David Easa & Geraldine Chock
Introduction: It was in 1884 that a shipping company was founded with important roles in Japanese commerce and national security eventually spawned the Mitsui Ocean Cruise line 142 years later in 2024. Presently in 2026, this passenger cruise line is one of only two that are fully owned and operated by entities in Japan.
The Mitsui Ocean Fuji (MOF) is a renovated cruise ship purchased from the luxury cruise line – Seabourn, formally known as the Odessey. The intent was to primarily support a Japanese following while introducing funatabi – “a beautiful encounter in Japan” to an international mix of Westerners at a ratio of about 3:1 (Japanese:Westerner). For our 2026 Golden Week cruise, out of a potential occupancy of 458 patrons, 220 signed up for the cruise. One source told us 25 were Westerners, which was unofficially confirmed by our own untrained observations. We were also told that the crew numbered between 300-350, constituting an abundant mass of diligent, energetic, and enthusiastic cruise staff to serve our needs and concerns.
Opinion: While the overall goal was to inspire interaction between Japanese and Western guests and staff, this goal was not entirely successful. We were not satisfied that enough westerners participated in the MOF’s daily activities (see below in Entertainment). It was there that you were most likely to meet and interact with other guests, including the Japanese majority. It was there that you would meet new friends, learn about each other, and enjoy each other’s company.
Why Mitsui Ocean Fuji (MOF)?: Why would anyone chose to cruise on the MOF? The Mitsui Ocean Fuji is focused primarily but not exclusively on cruises in and around Japan. Included in these cruise itineraries is at least one outside country that includes Korea, Taiwan, etc. Busan is a favorite stop. In general, Japan cruising typically involves travelling along the coastline to popular, internationally renowned Japanese destinations. A few years ago, we were passengers on a Silversea cruise that circled Japan and stopped at well-known destinations such as Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Aomori, Hakodate, Yokohama, etc. It was an enjoyable cruise except that, by its very nature, the greatest proportion of time was spent on the cruise ship which was western in all aspects and respects. The Mitsui Ocean Fuji experience allowed us to be in Japan for the entire experience!
Moreover, rather than visiting large cities with an overabundance of raucous tourists crowding the streets and competing for position in queues, our ports consisted of towns and cities we had not previously heard of, small in nature, but with cultural and natural treasures that were revealed during our daily excursions (minus the 3 sea days out of 11). Clearly, this type of Japan cruise would be most attractive to visitors who have previously visited the major Japan cities and attractions, as well as any tourist seeking to experience Japan and Japanese culture in a controlled, Japanese centric environment devoid of large crowds.
Opinion: We believe this goal was unequivocally achieved!
The Cruise Port: We were excited to get to the cruise port and start our adventure. Unlike our somewhat haphazard experience during the cruise port check in and boarding procedures, we were met by agents who seated us in designated areas by arrival time, who later directed us to the available passport station, and finally personally escorted us through the terminal to the MOF. It was a far cry from the often-disorganized scene experienced with many of our past cruises and was greatly appreciated.
Opinion: We love how organized and efficient the MOF staff were. The check in and boarding process probably took half the time it would have had it been a Western organized cruise!
Initial Impressions: We were overall favorably impressed with the MOF. The upscale common areas were pleasantly decorated and comfortable including the Ocean Stage where we enjoyed most of the entertainment. The restaurants, lounges and bars were particularly cozy and appealing. In terms of the cabins, most were balcony suites that were recently renovated. They were nicely adorned, organized, and fresh feeling. Further, we loved the renovations in the bathroom that included both a bathtub and a separate shower, two sinks, and the wonderful Japanese style toilet that does all your dirty work for you as standard in every cabin. Clearly, the renovations on the MOF have transformed this aging cruise ship to appeal especially to Japanese guests.
The one complaint was that the door to the balcony was not user friendly, not easy to lock, and not easy to open. Regrettably, another guest complained about the same problem including temporarily being locked out of their cabin from the balcony.
Opinion: Despite the renovations, the MOF is still a17 year old cruise ship, compared to the average age of high-end cruise ships = 12 years. Like an aging senior citizen undergoing plastic surgery, it was only partially successful in disguising its age.
Excursions: As seasoned travelers and cruisers, it’s a dream to arrive at a cruise destination without having to worry about other cruise ship arrivals competing for space and resources. Our Golden Week cruise avoided these very popular destinations (with one exception). We were entirely unfamiliar with the small ports in Japan that we were exploring. But it was quite a delightful experience visiting Miyako, Matsumae, Akita, Nanao, Busan (South Korea), Matsuyama, and Shimizu. When we arrived at each port in Japan, we were greeted by friendly locals who waved to us, entertained us with dancing and/or music, fireworks (1 port), and with local wares, packaged food, and specialty crafts for purchase.
