Akita, Japan Cruise Port Guide: Why Was This Port A LETDOWN?

Akita, Japan Cruise Port Guide: Why Was This Port A LETDOWN?

Akita, Japan sounded like an awesome cruise port stop with its various attractions and that famous dock. So why did this port wind up being the least favorite of our Japan cruise? We’ll share our experience, but first port basics. Akita is in northwest Japan, part of Akita Prefecture on the main island of Honu. The city has attractions such as museums, parks, and a cultural center celebrating the annual Kanto festival. It’s really cool, but it’s also a jumping off point for regional attractions. Most notably, the Kakuna Date Samurai District, often referred to as Little Kyoto, and Lake Tazawa, Japan’s deepest lake with its amazing sapphire blue waters. And Aikita’s biggest claim to fame is the dog breed, recognized as a national treasure. They’re originally bred in the region as hunting dogs and have a reputation for courage, quiet dignity, and strength. So, what about the port? Well, that’s where the problem is. Town Center is about 9 kilometers from the port. There is one interesting attraction nearby. More on that later. But if you’re like us and want to skip the ship tour and explore the town on our own, walking from the port to town center isn’t an option. It’s like almost 2 hours. The dock itself is compact and tidy. We got a lovely welcome at the dock. [Music] 3. [Music] The terminal is essentially one big lobby. As you enter, you’ll notice the money exchange machine to the left. And just beyond that, the tourist information desk in English and Japanese. Around the corner is a small waiting area with benches and free Wi-Fi and bathrooms just beyond. [Music] Typically beautiful and high-tech. The handicap stalls especially decked out. We were there early in the morning, but later in the day the whole floor space becomes a souvenir market. Our experience of Japanese port terminals so far is that the souvenir stands sell really high quality stuff. A lot of it aim for the domestic tourist market which makes it all the more fun. and the Aikita Dog merch blitz is in full effect. Resistance is futile. [Music] Getting out proved to be the difficult part. Since we didn’t have an organized tour or take a private one, and walking to town was a hard no. We were left with three choices. Limited and expensive taxis if we could even get one. Except the line is very long and they putting a sign that there’s a problem with the taxi in the city. So it might be difficult to come back. The relatively new train service to Akita station which required buying advanced tickets at the terminal. No IC cards allowed. This was certainly the cheapest option but we missed out on the first time slot. Also note the last train out of Aikita station back to the port is 3:01 and our allboard time was 5:30. With limited seating the tickets sold pretty fast. Once you got your ticket you can stand in this line for the shuttle bus to take you to the train station or you can walk it. It’s literally a 7 to 10 minute walk. [Music] But since you have prepaid tickets for that time slot anyway, you might as well just take the bus. You will need to buy your train ticket from the terminal before you leave. When I did a reconnaissance walk to the station, I didn’t notice any ticket boots or ticket machines. But there were bathrooms around the back. Low tech, but clean. The port station is called Tsuchiaki, and it takes about 8 to 11 minutes to get to Akita station. Once there, you’re pretty much in the center of town. Car rental is certainly an option here. Of course, you’ll need to account for travel time to and from the rental office and book way ahead of time online. At the train station, there are several car agencies either in the station itself or just within walking distance. I’ll leave a link with those map locations. The closest car rental agency to the port is about a 16-minute walk. Boooo Car Rental, which looks like they have a special deal for cruisers. Transportation to and from the port included. Uh-oh, we missed out on this one. Of course, I’ll leave a link in the description for their website, but if anyone’s used these guys before, please let us know. We didn’t want to wait for the next train time slot, and taxis were a no. So, we did what we usually don’t do. Pay for the cruise ship provided shuttle to town. This one is actually a round trip. So, almost the same price except it’s not point to point. So, that’s all. That’s fine. We don’t remember how much we paid for it, but it wasn’t cheap. Certainly nowhere nearly as cheap as a train. We didn’t expect it to be this I don’t know chaotic or crazy what this is like a lot of delays and plus it’s at a distance from the town. So this is the reason why you might not be able to get your taxi because that’s going to take about you know you’re looking about 20 minutes at least. Yeah. In a way the shuttle is more effective. It’s not the most cost cost effective, but it’s a fast, [Music] but it was airond conditioned and fairly comfortable. Sometimes you just have to live it. True. And when you do, you have to remember your biggest current is time. Once we got going, the ride took about 20 minutes. The buses came with these funky jumper seats in the middle, which allowed for more passengers, but made it a really tight squeeze. The drop off and pickup point was in front of the Akita Castle Hotel, pretty much in the center of town and directly across from the Aikita Museum of Art and Senshu Park. We had a general plan. Take the short 15 to 20 minute walk to the train station area and get some breakfast at their downstairs shopping mall complex. Yoshi Noya. We wondered how it compared with the stateside version. Answer: vastly superior. So, we’re going to click home. This is the morning breakfast. Mhm. Like a set. Click this your set menu. Yes. Right. So you could free refills, ham, egg and natto, grilled salmon and beef. All of them come with the breakfast. We wanted a traditional Japanese set breakfast, and this hit the spot just fine. Simple and basic, but plenty of flavor. The train station complex was on the second floor past the shopping area, and it had all the amenities you’d expect. clean bathrooms, tourist information, and a really big waiting room. And I was excited to see an ATM until I read the fine print. They’re also selling cruise shuttle train tickets back, which made me think, did they sell roundtrip tickets at the cruise terminal? While Angelia went shopping, the boys and I went exploring, focusing our attention on Senshu Park. Senshu Park is built on the grounds of Kubota Castle, residents of the powerful Satake clan who ruled the area for 250 years. What remains are mainly castle ruins and a lovely park. As you approach, you’ll find the former castle moat surrounded by lotus flowers that come into full bloom in summer. [Music] Being on the site of a former samurai clan’s castle, it’s on a hill, so expect a bit of a workout. [Music] with steps that are not always even. And the bathrooms are clean, but old school. Oh, and by the way, this is male and that’s female, but it is a lovely space to wander. [Music] The castle turret is one of the highlights, and it’s