Re Mobile telephone and cruising permits

As written before...
Being an overseas visitor = Non Resident, (as in Not Having a Japanese Address) you can't  get a Mobile Voice Telephone.  Usually a friendly resident will jump-in, but listen to what sailing yacht DAGON managed! (june 2012):
As you'll need a cruising permit to cruise around in japan...YOU somehow HAVE an address!!
So with their cruising permit in the hand they were able to obtain a SoftBank Mobile phone.

Funny enough, for a Mobile DATA (only) Phone you don't need an address...and so you can get easily a SIM card.

Next, The Cruising Permit.
Sailing Yacht Anthea applied for their cruising permit, June 2012 @ Naha, Okinawa. They were told: 
"Here is your cruising permit with starting data &  place (Naha, Okinawa) and finale data & place (Nagasaki).
You can stop anywhere as long as you stay between these dates and places"
Wow,  that's Good News, but will have to see if other prefectures will do the same.

AND indeed, it doesn't work. (update June 12th)
Just  got a report from sy Anthea that the JCG in Amami Ohshima ( that is Kagoshima prefecture) gave them a hard time not having the "right" papers. So make sure you have a cruising permit with all the ports printed where you like to stop at.

Also, if you'll have to make a stop at a port that's not on the list, call 118 (so you'll need that telephone) and tell Japan Coast Guard why you like to stop.

Latest cruising updates Honshu by sy MARIDA

Sailing yacht MARIDA (see also their blog-link) stayed  for a few months in Pusan, Korea. 

Main reason to go to Korea was their visa run.

The rule: 

*the 3 months visitors visa CAN"T be extended with-in Japan,

*a tourist stay can't be more  than 6 months in a 12 month period.

Enforcing that last one depends a lot on the immigration official you deal with when re-entering Japan.

 MARIDA sailed directly  from Pusan to Sakai Minato, Japan.

Their update (here below) is to be read next to sy BANNISTER's report from 1 year ago.

Sakai Minato (also port of entry )

Marina  Sakai Minato Yachtclub

Entrance

After passing the light house on Jizo Saki steer 240 Degrees towards the Quarantine Anchorage.(35 32.5 N 133 16.9 E)

The marina entrance is at 35 30 86 N    -    133 15 .26 E

Entering the marina in the night is not recommended because it is between the beach and the breakwater. Shallow.

In the night anchor first en  contact the marina VHF 16

After rounding the marina breakwater keep close  to the concrete wall on your starboard side

and turn to port at the end

Just opposite the clubhouse building is the place for visiting yachts

Mooring position         35 30.92 N

                                133 15. 09 E              deep about 3.20 M

Protection                   Good . some times you need an extra anchor to keep the boat free from the concrete cay

Fee                             For 43 ft 2090 yen /day

extra                         Water, fuel , power on the cay  and showers in clubhouse

                                  One of our  friends / contacts arranged tax free fuel

                                  shopping in shoppingcenter "Plant 5 " 10 minutes by bicycle

                                  post office , bank etc in town.

contact                       MBYC yachtclub     Teri  Terasawa  email  tera @sanmedia.or.jp

                                                                 Hiroyuke Sawa           largo02@gmail.com

                                                                 Teru Murakami  commodore yacht club

                                                                                email 8laser216@zwb.ne.jp

Tottori                           See list

                                   The members from the Tottori Ocean Yachtclub ( few 100 meters from the mooring position )are very

                                    friendly and helpful

                                   Mooring just opposite the building from Japan Coast Guard en the Harbor Authority

                                   on a concrete wall .

                                   Protection        ;   Very good

                                   Shopping        ;   In shopping center AON ,close by (10 minutes by bicycle)

                                    Coin Laundry;   Close to AON  shopping center

                                   Fee                     Free

                                   Mooring position       35 32.081

                                                                  134 11. 738 E

                                    Contact

                                                    Mr Nagami vice commodore,  email    ngm1622@infosakyu.ne.jp

                                                    Sataru Kishida  , email                      kishidas@pref.tottori.jp

Shibayama                This is a small fishing port ,Good stop between Tottori and Ine-port

                                 Mooring position        35 39.451 N

                                                                 134 39.611 E

                                 After rounding the lighthouse ,be aware of the 6 fish caissons close on shore

                                 Locals told us that you can pass between the coast and the caissons but we went around.

                                 After passing the caissons  steer  half a mile 200 degrees ,  turn to starboard around the breakwater

                                 On your starboard side are two -not in use- oil barges. We were directed to go alongside this

                                 It is opposite the fishermen wharf

                                 Protection  :    Good

                                  Fee           :    Free

                                  We did not go onshore

                                  Good contact : mr Yoshizu mob phone     080 5707 8656

Ine -Port                    See list

                                  our mooring position                     35 40 488 N

                                                                                     135 17.265 E

                                   Fee                                             Free

                                  Protection                                   Reasonable ,behind the breakwater opposite the boathouses

                                   Extra                                         Small super market close by, the bigger one is 20 min by car

                                                                                    Water from public tap .

