Asia from Tokyo

Your MSC cruise will take you to Tokyo, symbol of Japanese modernity and traditions. Located on the island of Honshū, this metropolis has almost 14 million inhabitants and is the capital of Japan.
It is a multifaceted city, with futuristic buildings and skyscrapers, historical and religious monuments, ancient districts and lush parks. Not to mention art, music, design, shopping and theatre. This city has everything, so much so, that it is impossible to see it all. MSC offers a few excursions to give you the possibility to focus your visit on the places that you should really see. Like the historic district of Asakusa, named after a guard of the city of Tokyo, famous for the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon.

You can also take an excursion to marvel at modern Tokyo, starting from the famous district of Shibuya and the Shibuya crossing, the busiest intersection in the world, where six major roads converge. Moving on, you can lose yourself in the city’s many state-of-the-art buildings, like the Sumida Hokusai Museum, the experimental architecture in Ginza or the almost 300-feet high Ao Building. Strolling along the Sumida River, which flows through the city, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the wonders of Tokyo.

There is an excursion that will take you to the most important of the many museums in this metropolis, like the Tokyo National Museum, which houses artistic and archaeological finds, the MairaKan, a permanent exhibition of emerging science and innovation, or the Edo Tokyo Open Air Museum, which preserves the city’s architectural heritage. The National Art Center in Roppongi ‒ part of the Roppongi Art Triangle together with the Mori Art Museum and the Suntory Museum of Art ‒ is an absolute must. The district of Roppongi itself is also well worth a visit: with its Tokyo Tower, it is a city within a city, full of restaurants, clubs, bars and shops for a shopping spree.

Kobe is a city on Osaka Bay in central Japan. It is known for its signature marbled beef and scenic setting of mountains framing the harbor. The Ikuta Shrine, dating to the 3rd century, is among Japan’s oldest Shinto shrines. Antique cable cars connect Kobe to Mt. Rokko, which offers panoramic views over the port. Beyond the Mount Rokko hills are the outdoor hot springs of Arima Onsen.

Kobe is a city on Osaka Bay in central Japan. It is known for its signature marbled beef and scenic setting of mountains framing the harbor. The Ikuta Shrine, dating to the 3rd century, is among Japan’s oldest Shinto shrines. Antique cable cars connect Kobe to Mt. Rokko, which offers panoramic views over the port. Beyond the Mount Rokko hills are the outdoor hot springs of Arima Onsen.

An MSC cruise will take you to Kochi, situated in the prefecture of the same name, on the island of Shikoku. You can visit Kochi castle on an excursion; it is one of the twelve Japanese castles to have survived fires, wars and other catastrophes of the post-feudal age.

It was built between 1601 and 1611. What you can see of the building today however, dates back to 1748, the year in which the castle was rebuilt after a fire. Curiosity: its main tower was not used only for military purposes, but it was also the residence of noble families. Quite unusual, since the nobility would usually reside in other parts of the castle. The wooden interior is typical of the traditional style of the Edo period.

Near Kochi harbour is the picturesque beach of Katsurahama. In the local restaurants you can eat Katsuo, a type of tuna which is typical to Japanese waters, cut into slices and lightly grilled on straw fuelled fire which gives it a slightly smoky flavour.

Seventy kilometres from Kochi there is an unusual tourist attraction, the ancient Kazurabashi Bridge, 45 meters wide and 2 metres
wide, it stretches 14 metres above the waters of the river Iya. Today, the bridge – which is made from Actinidia arguta wood, a kind of vine similar to a kiwi plant – is reinforced with steel wires. It should not be missed for the surrounding landscape and the brief but thrilling walk it offers.

Closer to Kochi is the wonderful Oboke gorge: we cross the river Yoshino on a boat and marvel at how over hundreds of millions of years the river has eroded the rocks of the Shikoku mountains shaping the stone into bizarre shapes.

Hiroshima, a modern city on Japan’s Honshu Island, was largely destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II. Today, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park commemorates the 1945 event. In the park are the ruins of Genbaku Dome, one of the few buildings that was left standing near ground zero. Other prominent sites include Shukkei-en, a formal Japanese garden, and Hiroshima Castle, a fortress surrounded by a moat and a park.

The sophistication, elegance and ages-old culture of Japan. On an MSC Grand Voyages Cruise, you can discover the ancient beauty of the Okinawa islands. Belonging to the archipelago of Ryūkyū, their capital is Naha.

