Tanabe Castle

Maizuru (舞鶴) surrounds an inlet of the Sea of Japan, along the northeastern coast of Kyoto Prefecture. Maizuru in Japanese means 'dancing crane'.

Understand

One of the main port cities in Kyoto Prefecture. Ferries to Niigata and on to Tomakomai in Hokkaido leave from here. Maizuru consists of two parts: Nishi-Maizuru (West-: old commericial port district), and Higashi-Maizuru (East-: military port district developed in the 20th century). Maizuru is a key district headquarters for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force today.

Tourist Information Site

Zuruii! Maizuru (ヅルいい！舞鶴) is the city's official Japanese-only guide site.

Get in

By train

Higashi-Maizuru Station (東舞鶴) is served by eight limited express trains daily from Kyoto Station under the name Maizuru. Fares for the 96-minute journey range from ¥3,250 for an unreserved seat to ¥3,960 for a reserved seat in peak season. It is also possible to use local trains when traveling from Kyoto station for ¥1,890. The journey takes around 2 hours and you need to change trains at Sonobe and Ayabe.

By car

A trip by car takes around 1 hour 10-20 min from Kobe-Sando. The ride from Itami airport takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. It takes 1 hour 30 minutes to get to Maizuru from Kyoto city.

By bus

The bus company Kyoto Kotsu has buses running from Kyoto Station to Higashi-Maizuru Station for ¥2,300. The journey takes around 2 hours. The same bus company has buses going to Maizuru from Kobe and Osaka.

By boat

Shin-Nihonkai Ferry (新日本海フェリー) This company has lines connecting daily to Otaru port at Hokkaido (21 h).

Get around

The city occupies a vast territory but loop buses running between Nishi-Maizuru and Higashi-Maizuru Stations provide convenient connections to the city's most popular attractions, including those in the Naka-Maizuru area that are not near any train stations. The price of the loop bus starts at ¥150 and caps off at ¥300 for the longest distances. It is also possible to arrange a taxi tour for around ¥5,000. Inquire about arranging a tour at the Maizuru Tourist Information Center at Higashi-Maizuru Station.

See

There is a nice view of the Maizuru bay from the quay which is a 10-15 minutes walk from Higashi-Maizuru train station.

Maizuru has many buildings made of red brick around town. Some of them used to be military buildings, others warehouses, tunnels and even temples. Maizuru also has a museum of red bricks.

• 1 Maizuru World Brick Museum (赤れんが博物館). Daily 09:00-17:00. The museum displays bricks from all over the world and all over Japan, as well as ancient ones from Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Greece. Part of Maizuru Brick Park which consists of many brick buildings formerly used by the Imperial Japanese Navy. ¥300. 
• 2 Tanabe Castle (田辺城) (A 5 minute walk north of the west exit of Nishi-Maizuru Station). The castle gate and a turret have been reconstructed and operate as small museums with information about the castle and a small collection of artifacts. The grounds have a few preserved stone walls and a garden that's worth a look if you're here. While the leader of the castle Tadaoki Hosokawa (formerly Nagaoka) was off preparing to fight in the Battle of Sekigahara, the castle was left to his father, the retired leader Fujitaka Nagaoka. Although Fujitaka was greatly outnumbered, he was so revered that the emperor intervened in order to ensure the battle would end with him unharmed. He possessed knowledge and a book of ancient poetry that were considered so precious that conquering the castle wasn't worth the risk of killing him. This is also why the invading army did not quickly overtake the castle in spite of having 30 times the manpower. Many of the combatants, including the leader, were former students with a high respect for Fujitaka, so their attacks were purposefully ineffectual, such as shooting guns loaded with gunpowder but not ammunition. ¥200 to enter castle buildings, park grounds are free. (updated Feb 2023)
• Admiral Togo's Official Residence (東郷邸). first Su of the month only. Heihachiro Togo was the first admiral of Maizuru Naval District. He famously commanded the Japanese Combined Fleet to victory over Russia at the Battle of Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese War. This was considered to be the first time a non-Western nation won a war against a Western nation and ended Russia's naval dominance in East Asia. He was awarded the Order of the Chrysanthemum and featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1926. When he died in 1934, naval representatives from the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, and China were sent to his funeral. His former residence is still used as a conference room by Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and open to the public only once per month. Free. (updated Oct 2022)
• Repatriation Museum (舞鶴引揚記念館). Exhibits materials about repatriation from China and Korea after the World War II. (updated Feb 2024)
• Navy Memorial Building (海軍記念館 Kaigun Kinenkan). Open Sa, Su and holidays only; 10:00-15:00. (updated Feb 2024)

Do

Visit Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force base, Navy Memorial Building including Admiral Togo museum, Repatriation Museum and Brick Museum.

Buy

The main shopping place in Maizuru is LaPort (らぽーる) shopping complex which is behind Higashi-Maizuru train station.

Drink

There is a very good yakitori close to train station Higashi-Maizuru on Sanjo-dori owned by an ex-self-defense sailor Daikichi who speaks some English.

Go next

Maizuru Port offers ferry services along the Sea of Japan up to Hokkaido.

• Amanohashidate in Miyazu
• Ine
• Kyotango
• Yosano
• Fukuchiyama
• Ayabe
• Takahama
• Oi
• Obama

Routes through Maizuru

Miyazu Amanohashidate ←	N  S	→ Kutsukake → in to
in to ← Fukuchiyama ←	W  E	→ Obama → Tsuruga → in to