Cruising around Japan: ‘Small fishing ports on far flung islands became potential cruising destinations’

Little explored by international cruisers, Cameron Dueck experienced a warm welcome when cruising around Japan.

Photo: Cameron Dueck

Far ahead on the horizon we saw the sweep of a lighthouse and the pin pricks of street lamps along the coast. We did some quick maths – the number of miles remaining in our journey divided by the number of hours until sunrise. The answer was that we were arriving at Ishigaki, the most southerly port of clearance in Japan, earlier than planned.

“We need...