There are many attractions and monuments that can be visited. These include the Ryukyumura village and the UNESCO World Heritage site: Shikinaen Garden, where you can admire the characteristic wooden buildings with red tile roofs that overlook an artificial lake and vegetation that inspire meditation and peace.
Peace Memorial Park has a great emotional impact: near the end of World War II, Okinawa was the scene of a bloody battle between Japan and the US, which killed about 200,000 people, more than half of which were civilians.
The shopping and restaurant street in Naha isKokusai : two kilometers of bars, cafes, hotels and boutiques where you can linger and enjoy yourself sipping awamori , a typical liqueur from the island served with ice. The capital is also home to the museum of the former underground headquarters of the Japanese Navy and the Okinawa Prefectural Museum , where you can discover the history and culture of Okinawa. To understand how the inhabitants lived, you can also visit Ryukyumura Village , a small theme park that recreates a village where craftsmen shape pottery, weave clothing and blankets and where musicians play the sanshin guitar.
Located in front of the East China Sea, the cliff of Cape Manzamou is a true natural sculpture shaped by the ocean: a part of it looks like the trunk of an elephant. It is impossible to leave without taking a photograph.

With over 2,600,000 inhabitants, Taipei is the largest city on the island of Taiwan and its capital. It represents the fulcrum of the country: the headquarters of the government is located here and it is the cultural and commercial center of Taiwan. An MSC Cruise will take you inside this crossroads of Japanese and Chinese cultures, where the ancient and modern coexist with no distinction. One of the symbols of the city is the Taipei 101 Tower, named for the fact that there are 101 floors. First known as the Taipei World Financial Center, it is located in the Xinyi district. Reachable on an MSC excursion, this singular construction, built in 2004, is bamboo-shaped and its 509 meters in height made it the the tallest building in the world in 2004: today, it is in fifth place; first place is held by Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is also one of the destinations that can be reached with an excursion: a white building with a blue octagonal roof, whose colors also reflect the national flag, it is a symbol of freedom, equality and brotherhood. Consisting of 89 steps, one for each year of the leader’s life, it is surrounded by Chinese-style gardens and buildings housing examples of Taiwanese culture.
Considered one of the most important monuments of the 20th century, the Memorial Hall tells the story of the head of the Chinese nationalist government which was in charge from 1950 to 1975; the hall opened in 1980. More than 700 thousand pieces representing 8,000 years of Chinese history and art from the Neolithic to the present day are exhibited in the National Palace Museum which can be visited on an MSC excursion. The museum was once located inside the walls of the Forbidden City of Beijing. In 1949, it was moved to the Shilin district in Taipei, into the current building, after the government of the Republic of China was also transferred.

In the far south of Japan an MSC cruise will help you discover the city of Kagoshima. It is populated by little more than half a million people and enjoys a mild climate for most of the year.

The town is dominated by the active volcano Sakurajima and is called the “Naples of Japan” for its similarity to the landscape of the city of Naples. It is not uncommon for the volcano to perform with spectacular eruptions.

On an excursion you can visit Shiroyama Park, located in the city centre but stretching all the way to mount Shiroyama. Just over a hundred metres high, it was the backdrop of a battle between the Imperial Army and a group of samurai rebels in the late 19th century. The park leads to the Observatory from where you can admire the spectacular scenery of the town and the bay of Kagoshima as well as the volcano.

Along the northern coast of the centre are the Senganen gardens, also known as Isoteien, a lovely example of a Japanese garden with ponds, streams, shrines and a bamboo grove. They date back three hundred years and were constructed by the Shimazu family. There
is a fine restaurant inside the garden where you can dine and enjoy the meat and fish specialities that this country offers and for which it is famous all over the world. Next to Senganen is a building which dates back to the mid-19th century which originally housed a machinery factory and is now the “Shoko-Shuseikan” museum. It houses objects from the Shimazu family 700 year history.

Your MSC cruise will take you to Tokyo, symbol of Japanese modernity and traditions. Located on the island of Honshū, this metropolis has almost 14 million inhabitants and is the capital of Japan.
It is a multifaceted city, with futuristic buildings and skyscrapers, historical and religious monuments, ancient districts and lush parks. Not to mention art, music, design, shopping and theatre. This city has everything, so much so, that it is impossible to see it all. MSC offers a few excursions to give you the possibility to focus your visit on the places that you should really see. Like the historic district of Asakusa, named after a guard of the city of Tokyo, famous for the Sensō-ji Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon.

You can also take an excursion to marvel at modern Tokyo, starting from the famous district of Shibuya and the Shibuya crossing, the busiest intersection in the world, where six major roads converge. Moving on, you can lose yourself in the city’s many state-of-the-art buildings, like the Sumida Hokusai Museum, the experimental architecture in Ginza or the almost 300-feet high Ao Building. Strolling along the Sumida River, which flows through the city, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the wonders of Tokyo.

There is an excursion that will take you to the most important of the many museums in this metropolis, like the Tokyo National Museum, which houses artistic and archaeological finds, the MairaKan, a permanent exhibition of emerging science and innovation, or the Edo Tokyo Open Air Museum, which preserves the city’s architectural heritage. The National Art Center in Roppongi ‒ part of the Roppongi Art Triangle together with the Mori Art Museum and the Suntory Museum of Art ‒ is an absolute must. The district of Roppongi itself is also well worth a visit: with its Tokyo Tower, it is a city within a city, full of restaurants, clubs, bars and shops for a shopping spree.