The

Tsuruga is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Tsuruga is located in central ...

Port is one of the three main ports on the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

History

Since the early 9th century, Tsuruga port has been involved in Japan maritime trade. Tsuruga Port has been prospering as a trade gateway between Japan and mainland Asia since the

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

era, and as transit base for

Kitamaebune The was a shipping route (and also the ships involved) in Japan from the Edo period to the Meiji era. The route went from Osaka through the Seto Inland Sea and the Kanmon Straits to ports in Hokuriku region, Hokuriku on the Sea of Japan and late ...

intra-Japan ships since the middle of

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

era. In the

Meiji Meiji, the romanization of the Japanese characters 明治, may refer to: Japanese history * Emperor Meiji, Emperor of Japan between 1867 and 1912 ** Meiji era, the name given to that period in Japanese history *** Meiji Restoration, the revolution ...

era, shipping routes between Tsuruga,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, and Eastern Russia (

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

) were opened, and in 1912, a railway connecting Tokyo with the port of Tsuruga was completed. From 1940 to 1941, about 6,000

Jewish refugees This article lists expulsions, refugee crises and other forms of displacement that have affected Jews. Timeline The following is a list of Jewish expulsions and events that prompted significant streams of Jewish refugees. Assyrian captivity ...

landed in Tsuruga via Vladivostok from the

Siberian Railway Krasnoyarsk Railway () is a subsidiary of the Russian Railways headquartered in Krasnoyarsk and serving the south of Siberia. Main information Its mainline is a link in the Trans-Siberian Railway crossing the Krasnoyarsk Krai and Khakassia. It i ...

with the "Visa of Life" issued by

Chiune Sugihara was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through Japan ...

, a Japanese deputy

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Modern development

Tsuruga port serves an important role as a gateway on the Sea of Japan for the

Fukui Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Fukui Prefecture has a population of 737,229 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,190 Square kilometre, km2 (1,617 sq mi). Fukui Prefecture border ...

and the two major economic areas of

Hanshin Industrial Region The is one of the largest industrial regions in Japan. Its name comes from the ''on''-reading of the kanji used to abbreviate the names of Osaka (大阪) and Kobe (神戸), the two largest cities in the megalopolis. The GDP of this area (Osaka ...

, Kansai Region, and Chukyo, Chubu Region, as well as with other regions of Japan and with foreign countries such as Korea, China and Russia. Ships of different types, i.e. cargo and passenger ferries, container ships,

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ships and dry bulk ships call at Tsuruga port. A three-weekly

container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

service connects Tsuruga and

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, the largest South Korean port. A bi-weekly

ship service was also introduced with Busan in 2010 and has been in the meantime expanded to a five-weekly service, thereby providing vital links between these two ports. Tsuruga Port includes the original "Main Port area", which was the birthplace of the port, and a "New Port area" which was opened in 2010 in the Mariyama area to serve the expanding freight logistics activities. A coal-powered power station and cement factory are immediately north of the New Port area, served by large bulk ships.

Tourist attractions

* Port of Humanity Tsuruga Museum A museum displays the history of Tsuruga Port. * Tsuruga Red Brick Warehouse A historical monument in the area. Now used as a restaurant hall as well as diorama display of Tsuruga port during heyday of Tsuruta.

References

{{Authority control Geography of Fukui Prefecture Ports and harbors of Japan Transport buildings and structures in Fukui Prefecture