Karatsu Japan Saga
Japan

2 Cruises availables At departure or passage at this port

Ponant (2 Cruises)


Frequently Asked Questions

At the port quays a short distance from the centre, on the northwest coast of Kyushu. Depending on the berth, a shuttle or a few minutes by taxi reaches the shopping streets. From there you get around on foot or by bicycle.
The castle, the shrine, the float exhibition hall and the potters' quarter combine easily into a half-day, all within a small radius between the river and the fortress. The pine grove needs a bicycle or taxi on top.
A fortress built in the early seventeenth century and rebuilt in the 1960s, set on a promontory where the Matsuura river meets the sea. It is called the dancing crane castle: seen from the shore, its white walls seem to spread wings above the water.
The town's autumn festival in early November, inscribed by UNESCO on the intangible cultural heritage list. Fourteen monumental floats, lacquered and finished with gold leaf, parade to flutes and drums: red lion, samurai helmet, flying dragon, golden sea bream. The oldest dates from 1819.
Yes, at the exhibition hall next to Karatsu shrine, open year-round. You can examine the lacquer craftsmen's fine work up close, which the parade crowds do not allow.
Because its kilns have produced a plain, rough-surfaced ware for more than four hundred years, prized by tea ceremony masters who rank it among Japan's noblest. The tradition owes much to Korean potters settled here at the end of the sixteenth century.
The rainbow pine grove: a million black pines planted in the seventeenth century along nearly five kilometres of coastline between the town and the sea. You cross it on foot or by bicycle, in a filtered light that smells of resin and salt.
Yes, near the station. It is the best way to reach the pine grove and Nishinohama beach, the very sand where the festival floats make their run. The terrain is flat along the whole shoreline.
Yobuko squid, served with absolute freshness in the port restaurants: it sometimes arrives at the table still translucent. It is the specialty behind the region's culinary reputation.
The yen, in cash. Cash payment remains the norm in small shops, potters' workshops and port restaurants. Withdraw money before leaving town if you are heading out along the coast.