airond conditioned and comes with an elevator. So the ticket was only 150 yen and uh the guy at the front said cruise ship cruise ship. I said yay. And he gave me a discount. So there’s discounts for cruise. So it’s 150. It’s not not that much to get in, but they have an elevator goes all the way to the fourth floor. We’ll see if this is really the the keep uh observation deck. From there, it’s a fabulous vantage of the city. [Music] and a place for your crew to rest. From there, it was about a 15minute downhill walk out of the park and through neighborhood streets to the Akita City Folk Arts Center, home of all things Kanto Festival. And although it’s cheeky to say, it’s a small but tall museum. The Kanto Festival is about praying for a bountiful harvest. The big feature being the towering bamboo poles, some as tall as 12 m and weighing 50 kg. That’s 110 lbs. Hanging from each pole are 46 beautiful paper lanterns, all lit with real candles. They’re designed to look like a swaying ear of rice, which is why it’s a prayer for a good harvest. This museum explains the origins, features videos about what the festival’s like, but most importantly, you can get a taste of experiencing the festival with interactive displays. Try your hand at the challenge corner trying to pick up a lighter Kanto pole and balancing it. There are guides there to help you out. [Music] You getting us? [Music] That was fun. Also, try your hand with costumes and practice your Kanto drum skills video game style. The museum is small, good for a half hour, hour max, but it’s a lot of fun. And if you’re touring around the city, a mustsee. The admission ticket is usually a combo with the next door old KCO family house. A beautiful and preserved merchants house dating back to the mid 1800s when the Kko family ran this place as a pawn shop and secondhand clothing store. A visit here is good for about 20 minutes and a perfect compliment to the Kanto Museum. By the way, if you’re getting good value from this video so far, help us out by giving us a like and share with your shipmates and consider subscribing. That way you can easily reference back to our ever growing port reports, ship tours, and tips to help your next independent cruise adventure. Lunch was at a famous and highly recommended chicken restaurant. The chicken here is a point of national pride, the Hinai Jidori, deemed three of the most delicious chickens in Japan, and our go-to place was the Akita Hinayorya. It’s one of the most popular chicken restaurants. It’s on the third floor of the Topeka Mall, which is directly connected to the JR Aita station. And we’re here for one thing. The famous oyakuan hinagidori chicken eggs served over rice. Okay, so I added two things. One is a coal noodle, the local coal noodle. And this one is oyakodon. Oyakodon is a very simple dish, you know, something that your mom would make at home kind of thing. And it’s a mix between usually chicken, uh, egg and dashi and possible probably, you know, a little bit soy sauce and rice on the bottom. That’s it. So, let’s try. M egg is fabulous. Let’s try the chicken. M chicken is really good. There’s some sweetness, right? Mhm. It’s not dry at all. So, the chicken are usually not seasoned because the egg solution is already seasoned. Next, I’m going to try the cold noodle. It’s a little bit different than the one that I’m used to. Looks like there’s sesame. Another piece of chicken. This one is very simple. M. This one is mildly um boiled, seasoned. Noodle is very smooth, very chewy also. And the broth is surprisingly actually pretty sweet. So, this one is almost like sweet and savory. On our way back to the shuttle bus, we’re very close by to the Akita dog station. It’s a tiny exhibition space and gift shop where you can encounter Akita dogs, but at a limited schedule. They’re typically on site only on Saturdays and Sundays during specific viewing windows. You can see the Akita dogs, usually one or two on duty in their glass enclosure and take photos, but you’re not allowed to touch or pet them. It’s free to visit and comes with a pretty cool gift shop. Now, if you come on a weekday like we did and you’re super fired up about seeing Akita dogs, you’ll need to go to Odate, about an hour and a half drive north, which is the breed’s hometown and home to a really big Akita visitor center. For us, we had to make do with a train station photo op. Once back at the terminal via the shuttle bus, I decided to check out that other attraction near the port, the Akita City Port Tower Selon. It’s about a 13-minute walk south over a flat sidewalk with some grally portions. It’s also directly across from the train station stop in case you want to incorporate that after your visit to the city. At the port tower, you can have a fantastic vantage of the entire city and landscape. And best of all, it’s free to go up. Main observation deck is 100 m high and offers a 360° panorama. The only caveat is you may not want to be afraid of heights. The name Selium, by the way, is a combination of words sea and pavilion. And downstairs is the pavilion part, a firstf flooror market selling all kinds of AKA products. vending, food court, and clean bathrooms, of course. And this, a retro and beloved Udon and Soba vending machine. This is an old model from the 1970s, and it stood outside a small beloved local shop. When the shop closed, the machine was rescued and given a new home here where it’s become a local legend. There’s all manner of merch on sale for it. More than a machine, it’s a piece of Aikita living history. And I would have tried them and told you how they were. This nice lady let me shoot her bowl. But unfortunately, I ran out of my coins. I’m going back to the ship. This is why you keep ample cash. Sometimes you miss out on stuff like this. But next time I’ll have enough. So, why was this port a least favorite for us? Honestly, the whole experience of being there was a bit underwhelming. And perhaps it had to do with expectations. Maybe we expected to see Aikita dogs running around everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, Akita City is a very nice place. It’s got a beautiful park, several nice museums, and great food, but it is a quieter place, more understated. If we did this again and decided to stay in town, we would have modified it slightly. We would have gotten off the ship ASAP, got those train tickets, headed to town, and got back by 3 on the last train with enough time to see the tower. That’s a respectable day and pretty doable. Or if you wanted to see the Aikita Dogs, Samurai Street, or the lake, rent a car or try to find a reasonable local tour. Of course, all those plans fly out the window if the Kanto Festival is actually going on while you’re at port, you lucky duck. In that case, run. Don’t walk to town. Having been to Japan several times by now, I can tell you Japanese do festivals on another level. Those are memories you’ll carry with you forever. For more information on the ports we cover, be sure to check out our website, portlowdown.com. And as I often say, we love your comments and questions. Keep them coming and we’ll try to respond as soon as we can. Happy travels and see you on the next cruise.

