Until recently, I considered Japan's long-distance ferries to be the bargain buses of the sea and I only took them as a last resort. Memories of past journeys were marked by sleepless nights in crowded tatami-mat rooms, endless cups of instant ramen, and generally grotty conditions.
So, when my friend Jun Kitayama told me about the new Japan Ferry Pass 21 and suggested that we make a journey from Kansai to Hokkaido to test it, I was less than enthusiastic. But after some insistence on his part that Japan's new long-distance ferries are much improved over their past incarnations, I agreed to go.
Introduced last year by the Japan Long Course Ferry Service Association (JLCFSA), the Japan Ferry Pass 21 (or JFP 21) allows you to take up to six trips on the association's 14 ferry routes during a 21-day period. Given that the pass costs ¥21,000, it is a very competitive alternative to a 21-day Japan Rail Pass, which costs ¥59,350.