The excursions were balanced and enjoyable. The buses were new, clean and comfortable, the English-speaking guides and drivers were professional and friendly. Moreover, the guides were duly talented, knowledgeable, and engaging, going beyond the customary general description and guidance roles that included sharing personal stories, giving presentations using printed slides, and some sang songs. One was a rakugo artist and performed several stories using only a fan and a small cloth! Some of the notable tours included the 1st and 2nd hand history of the most recent and past Japanese tsunamis, visiting a samurai village, learning about the 20+ festivals in Nanao, touring the Matsuyama Castle, several truly magnificent views of Mt Fuji, participating in a Japanese tea ceremony, and free time spent at a variety of local shopping venues to purchase local wares, foods and imabari towels.
One cruise destination deserves noteworthy distinction as an exceptional example of the rich cultural values and heritage, and the degree of community engagement in Japan. Nanao, a town of around 50,000 people, hosts 20 festivals each year in their little town. Largely through community volunteers with very little to no outside funding, one festival is hosted about every 2 ½ weeks. Festivals are so important to this community that a museum we visited on tour was focused entirely on this town’s festivals. Moreover, the spirit and commitment to staff them, a demanding challenge at best, is rooted in immense community pride. Not only does this commitment extend to the days during the festival, but also the days during the front and back ends for the elaborate preparation activities, as well as the maintenance and storage of the festival floats (dashi). Truly, we thought the entire town had to pitch in!
Opinion: We really enjoyed the balance of activities during the half-day excursions, which surreptitiously preserved enough of our energy to participate and enjoy the nighttime activities.
Entertainment and Activities: For a small cruise ship with a capacity of 450+ guests, the entertainment was excellent. Beautiful singers (both Japanese and English) decent dancers, fabulous Taiko drum and samisen exhibitions, and other assorted musicians produced memorable performances at the Ocean Stage. Future guests will be impressed by this level of entertainment! We loved the Taiko drum events the best.
Opinion: The singers were outstanding but except for one dancer (she knows who she is), the rest were average to above average for the demand of the choreography which we believed was misdirected. It was focused too much on athletic and acrobatics movements, lifts, spins, etc., rather than dance skills. We felt this visual clutter led to sensory overload, at least it did for us. The dance group would do better if the choreography was simpler, balanced and artistic, with the focus on dancing quality and synchronization rather than jumping around introducing wow factors throughout the performance. This comment is not intended as an insult, but rather to provide constructive criticism.
Beyond formal entertainment, we ventured to explore some of the Japanese brands of activities including Japanese games that we were unfamiliar with and craft art experiences. These included playing Jenga, bean bag toss, a yes/no game, Taiko wellness, watercolor painting, pop up card making, chigirie (torn paper art), mizuhiki (working with colorful Japanese string), shogi piece toppling game, folding origami, having Japanese tea and learning about tableware, lacquerware and ceramics, Japanese folk songs, storytelling, taiko workshop taught by the professional taiko musician, and even a line dance class taught by an energetic member of the cruise staff. It is noteworthy that we were made to feel comfortable at every activity, despite the need to translate the activity rules and/or procedures in English. One very interesting aspect of these experiences was, for the most part, games were organized in teams rather than solo participation.
Opinion: This teamwork orientation permeates much of Japanese culture that extends beyond games and leisurely activities to include community behavior, helping others in need, and how communities band together to protect children, and root for each other’s success rather than seeing your neighbor as your competition for resources and status.
Another important feature of these activities is that they took little to no prior talent, experience, or knowledge of Japanese, which made them appealing to any guest at any age looking for something fun or different to do. On the MOF, the activities offered were lighthearted and enjoyable, and the guests that took part were easy to relate to and clearly enjoyed the comradery that quickly evolved throughout the planned activity. In short, we felt very welcomed and included.
Opinion: We absolutely loved the cruise staff that moderated the games, skill sessions and dance activities. They were wonderfully energetic, patient, sincere, talented, and kind! One of the true highlights of this cruise!!! Similarly, we loved participating in the team competitions during these fun events, and in meeting some truly gracious, civil, and spirited Japanese guests.
As far as formal presentations, English translation was always included, and the presenter was always considerate to ask if we had any questions in English. Moreover, some of the more informative lectures were first presented in Japanese and later repeated in English.
Restaurants and Food: There was a decent assortment and balance of Japanese and Western food choices. You never had to default to selections that were not in your culinary preferences. Moreover, while there were predictable omelet, soup, salad, fruit, and dessert stations that were available daily, the choices of main dishes and entrees alternated nightly. Venues are presented in order from casual to formal.
Bar Kohan- (8th deck – poolside fast foods) finger foods, sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, pizza accompanied by poolside music. Mostly, we bused our food to the Hachiyo restaurant or back to our cabin, because it was often too cold and windy to dine outside during our cruise.
