Misumi West Port

Misumi West PortWorld HeritageMeijiUkistone quay

Kumamoto · Uki

32.6199°N, 130.4625°E

Misumi West Port was one of three ports the Meiji government built to modernise Japanese shipping, designed in 1887 by the Dutch engineer Anthonie Rouwenhorst Mulder and constructed by Japanese stonemasons using their own techniques. Seven hundred and fifty metres of dressed stone quay, stone drainage channels, and a street grid behind it — and unlike the other two, it was never redeveloped.

That is why it is on the UNESCO list of Meiji Industrial Revolution Sites: it is the only Meiji-era port in Japan surviving essentially complete. Trade moved to Misumi East Port and the town simply stopped. What remains is the quay, the canals and a handful of period buildings including the Ryujokan of 1918, which is now the interpretive centre. The port area is free; the Ryujokan charges ¥200.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

Port area open at all times | Ryujokan 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Closed: Port area open year-round | Ryujokan has its own rest days

Entrance Fee

Free port area | Ryujokan ¥200 adults and ¥100 elementary and junior high school students

Best Season

Year-round

Visit Duration

90 minutes

Getting There

Access Information

Misumi-machi Misumi-ura, Uki, at the western tip of the Uto peninsula. By bus from JR Misumi Station on the Misumi Line, or by car. The port area, quay and canals are free to walk. Designed in 1887 by Anthonie Rouwenhorst Mulder and inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2015.

Insider Guide

Premium

**It survives because it failed.** Trade moved to the east port and nothing was ever rebuilt here. That commercial failure is why the Meiji port exists intact. **Look at the stonework.** A Dutch engineer's design executed by Japanese masons with Japanese methods. The joints and the drainage channels are where that hybrid is visible. **The Ryujokan is ¥200.** The port itself is free. The interpretive centre is a 1918 building and explains what you are walking on. **Five minutes from Misumi Station.** The Misumi Line runs from Kumamoto and this is one of the few World Heritage components in Kyushu reachable without a car. **750 metres of quay.** Walk the whole length rather than photographing one section. The scale is the point.

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