🇯🇵 SAKAIMINATO, JAPAN Cruise Port Guide: UNEXPECTED GEMS! 💮

Take the free shuttle bus from the port (lines build up fast, so be patient) for a 15-minute ride. Try to sit at the front for a cheap thrill as you cross the Eshima Ohashi Bridge. Once you arrive, you'll pass through the garden center and cross the street to the garden complex. Remember, it's cash only for tickets, so carry yen! This place is a must-visit, a stunning strolling garden famous for its harmonious design, especially the main garden with its pumped-in mist effect. The bridge is the most popular photo op spot, so bring some patience. They even opened early for cruise passengers, so you might get it to yourself before 10 AM. Don't miss the classy bathrooms, the knockout cafe and lobby (sipping coffee here should be on your bucket list!), and the small ginseng museum. Allow about an hour and a half to two hours for the total activity.

Take the paid shuttle bus to town (500 yen, cash only, exact change or small bills needed, pay on exit). It's a cramped local bus with limited seating, but the ride is only about 11 minutes. The bus stops across the street from Sakaiminato Station. From there, head to Mizuki Shigeru Road, which stretches for approximately 800 meters from the station to the Mizuki Shigeru Museum. The road is super whimsical, lined with 177 bronze yokai characters, making for great photo ops. The stores are all in a solid yokai theme, some with downright weird products, which I love! It's touristy, with store hours reflecting cruise passenger schedules (morning to mid-afternoon). The food matches the carnival atmosphere; don't miss a Wagyu rice burger or red snow crab fried fish cake. This area is also famous for crab crackers, a main souvenir. You'll find snack food, ice cream, a sake brewery, and an unusual donut and onigiri shop that Tabieats recommended. I'd say 2 hours is plenty of time here, a little more if you visit the museum.

After exploring Mizuki Shigeru Road, we took a 15-minute walk away from the main drag to Mine, a classy restaurant highly recommended by my nephew Dale for its fresh seafood. Sakaiminato is one of the few ports in Japan where some fish are brought in daily without ever being frozen. I ordered the sashimi set menu, which is always a delight in Japan for its beautiful presentation and taste. The set included fresh sashimi, tsukemono (pickles), seaweed, miso soup, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), rice, and a crab croquette. The sashimi was incredibly fresh. The root vegetables cooked with dashi were sweet and cool. The seaweed was a bit different, more fine and dark green, with a sour yuzu flavor. The crab croquette was perfectly crunchy on the outside and creamy inside.

With about three hours to spare after lunch, we walked towards the Yumeminato Tower and Minato Onsen Honokami complex, which is at the head of Yumeminato Park. It's a lovely seaside walk where local fishermen come out in force. While a bit shaggy in the landscape, it's peaceful, quiet, and serene, offering nice views of the bay and a chance to observe locals fishing. For me, that's what sells it.

After the park, we turned left and then took the next right into a section with a sterile look, where we found the star of the show: Plant 5 Superstore. This place is a cross between Daiso, Don Quijote, and Walmart in scale. They have luggage, travel accessories, and an incredible food section, including food kits (a first for me), cheap and ample sushi, and bentos. I marveled at the size and variety. My wife got hooked, especially on the cosmetics section, and we stayed a long time. They also have ATMs and a small food court. It's only a 10-minute walk back to the terminal, and you can cut through the parking lot to save time. We joked that if we came back, we might spend all our time here!