman worked for Princess from 2013 to 2018, during which time he was responsible for the line’s presence, not only in Japan, but much of Asia overall.
Of the Princess product he said, “It’s taking an international product and tailoring it for the homeport source market in Japan.”
“This is the opposite,” he added. “This is a Japanese product barely tailored for the international market.”
“This Japanese DNA cuts through everything that they do,” he continued. “We can provide a true Japanese experience that no other company can… if you don’t understand the culture, if you don’t understand the history, if you haven’t been practicing it for years and years, you can try and make sushi and you can try and do kaiseki (a tapas-style concept of small dish meals), but you’ll never get it right.”
While the difference between the two experiences might seem subtle, it is a major differentiator, Kaufman said.
“If you’re going to come to Japan, why not come to Japan and feel Japan, not only when you’re on shore but also while you’re on the ship… No disrespect to any other cruise line, but they can’t duplicate what this company can do because they’re not Japanese.”
As an example, Kaufman talked about the china that is used in the main restaurant onboard. It’s all made in Japan and different types of dinnerware (size, shape, table setting placement) are used for different types of foods, something a cruiser wouldn’t experience on another cruise line because no other cruise line would know that’s required.
Learning how to make soy sauce. Photo: Dori Saltzman
Work in Progress…
As its own entity, MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES has only been sailing since early 2025. The groundwork, policies, the fleet, and the onboard and onshore experience are still being tweaked and improved, particularly when it comes to what’s available to North American cruise passengers.
What’s for sure is this: the cruise fare on sailings promoted to the North American market includes a half-day tour in every port of call. At the moment, these half-day tours do not include meal, but the leadership team is contemplating including a meal.
Presently, no other tours are available in English, but Kaufman foresees offering a full-day tour if there are enough English-speaking passengers onboard. The full-day tour would incur some type of charge, either a fee just for the afternoon portion or an upfront fee for the entire tour with part refunded as credit to compensate for the free morning tour.
In the short term, and probably even through the next six months to a year, travel advisors putting clients on a MITSUI sailing should reach out to the U.S. team to find out if a full day tour might be available on that sailing. If not, and clients want more than a morning tour, advisors will need to make private arrangements for their clients for the afternoon.
Another piece of the puzzle still be worked out are pre- and post-cruise options. As of now, the line doesn’t offer pre- or post-cruise hotel stays (or tours), nor airport transfers. But it’s a high priority for Hartigan, Kaufman emphasized.
… But Ready for Primetime
Regardless of some of the unknowns, what Kaufman referred to as “the finer, nuanced details,” he wants travel advisors to know MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES is ready for travel advisors to put clients onboard.
In fact, most of the travel advisors on the August FAM with TMR have already had clients onboard, all of whom came back raving about their experience.
“We’ve got a beautiful luxury vessel that’s well known,” Kaufman said. “People are coming on board and having a great time.”
Fleet Changes
The original plans for MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES called for the purchase of two newbuilds, but global circumstances (including the weak buying power of the Yen) made purchasing existing ships more feasible.
“Those plans [for two new builds] are still there,” Kaufman said, though he didn’t put a timeline on when they might come to fruition.
Currently, the line operates the internationally-flagged MITSUI OCEAN FUJI (a former Seabourn ship) offering a mix of short and longer sailings, with several departures open to North American passengers.
Its second ship, the Nippon Maru, which is Japan-flagged, operates only short cruises for Japanese passengers. Nippon Maru will be retired in May 2026 and replaced later that year with MITSUI OCEAN SAKURA (another former Seabourn ship).
Like Nippon Maru, MITSUI OCEAN SAKURA will be Japan-flagged and will start out offering the short Japanese cruises, targeted primarily at the Japan market. Starting in spring 2027, both FUJI and SAKURA will offer a similar mix of short and long cruises, with select sailings on both open to international passengers.
Eventually, MITSUI will invest in the two new ships, but that’s down the road.
“It’s hard not to be in a rush, but it’s important to note that this is a long-term investment. We’re not in a rush. We have a strategy and we want to play it out.”
How Advisors Can Learn More
For the time being, MITSUI OCEAN CRUISES doesn’t have an office in the United States. Instead, the line is working through a General Sales Agent (GSA) manned by Hartigan and Joe Maloney, head of North American sales. Though their piece of the organization is technically a GSA, they work exclusively for MITSUI.
Advisors interested in learning more can sign up for email updates at mitsuioceancruises.us. Hartigan and Maloney are working on developing a one-sheeter explaining the product, the line’s Japanese ethos, the ships, onboard and shoreside experiences, and more.
Advisors can also listen in as TMR’s vice president and editor-in-chief Daniel McCarthy chats with MITSUI’s general manager of port operations and destination experiences Sae Ichikawa about what sets the cruise line apart.
Additionally, there are plans for a travel portal, but that most likely will not come until next year.
To help get the word out and drive business to advisors, MITSUI plans to run limited consumer advertising in AFAR Magazine. The line is also working with the Japanese National Tourist Organization to do co-op marketing with SEO and SEM campaigns on Google.
Travel advisors can also reach out to Maloney at joe.maloney@mitsuioceancruises.us for more info or to make a booking on behalf of their clients.
AloJapan.com