Mitsu Ferry

A boat crosses eighty metres of harbour between Mitsu and Minatoyama in Matsuyama, on demand, from seven in the morning to seven at night, every day of the year, for nothing. It is legally a city road — a stretch of municipal highway that happens to be water — which is why there is no fare and no timetable. You press a button on the pontoon and it comes.

It has been running since the Muromachi period, originally to supply Minatoyama castle and to bring food across from the beach each morning. The poet Issa is recorded as taking it to get to a verse gathering. About thirty-eight thousand people a year use it, mostly locals. The crossing takes about three minutes and is the shortest and cheapest boat ride in Japan, in a port district that is worth walking anyway.