Aburatsu-Nichinan Japan Miyazaki
76
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Azamara Club Cruises (12 Cruises)
Azamara Pursuit
12 Cruises
Emerald Waterways (7 Cruises)
Oceania Cruises (1 Cruises)
Princess Cruises (30 Cruises)
Diamond Princess
19 Cruises
Seabourn Cruise Line (12 Cruises)
Seabourn Encore
12 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
Directly at Aburatsu port, whose facilities were upgraded to take large cruise ships. The small town centre is a few minutes away, and shuttles usually link the quay to Aburatsu and Nichinan stations.
Obi, the former castle town about twenty minutes inland, deserves top billing and a good two hours. Udo shrine, forty minutes in the other direction, needs about as much. Doing both on a short call means rushing: pick one.
For its grid of white-walled streets, samurai residences and Edo-period gardens, preserved behind the great Ote-mon gate. The Ito clan ruled here for fourteen generations. Coloured carp swim in the canals running alongside the lanes.
A Shinto shrine set inside a cave opening in a cliff face, looking out on the Pacific. You descend by steps cut into the rock, between vermilion gates and sea spray, with the waves echoing under the vault. Tradition invites you to toss small clay luck balls toward a hollow in the rock.
Not really. Access is by steps cut into the cliff, down and then back up, often damp with spray. Visitors with reduced mobility or unsure on stairs would do better to choose Obi, whose castle district is flat.
Sun Messe Nichinan park lines up seven moai replicas made with the official authorization of Easter Island, the only ones in the world to hold it. The hill they stand on overlooks the ocean and forms one of the prefecture's most photographed views. It is the easy stop of the day, on the way to Udo.
Bonito, landed here by fishing crews for generations, grilled or raw at the counters near the port. In Obi's streets, obi-ten, a fish fritter eaten warm. And Miyazaki mango ice cream, the prefecture's unapologetic specialty.
Yes, particularly Sun Messe Nichinan and the Obi castle district, both easy to walk. Children take to the carp in Obi's canals and the happiness bells at the park. Udo asks more of the legs.
The Japanese yen and Japanese. English remains rare in this part of southern Kyushu, even at tourist sites. Bring cash for Obi's family shops and the port counters, which do not all take cards.
Spring and autumn. Kyushu's summer is hot and very humid, and typhoon season runs from July to October, with a real risk of itinerary changes. The palms along the Nichinan coast give it a tropical look year-round.