Is the Akita, Japan cruise port a hidden gem… or a hidden disappointment? In this video, we share our 100% honest review of our port day in Akita, which ended up being our least favorite stop on our Japan cruise (so far). We’ll show you *why* we struggled, starting with the logistical challenges of the distant Akita cruise terminal and the difficulties of getting out to explore. But it wasn’t all bad! We’re also sharing the tips we learned (the hard way) so YOU can have a better day. We’ll cover all the transportation options—the local train, shuttle bus, and car rentals—and show you the highlights we *did* manage to see. We found some amazing Hinai-jidori chicken, explored Senshu Park, and learned all about the famous Kanto Festival at the Akita City Folk Arts Center. If you have Akita, Japan on your cruise itinerary (especially on a ship like the Diamond Princess), this is a must-watch guide to help you set your expectations and plan the best day possible.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:48 Port Overview and Issues
2:47 Cruise Port Train
3:45 Car Rental Options (and one BIG SURPRISE!)
4:17 Ship Shuttle to Town
5:37 Yoshinoya Breakfast
6:15 Akita Station
6:42 Senshu Park
8:18 Akita City Folk Arts Center
10:10 Chicken Restaurant
11:55 Akita Dog Station
12:35 Akita City Port Tower Selion

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HELPFUL LINKS:

Akita Station
Website: https://www.jreast.co.jp/estation/station/info.aspx?StationCd=39
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LMHumuC3bdnfAhFd6

Car Rental Locations Near Akita Station
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ve6RnadMmesDaRK66

BooBoo Car Rental
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/nxp7hR341GEiEvWk6
Website: https://www.booboo7.com/rentacar.html

Yoshinoya Near Akita Station
Website: https://www.yoshinoya.com/menu/
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DpVp68r3Rv8M4sm18

Senshu Park
Website: https://www.city.akita.lg.jp/kurashi/doro-koen/1003685/1007159/index.html
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uA3cX4JmRSD6YERg7

Akita City Folk Arts Center
Website: https://www.city.akita.lg.jp/kanko/kanrenshisetsu/1003644/index.html
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TcHDCJSrBk2Uw6vY6

Akita Hinai-jidori Restaurant
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/c7QdtF3S3xdmrsTJ7

Akita Dog Station
Website: https://www.saveakita.or.jp/ofa/station/
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/NtkSA1rP4aTKCjde8

Akita City Port Tower Selion
Map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YTR3JgAbDQbWyJ9DA
Website: https://www.selion-akita.com/

#portofcall #diyexcursion #akita #japan #theportlowdown #cruisetravel #traveljapan
#JapanCruise #CruiseVlog #AkitaPort #DiamondPrincess

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