Terrace Restaurant Hachiyo- (7th deck) buffet and omakase sushi. The atmosphere was casual; the restaurant offered a decent variety of Japanese and Western food choices. For dinner, they featured foods from other countries, such as Filipino, Italian, Indian, Mongolian BBQ, etc. We enjoyed the salad bar, fruit selection and dessert choices.
The chef was accommodating to our dietary restrictions and prepared a special “vegetarian” omakase sushi meal. This special meal included Nigri sushi with green onions, tofu, okra, eggplant, egg, takuwan with creamed cheese, cucumber, ginger, and inari sushi - all artistically arranged in small bites which were fun to eat. There was a nominal charge for the omakase meal, but well worth the cost, vegetarian or otherwise. Of note, the couple next to us had the normal seafood omakase sushi meal that looked beautiful and the subject of rave guest reviews.
The Restaurant Fujii- (4th deck) Alternating Japanese and Western food (daily menus posted on the Mitsui Ocean Cruise TV channel). It had a more formal atmosphere, with typical waiter service. The roast beef and meat selections were consistently tender and tasty. The seafood was also very good.
Hokusai – (7th deck) A formal, fine dining experience with a very cozy ambiance. Very attentive staff, beautiful dish presentation, and the staff even offered to wrap up the after dinner petit fours since we were so satiated by the end of the meal.
Other Feeding Choices:
Ocean Square and Café - (7th deck) Causal, snack foods available, coffees, teas, pastries, ice cream, rice balls. Our “go to place” and a good place to try out different types of snacks (like dango and red bean pastries), as well as addictive pastries ala almond croissant.
Room service – We requested daily room service for morning coffee because the restaurants did not open until 7am, and this was the only option for early morning coffee before 7am. Unlike the long delay times with other cruise lines, when you ordered room service, the food miraculously arrived in 7-10 minutes from call time to its arrival.
Cabins: Available in all cabins was a hot water kettle, and assorted teas. The refrigerator was stocked daily with ice, ginger ale, green tea, sparkling drinks and beer.
Semi-qualified Opinion: We rated the food B+. The omakase meal, noodle station, vegetarian, seafood selections, and some of the ethnic food selections were authentic and excellent, and the daily variation was a positive aspect of the gastronomic cruise experience. The salad, fruit and dessert stations could have had more variety and selections; the omelets, pasta dishes, and pizza were decent but not great. It is important to note, however, that the culinary expertise of the authors is questionable, particularly since most of the Japanese menu choices were not sampled. Finally, in relation to the Hokusai Restaurant, some might consider the additional charge at this restaurant excessive.
Dress on Board: Over the past three decades, a more casual dress code has emerged for many cruise lines. Nevertheless, we expected the MOF to exemplify a level of Japanese formality that bucked this trend. Truth be told, we were pleasantly surprised that the Japanese guests dressed casually during the day, and only moderately more so during casual dress nights in the evening. Most conformed to wearing collared shirts, and some wore sports coats, sans tie. The ladies were also casual in their appearance, some wore pants suites, some dresses, some very baggy, warm looking outfits that favored comfort over style. They advertised one night as formal and one as semiformal. To accommodate, there were a few Japanese guests in tuxedos, and some with suits or sports coats and ties, and still others dressing as casually as they did the night before. What is indeed interesting is that despite the published dress code, there was no policing of the guidelines. Indeed, I witnessed guests wearing jeans, a few with t-shirts and other casual uncollared or unbuttoned shirts, and ladies with very casual sportswear. Ultimately, we concluded that dress decorum was left to the discretion of the guest. If you wanted to look casual, or sloppy, or different than most of the guests, go ahead!
Opinion: Too many cruise lines in the past have demanded full compliance to their imposed, arbitrary dress codes. We appreciated the laissez-faire attitude to the dress code on the MOF.
Guest Service: We cannot rave enough about how universally exceptional the service was on this cruise. There was never a problem or question that was too trivial or trite for the staff to respond to, and the follow up was over the top in most cases. We burdened the guest services staff with so many questions, and their 24/7 availability and physical presence made is particularly tempting and easy to reach out to for the most trivial of questions and concerns.
Fact: On more than one occasion, the guest services staff ran to catch up with us to personally deliver an answer to the latest question we had posed. Alternately, they called, left messages, sent letters, and always – we mean always - followed up on every request, regardless of how trivial!
