Ferries¶
Ferries are a convenient and cheap (although sometimes not the quickest way of getting places) in Japan. For the Nara JET, the most important ports will be Kobe, Osaka, Wakayama, and possibly Shingu in southern Wakayama Prefecture and Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Ferries can be taken to other areas of Japan (especially Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa, and Tokyo.) Ferries can also be taken to China (Shanghai and Tianjin), Taiwan, and South Korea (Pusan).
Ferries can be quite an experience! They are cheap, if you go in the choose-your-little-bit-of-space-on-the-floor class (AKA “tatami rugburn class”), which isn’t quite as bad as it sounds. There will be guys partying and maybe groups of school kids on trips, but join in the fun and make your contribution to internationalization. We’ve included a couple pages of ferry schedules for you at the end of the chapter.
Here’s a wacky idea–go to northern Honshu and offer to work aboard a Russian fishing boat if the ship will take you to Sakhalin Island and back. It’s extremely dangerous, you’re visas and passports will be useless, and if you get caught you’re in deeper words can say. But if you make it back, you’ll be an adventurous hero to us all. Are you crazy enough to do it?
