Tsuruga City

763 orphans came ashore at this port.

Tsuruga Port, Polish orphans

Photo by 運動会プロテインパワー (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01 ／ Kombu

With the blade bent by "akita,"kombu is shaved paper-thin.

Oboro kombu (おぼろ昆布) is made by softening Hokkaido ma-kombu in vinegar and shaving its surface thin with a special knife. Bending the blade's edge slightly with a metal rod is called "akita" (アキタ), a word of unknown origin. It takes 10 years to become a full craftsman. Tsuruga makes about 85% of the nation's oboro kombu, and in 2025 the technique became the prefecture's first Registered Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

About 85% of the nation's output
10 years to master
Registered Intangible Folk Cultural Property, 2025

02 ／ Railway

From the harbour station, one tickettook you all the way to Berlin.

In 1882, a brick lamp hut for storing the oil for train lamps was built at Kanegasaki (金ヶ崎) station, newly reached by the railway. From 1912, through trains ran between Shimbashi and Kanegasaki, and a single ticket took you via Vladivostok to Europe. The Kotone Tunnel (小刀根トンネル) was completed in 1881, and the D51 locomotive is said to have been built to fit its size.

Lamp hut, 1882
Europe-Asia international train, 1912
Kotone Tunnel, 1881

03 ／ Great torii

When the great torii fell,it was rebuilt with muro wood from Sado.

According to the shrine's records, the great torii of Kehi Jingu (氣比神宮), the first-ranked shrine of Echizen Province, was blown down by a storm in 1343 and rebuilt in 1645 with muro (榁) wood brought from Sado Island. It is a wooden, vermilion-lacquered ryobu-style torii, 10.93 m tall with 7.45 m between its pillars. The caps of its support posts and its foundations are Shakudani stone. It became an Important Cultural Property in 1901.

Rebuilt in 1645
10.93 m tall
Important Cultural Property, 1901

Living here

No change of trains from Tokyo or Osaka.

about 60,000 people
90 min to a city centre
Shinkansen stops here

Since 16 March 2024, Tsuruga Station has been the terminus of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, and the Thunderbird (from Osaka) and Shirasagi (from Nagoya and Maibara) limited expresses also start and end here. The JR Obama Line and the Hapi-Line Fukui call here too, and from the port Shin Nihonkai Ferry sails to Niigata, Akita and Tomakomai. With the Tsuruga Peninsula shielding the bay from the wind and waves of the Sea of Japan, it is a natural harbour.

People living here: 64,264people
Area: 251.47km²
Households: 27,849households
Rent (average for rentals): 47,471yen
Healthcare: 5 hospitals ／ 50 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —21 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Tsuruga City in Japan35.645°N 136.055°E

to TokyoHokuriku Shinkansen188min
to OsakaLtd. exp. Thunderbird80min
to KyotoLtd. exp. Thunderbird50min
to NagoyaLtd. exp. Shirasagi100min

Travel times follow 市公式「広域マップ」（交通政策課・ページID 0002770・2026-02-25 更新）の『北陸新幹線東京から3時間8分（かがやき、はくたか）』『特急名古屋から約1時間40分（特急しらさぎ）』『大阪から約1時間20分（特急サンダーバード）』『京都から約50分（特急サンダーバード）』。駅探の時刻表（2026-09-25 の運行）で乗り換えなしの直通列車があることを確かめた：東京→敦賀は北陸新幹線14本（かがやき9本・はくたか5本）で最速はかがやき503号 7:20→10:26 の3時間6分（ほかは3時間9分〜3時間54分）。大阪→敦賀はサンダーバード25本で1時間20分〜1時間27分（最速は15:40・16:40・17:40発の1時間20分）。京都→敦賀はサンダーバード25本で52〜57分。名古屋→敦賀はしらさぎ8本（7:51・8:51・9:48・11:48・13:48・15:48・17:48・19:48発）で1時間36分〜1時間39分 (checked 2026-09-25). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 4 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Tsuruga City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

26.6km

Fukui Prefecture: 美浜町, 南越前町
Shiga Prefecture: 長浜市, 高島市

Tsuruga City isthis kind of town.

01Between 1920 and 1922, 763 Polish orphans, and in 1940-41 Jewish refugees carrying "visas for life," landed at Tsuruga Port, where residents opened the public baths to them free of charge
02About 85% of the nation's oboro kombu, shaved thin by hand from vinegar-soaked kelp, comes from Tsuruga, and the technique became the prefecture's first Registered Intangible Folk Cultural Property
03Meiji-era railway remains survive in the lamp hut at Kanegasaki and in the mountain tunnels, and Kehi Jingu has a great torii rebuilt with muro wood from Sado

See the town as it is now.

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tsuruga City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