Chubu · Day Tour
The port where thousands of Jewish refugees stepped ashore, and almost nobody knows it.
From
¥30,000 per person
approx. US$190
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Instant confirmation
A guided tour of Tsuruga on the Sea of Japan. Kehi Jingu and its great wooden torii, the red brick warehouses on the waterfront, the Port of Humanity museum and the fish market. Tsuruga was where refugees carrying Sugihara's transit visas landed, and the museum tells that story.
Kehi Jingu's torii is one of the three great wooden gates in Japan and has stood since the seventeenth century. It is over ten metres high and you walk under it into a quiet forested shrine complex in the middle of a working port town. The shrine itself is far older than the gate.
In 1940 a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania issued transit visas, against instructions, to thousands of Jewish refugees. Those who used them crossed Russia, sailed from Vladivostok and came ashore here at Tsuruga. The Port of Humanity museum is on the quay where they landed and tells the story through the people who were there, including the townspeople who fed them.
The red brick warehouses date from the port's years as the terminus of a rail and sea route to Europe. They have been kept and now hold cafés, shops and a model of the town as it was. The promenade outside runs along the harbour and ships still come and go past it.
Tsuruga faces the Sea of Japan and eats accordingly. Grilled mackerel is the local dish and winter brings crab. Your guide will take you to the market or to a counter, depending on the day and the season.
Meet your guide at the LAWSON in Akasaki.
The great wooden torii and the shrine.
The waterfront and the exhibits.
The refugees who landed here in 1940.
Grilled mackerel, or crab in season.
LAWSON Tsuruga Akasaki, Tsuruga, Fukui. Your guide will contact you on WhatsApp beforehand.
The price covers your English-speaking guide. Transport, entrance fees and meals are paid as you go, and by convention you also cover your guide's. Bring cash.
It is on the line between Kyoto and the Hokuriku coast, roughly an hour from Kyoto. Many guests stop here on the way to or from Kanazawa.
The exhibits carry English, and your guide will fill in the rest. It is the reason most international visitors come.
A half day covers the shrine, the waterfront and the museum. A full day lets you add the coast and a proper seafood lunch.
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start time. Bookings are confirmed instantly.
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