Opinion: We especially appreciated the genuine sincerity of the staff. With some cruise lines, service is acceptable and even excellent but mechanical and reactive in nature. You get the attention you seek, but you can feel the tired, vacant looks; you can sense the staff are going through the motions. Perhaps because the Mitsui Ocean Cruise Line is a new cruise line, or that the Japanese demand a certain level of professional excellence that trickles down directly to the international working staff, the sincerity that is on display is palpable. Whatever the reason, we truly enjoyed the sincerity, the willingness to aid, and the personal attention displayed by the upper, middle, and lower-level staff that we encountered on this cruise ship from the moment we embarked to the moment we disembarked the Mitsui Ocean Fuji! They seemed to enjoy these interaction; we categorically did!
Parenthetically, cabins were cleaned and tidied twice a day and every day we were surprised when a new towel animal appeared. It was fun to see our origami hat on a panda or elephant’s head, or a hanging chimpanzee holding our origami flower in its hands, or the alligator “eating” our straw hat.
Music and Dancing: While not advertised as such for this cruise, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of music and dancing that we witnessed and experienced. A violin duet, a piano player, a guitar player, and a house band and singer filled many of the venues, as impressive as other major cruise lines with much larger passenger capacity. The band and singer played disco music, music of the 70’s, country western music, music of the 50’s and 60’s, and a full complement of Latin music - quite a remarkable display of versatility. In addition, two dance lessons were led by members of the group of MOF dancers.
A most interesting aspect of the dance scene was that dancing by the Japanese guests was either solo free style dancing, i.e., line dancing (country western, music of the 60’s and 70’s), or led by the singers and dancers with made up steps that kept beat with the music. This inspired greater participation from the normally conservative and shy Japanese guests who appeared fully emboldened and engaged on the dance floor.
There was only one Japanese couple, one Japanese lady and one Japanese man, in addition to us, who showed any interest in ballroom dancing. Consequently, there was little partner dancing. On a very kind display of flexibility, when the assistant cruise director found out we were interested in ballroom dancing, he set up two nights of ballroom that were scheduled at the Ocean Stage. We had a great time on both nights and met and danced with some new guests in the process.
Opinion: Dance venues and dance parties should be marketed more fully to attract both Japanese and Western guests. We were lucky to have packed our dance shoes, because there was very little published that would have predicted the extent of the dancing, and the dance lessons. We were pleasantly surprised and grateful.
The Ocean Stage includes an elevated stage as well as a larger lower-level wooden dance floor section that is decent in size. If the first row of theatre seats located on the perimeter of this dance floor was temporarily relocated during dance party events, it would constitute a decently large sized dance floor. Of course, nothing compares to the size of the Cunard cruise ship dance floors, but they are the exception.
Laundry Services: We never send our laundry for cleaning but rely on the ship’s common launderette, if they are available. On the MOF, two separate launderettes contained a total of 8 washers and 8 dryers, both located on the 5th deck. Although they were annotated in Japanese, there were only two steps labelled 1 and 2 needed to properly operate both washer and dryer. Of note, only cold water was used for any wash cycle. We had no problems with the location, the availability, and the mechanics of using the washers and dryers, except the dryer took about two hours for a typical load to completely dry. We used this facility on four separate occasions.
Final Thoughts: For anyone interested in Japan, Japanese culture and their people, taking a cruise on the Mitsui Ocean Fuji should seriously be considered. The engagement with the Japanese guests was natural and a joy, and in the process, we made new friends! We enjoyed this cruise so much that we are already planning on another booking for next year. The cost is comparable to other upscale cruise lines of similar duration. Japan is still relatively inexpensive for most Westerners, but the Japanese economy has been recently booming from an extraordinary increase in tourism, so don’t wait too long for the yen to increase in value.
Postscript: Along with this writing, we wanted to preserve a few of the quirky and or serious memories of this cruise and the Japanese people. These snippets are not required reading, but some might find them entertaining.
• The method that the Japanese wave to you with both hands open swinging in a pendulum motion back and forth at about face to shoulder level – like a windshield wiper.
• When the Japanese audience wants an encore, they clap their hands in unison to prompt the return of the guest performer. No raucous yelling or standing ovations need.
• Probably a million “” Arigatou gozaimasu” - is uttered on a daily basis for just about anything……
• We were moved and impressed by several of the guests with significant disabilities who participated in daily activities, games, dancing, etc.
• We never realized how truly how beautiful and symmetrical and majestic Mt Fuji was until this trip when we were about 40 miles away in Shimizu. And we were lucky to have such a clear and unobstructed view!
• This comment is worthy of repeating - by far, the most impactful part of our cruise was the interaction with the Japanese guests and cruise staff.
• The Japanese guests on the MOF were uniformly civil, gracious and respectful. It was great to feel safe in Japan and in the company of the Japanese people.
• We wanted to particularly recognize two of the cruise staff for their kindness and attention: Akitaka, and Minori. We hope they will someday graduate to become cruise director and assistant cruise director respectively.
• This review will also be published on my blog. easad.blogspot.com along with a pictorial display of our recent trip to Japan.
