Trade is thriving and Japan relies on many foreign countries, especially when it comes to the mining industry and groceries. The need of trade explains the amount of ports in Japan. We mentioned in other sections that the transportation network of roads, railways, land route and extremely developed but we should add that they a lot of these are connected to a port.

Compared to other means of transportation, getting the boat is a very slow way of moving around. If you don’t mind about the transportation time, you might be happy to be able to find cheap fares for the boat. You might also have the advantage that no such things as a rush hour of trains etc. can be experienced whilst on a boat. It is a good option for the ones who hate crowds. Definitely consider this option if you are thinking of travelling from the main islands to some separate islands. There are also boats that travel overnight so you can just fall asleep and wake up when you are there! The time spent on the boat will fly!

Let me add something… In Japan is home to about 6,800 islands (5 big islands and 6,847 separate islands). Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu are connected via tunnels and bridges but the smaller islands are only reachable via air or via sea. There are small islands provided with an airport but most of them are just facilitated with a ferryboat. Ferries usually have a nice spirit, so we advise taking one. In the past, ferries were used as setting of films, songs, literary works and theatre. It must be because of that magical atmosphere… It is a mysterious feeling, but some Japanese people feel a sense of appurtenance to a different world when they are on ferries.