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The special 15-hour hell of getting to Japan’s beautiful Tokunoshima at this time of year

Casey Baseel Jan 19, 2025
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The sea voyage to this peaceful, relaxing island is anything but.

Ask most people with a knowledge of Japanese geography where Kagoshima Prefecture is, and they’ll tell you it’s the southwestern tip of Kyushu, the southernwesternmost of Japan’s four main islands.

▼ Kagoshima marked in red

But while that’s true, Kagoshima isn’t just the southwestern tip of Kyushu. The prefecture also includes the Amami Island archipelago, which is way south of Kyushu. Just how far? Well, let’s put it this way: when our Japanese-language reporter Seiji Nakazawa recently decided in late December to take a trip to Tokunoshima, one of the Amami islands, he first had to make his way to the port in Kagoshima City, where he hopped on a ferry for a 15-hour cruise.

This roughly 500-kilometer (311-mile) voyage, taken via the Marix Line ferry, departs from Kagoshima City at 6 p.m., and doesn’t arrive at Tokunoshima until 9:10 the next morning. Ticket prices depend on the type of sleeping accommodations you book, with sleeping mats being the most economical at 13,100 yen (US$83), bunk beds in shared cabins starting at 14,140 yen, and private rooms from 24,520 yen.

Being somewhat adventurous travelers here at SoraNews24, we’re no strangers to overnight transportation, frequently taking overnight buses, trains, and planes on our journeys. So Seiji was in high spirits as he hopped aboard the ferry, expecting to kick back for a while and relax before drifting off to peaceful sleep and arriving in Tokunoshima tranquilly rested and refreshed.

Things did not work out that way.

Instead, Seiji spent nearly the entire trip trying not to panic, vomit, or some combination of the two. Of the 15 hours it took for the boat to get to Tokunoshima, 14 of them were spent in fiercely stormy conditions.

The boat was being tossed about so strongly by the angry seas that Seiji found it impossible to stand, and even sitting down, he felt seasick in a matter of seconds. Everything he’d placed on the desk in his private room quickly slid off the surface, and the waves pounding the sides of the ship did so with so much force that it sounded like a steady series of explosions going off.

Eventually, though, the ferry did reach its destination, and Seiji was able to enjoy Tokunoshima’s lushly beautiful bucolic scenery.

▼ Though honestly, after the ordeal of getting here, anyplace with steady footing would have felt beautiful.

pic.twitter.com/GpdhEYg638

— 中澤星児(ロケットニュース24) (@sorekara_jona) December 23, 2024

As lovely as Tokunoshima was, though, it couldn’t erase the fact that Seiji had something terrifying waiting in his near future: the ferry ride back to Kyushu. On the morning of his arrival in Tokunoshima, Seiji had asked the boat’s crew if the storm had caught them by surprise, only for them to nonchalantly inform him “Oh, those are the winter storm conditions. It’s like that pretty much every day at this time of year.” In other words, he could expect more of the same going back.

However, Seiji had an idea. After boarding, he was going to go to sleep ASAP, so that hopefully he wouldn’t be conscious if the seas were rough again. While this seemed like a solid plan conceptually, executing it turned out to be not so easy, because almost as soon as the boat left the harbor, an announcement from the crew came over the speakers, informing passengers that “We will be sailing through a large storm with swells of 3 to 3.5 meters (9.8 to 11.5 feet), so please be cautious.” Seiji hadn’t even finished brushing his teeth when the announcement was made, and the storm was upon them soon after.

Seiji had an additional difficulty to face on the cruise back to Kyushu as well. He’d booked a shared room, with two sets of bunkbeds, and Seiji had a top bunk. To get up there, the room has a sort of hybrid set of stairsteps/ladder that you’re supposed to climb up…

…but with the ship rocking and pitching so much, Seiji couldn’t get to the top!

Thoroughly exhausted after multiple failed attempts, Seiji simply collapsed on top of the steps to rest for a moment, which is when he had a revelation.

This actually felt better to him than trying to sleep in a bed!

One of the worst things about trying to get any rest on the boat from Kyushu to Tokunoshima was that as the ship pitched up or down while Seiji was lying flat in his bed, it kept switching around the comparative heights of his head, stomach, and feet. Half propped up against the stairs/ladder, though, Seiji’s body was braced and his stomach consistently centralized. It obviously wasn’t as cozy as being tucked into a big cushy bed in a stationary space, but compared to the nearly impossible task of trying to get some storm-time shuteye in a bed, it was a step up in terms of sleep quality.

▼ We should mention that the other people in the room were traveling companions of Seiji’s, and that if you’re sharing the cabin with strangers, they might not appreciate you doing this, so he was glad to be among friends.

When morning came, Seiji wouldn’t necessarily say he’d gotten a good night’s sleep, and dozing on the steps hadn’t done his back any favors. He did manage to get more rest than on his first ferry ride, though, and the morning sunshine looked especially kind and comforting.

▼ Kagoshima’s famous Sakurajima volcano, located near Kagoshima City, comes into view.

▼ So long, ferry!

▼ And hello again, solid ground (note Seiji’s big smile)!

As for tales of Seiji’s time on Tokunoshima, those can be found here, but the abridged version is that it’s a lovely place to visit. But if Seiji ever makes a return trip, especially at this time of year, he’ll probably take a plane to get to the island, and skip the double-dose hell of the ferry.

Related: Marix Line
Top image: SoraNews24
Insert images: Wikipedia/TAKASUGI Shinji, Marix Line, SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]