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Museum Ship Mashumaru Of Hakodate

Carriers on the Tsugaru Strait

The Mashu Maru was a sea ferry between Hakodate, Hokkaido and Aomori, Honshu Island, and has been permanently docked next to the Hakodate bridge since 1991. It is open to visitors as the Seikan Renrakusen Memorial Museum. The cabins of the ship, including the pilot house and communication room, have been maintained in their original state.

Hakodate City at the southern tip of Hokkaido and Aomori City at the northern part of Honshu Island are only 100 kilometers away in a straight line, but due to the Tsugaru Strait, sea transportation was almost the only option in the days before the submarine tunnel was born. In 1908, Seikan Renrakusen (青函連絡船, the Seikan Ferry) came into being, and this channel soon became the lifeline of transportation between the two major islands of Japan, with extremely far-reaching influence and significance.

Mashu Maru

Dozens of Seikan Ferries, such as Mashu Maru 摩周丸, Hakkoda Maru 八甲田丸, Towada Maru 十和田丸, and Yotei Maru 羊蹄丸, have been active in the Tsugaru Strait throughout history, before the opening of the Seikan Tunnel linking Hokkaido and Honshu in 1988. To commemorate the 80 years of the ship’s history, the second generation Mashu Maru, which had been in service for 23 years, was permanently docked next to the Hakodate Pier in 1991 and opened to visitors as the Museum Ship Mashu Maru Of Hakodate.

Manywhere Trivia:
The Hakkoda Maru in Aomori across the strait was launched at the same time as the Mashu Maru, and served for 23 years and 7 months, the longest among all Seikan Ferries.

The second generation Mashu Maru was commissioned in 1965 and retired in 1988, when the Seikan Ferries were taken out of service. At that time, the Mashu Maru offered more luxurious Green Premium Seats than those of high-speed trains, and also had Car Decks. There is even a special train track in the cabin for parking train cars, which connects two railroads, the Hakodate Main Line in the north and the Tohoku Main Line in Japan, into one.

There are four levels of space including the deck of the Mashu Maru, and all of them are open for viewing except for the machinery room and other areas on the lower level, where The Bridge, communication room, etc. are kept in their original state. Standing on the Compass Deck at the top of the ferry, you can see Mount Hakodate, Midori no Shima and other landmarks, and this is another famous observation deck in Hakodate City besides Mount Hakodate Observatory.

Manywhere Trivia:
The Mashu Maru deck, Mount Hakodate Observatory, and Goryokaku Tower Observatory are known as the three major observation decks in Hakodate.