Echizen                     see list

                                 We entered the harbor and were directed to the basin on our starboard side ( )

                                 mooring position                  35 56.163 N

                                                                           135 59.707 E

                                                                           on a concrete cay close to building place .

                                 Protection                           Behind this big breakwaters OK

                                 Fee                                      Free

  Kanazawa                  This is a big-busy commercial harbor ,In fact not a place for yachts .

                                    JCG told us better to use Taki Saki  ,19 nm more North .We stayed in the small                 basin described below

                                    Entrance :

                                    Af ter  rounding the breakwater follow the concrete wall on your starboard side

                                    Half  a mile further the fairway turns sharp  to port ( close to the Komatsu buildings) .

                                    Just passed this point you will see a small basin on starboard side

                                   This is one of the fisherman's harbors  , including a slip rail.

                                    We were directed  by JCG to this place  because in the main harbor   is no place for small boats.

                                    On public holidays when the fleet is , in perhaps no place in here also !!

                                     Mooring position     36 37. 189  N

                                                                  136 36. 231  E

                                      Protection               Good

                                      Fee                         Free

                                     Extra                     Supermarket and Public bath are close by

                                                                  Fuel is available on the fuel barges which are half a NM in to the main Harbor on the

                                                                   starboard side.Easy access

New Blogs

There are far and few blogs out there Re Sailing to and in Japan.
But, found an other one:

sailing vessel Yohelah


and 1 more:

sailing yacht Velella

Bannister's cruising report 2011 (West Honshu~Hokkaido)

Many thanx for the info Hanny and Hendrik-Jan !!

Ports on the west coast of Honshu

This is a more rugged coast with less industry. the coast is more exposed for the weather. Japanese sailors when making a circumnavigation around Honshu prefer to sail this coast in May and June when strong westerly’s hardly appear, consequence is a lot of motoring. We sailed in April as we wanted to leave Hokkaido end of may. We thought it was not a bad period to do, You have to be aware which ports are suitable for strong westerly winds and swell and keep an eye on the weather forecast, but we also had beautiful sailing going up north. For this part we used notes from Isao Kakihari from Tannowa marina, who circumnavigated Honshu a couple of years before. Although we have not visited all the harbours we will mention them.

Odo Marina, Fukuoka

It’s not always Sushi and Shine for an overseas visiting yacht here in Japan. This following report was written by the crew of sy Safina about their stay at  ODO MARINA in Fukuoka.

Pros:

The haul-out is very secure,

The yard employees are in general skillful and meticulous,

The marina is strategically located close to supermarket, hardware store, chandlery, subway station, restaurant, coin laundry, etc

Shower and toilet.

Cons:

Communication: don’t return E-mail,

Communication in general: don’t speak comprehensive English,

Reception: No help from the marina on arrival,

Yard: they apply paint with brush and they don’t know how to brush paint,

No electricity and water on pontoon,

Pontoon charges applied even on the hard on top of hard stay charges,

Pay in advance policy,

Yard: they didn’t know how to change a cutlass bearing,

They aren’t very friendly.

Too bad sy Safina doesn't keep up a Blog, so we can’t read more about their adventures in Japan.

Rules.....

Insurance.

When entering Japan, a foreign yacht = vessel is required  to have an "insurance" .

Details Re the insurance are asked for by the Japan Coast Guard Initial Paper Work (PW).

Once in Japan...the JCG never will ask for "proof ".

So ...read between the lines.....it's up to you what to write down @ PW if you don't have insurance.

In addition, it is very easy and cheap to take out a third party insurance once in Japan...for a 40 foot boat it is about 10.000 yen for a year. A good thing to have with all the outstanding fishing nets etc.

In a way it is "funny" as Japanese yachts are NOT required by Law to have an insurance....

Boat License.

As a rule in Japan, 1 person on board a boat should have a Boat License.

This doesn't count for a foreign vessel.

As long as you travel on your foreign flagged vessel: No Need to Have.

Funny again is...if you do have an overseas Boat License...it is NOT valid to navigate on a Japanese vessel...

Hence you have to study and sit the Japan Boat License test.( email me if you like details).

A~Z about Bmobile

Jenny on board of sy Bosun Bird wrote the following report:

According to bmobile's website www.bmobile.ne.jp you can buy a U300 SIM card for 1 month (2980 yen), 6 months (14,900 yen) and 12 months (29,800 yen).  In shops (Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Fukuoka) I never saw a card for one month – however it did look as though you could buy a one month card through their website.  I bought my U300 SIM card from Odobashi Camera in Fukuoka and paid 15,900 yen for an 8 month card.

I activated my card through the Helpdesk phone