KOBE –
Japan’s latest luxurious cruise ship, Asuka III, gives passengers the expertise of a high-end resort at sea, combining personal balconies, fantastic eating, Japanese-style bathing and personalised service on voyages across the nation.
“Providing passengers with a comfortable voyage is our highest priority,” mentioned Toshimitsu Kamiya, the 50-year-old captain of the ship, which entered service on July 20, 2025.
In mid-June, passengers boarded Asuka III for a three-night, four-day spherical journey from Kobe to Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, receiving lavish hospitality in environment designed to make the vessel really feel like a touring resort.
The ship departed Kobe at 5 p.m., arrived in Gamagori at 10 a.m. the next morning and remained there till 10 p.m. After spending the subsequent day at sea, it returned to Kobe at 9 a.m. on the fourth day.
Published fares for the June cruise began at 360,000 yen per particular person for 2 passengers sharing a balcony cabin. Prices rose to 1.9 million yen per particular person for the Royal Penthouse, the ship’s highest lodging class. Single-occupancy fares ranged from 480,000 yen for a Solo Balcony cabin to three.8 million yen for the Royal Penthouse.
Asuka III is the primary newly constructed oceangoing passenger ship commissioned by NYK Cruises in 34 years, following the unique Asuka, which entered service in 1991. The firm launched Asuka II in 2006 and now operates each Asuka II and Asuka III.
Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, Asuka III has gross tonnage of 52,265 and measures 230 meters lengthy and 29.8 meters extensive. It is registered in Yokohama and is the biggest cruise ship registered in Japan by gross tonnage.
The vessel has 351 passenger cabins, capability for 680 passengers and a crew of about 490, offering a comparatively excessive degree of staffing for the variety of company. Its cruising pace is as much as 20 knots, or about 37 kilometers per hour.
Every cabin faces the ocean and features a personal balcony. Accommodation is split into penthouse, suite and balcony lessons, starting from rooms designed for solo vacationers to 2 Royal Penthouse cabins providing devoted butler service.
Some Midship Suites are embellished round themes representing Japan’s 47 prefectures, whereas the usual Asuka Balcony cabin obtained a world award for cruise-ship inside design in 2024.
The ship comprises six eating places serving French, Italian, Japanese, grilled and buffet meals. Passengers can choose the place and once they eat, slightly than being restricted to a single eating room and glued seating time. Some specialty eating places require reservations or further seating costs.
Japanese options embrace a big remark tub and an open-air tub on the bow, permitting passengers to look at the ocean whereas bathing. Other services embrace a three-story atrium, swimming pool, two whirlpool baths, theater, lounges, sports activities courts, golf simulator and areas geared up for distant work.
Art is displayed all through the general public areas and cabins. The most important atrium comprises an 8.8-meter-high lacquer paintings by Living National Treasure Kazumi Murose, whereas a fresco by modern artist Hiroshi Senju is displayed within the Gallery Cafe.
Asuka III can be Japan’s first cruise ship able to working on liquefied pure gasoline. Its engines can use LNG, heavy gas oil or marine diesel oil, giving the operator flexibility whereas decreasing sulfur oxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions when LNG is used.
The ship performed Japan’s first ship-to-ship LNG refueling involving a cruise vessel at Hakata Port on July 14, 2025, six days earlier than coming into service.
It can be geared up with a dynamic positioning system that may maintain the ship in place with out dropping anchor, decreasing potential harm to the seabed. Rotating pod propulsion models enhance maneuverability, whereas an onboard system permits the vessel to hook up with electrical energy equipped from land and shut down its engines at suitably geared up ports.
The ship’s building worth has not been publicly disclosed. Early trade estimates positioned the venture at as much as about 60 billion yen, however NYK Cruises has stored the ultimate price confidential.
Source: 産経ニュース