By
Laura Hyde |
Hankyu Travel International will charter Ponant’s Le Jacques-Cartier for three cruises around Japan from March to April 2027. This marks the first time a Japanese travel agency has chartered a Ponant ship specifically for international tourists.
The 12-night cruises on Ponant’s 184-guest vessel will depart from Kobe and Yokohama and will sail to destinations in western Japan and the Seto Inland Sea, which includes over 700 islands. Hankyu says the itineraries will allow guests to explore natural landscapes, local cuisine, historical sites, traditional culture and contemporary art.
The ‘Timeless Voyage of Refinement’ cruise will begin in Kobe and call at the islands of Inujima and Miyajima, as well as Mitarai, Hagi, Shimonoseki, Katsuura, Toba, Yaizu, Tagonoura and Yokohama in Japan and Busan in South Korea. Also departing from Kobe, the ‘Journey to Hidden Gems in Japan’ cruise will call at Inujima, Miyajima, Tsushima, Yakushima and the Koshikijima islands, as well as Mitarai, Hagi, Nagasaki, Iki, Amakusa, Kumamoto, and Busan.
Departing on 13 March from Yokohama, the ‘Essence of Japan: Modernity and Tradition’ itinerary will offer guests the chance to discover Japan in full bloom for the cherry blossom season. It will call at Tagonoura, Yaizu, Toba, Katsuura, Hagi, Busan, Shimonoseki, Miyajima, Mitarai, Inujima and will end in Kobe.
Hankyu has launched a new website at https://luxury-hankyu.com to promote the cruises.