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I would like to travel, alone, Kamchatka-Kurils-Hokkaido at the end of Sept-Oct. I speak Russian and have done quite some extreme travels before. Most of the sites refer to the non-Hokkaido route:

  1. Vladivostok-main land Japan;
  2. Sakhalin to Wakanai (Hokkaido).

They indicate that the ferries stop sometime late summer.

Is the route from Kamchatka to Japan via Kuril islands possible?
There should be occasional ferries/fishing boats from Kamchatka to Severo-Kurisk, other Kuril islands all the way to the Yuzhno-Kurilsk and then to Japan.
I was in Shiretoko in the winter and saw that many Russians come there somehow.
But how, is it only during the summer?

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  • possible duplicate of Are there any ferry companies operating between Russian East ports and Japan?
    – Vince
    Sep 11, 2013 at 8:35
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    No, that post does not cover Kurils, and from Vladivostok there are only ferries to the Mainland Japan, not Hokkaido.
    – tanja
    Sep 11, 2013 at 8:41
  • @tanja would you mind to detail a little bit more on what you intend with "is this route possible"? It's seems a little bit generic. Thank you an welcome!
    – Geeo
    Sep 11, 2013 at 8:46
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    @Geeo.Thanx. It seems that it is possible in the summer, but not off-season. There should be occasional ferries to Severo-kurisk,etc islands all the way to the Yuzhno-kurilsk and then to Japan. I was in Wakkanai and saw that many Russians come there somehow. But how, only during the summer?
    – tanja
    Sep 11, 2013 at 8:55
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    @tanja so you are basically interested in only using ferries while heading down to Hokkaido and visiting the Kurilis. You are not looking for small planes that may do the same route, right?
    – Geeo
    Sep 11, 2013 at 9:14

1 Answer 1

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The best I can figure there is not a route of any ferry that goes Petropavlovsk → Kurils → Hokkaido.

It is possible to hop a ferry from Petropavlovsk → Vladivostok → Korsakov (Sakhalin) → Hokkaido using Sasco and Heartland Ferry but the schedule for both stop on September 30th.

According to another article Sasco provides ferry service to Kurils which is confirmed by Sakhalin Region Transport Ministry and it runs year round from Sakhalin. The ship stops at major Kuril islands and runs weekly in the summer and every second week Oct-Feb. There is an exact timetable on the website of the Ministry, see above, but it is in Russian. The Kamchatka's corresponding ministry doesn't provide any additional information on the subject.

You also could call up Petropavlovsk's Port to find out if any of the ships actually go your route and can take you on board but I wouldn't hold my breath.

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    Thanx! I give up this idea for now. It was complicated but doable via Sakhalin > Wakkanai. But then, the whole point was to visit Kurils and not only to get from Russia to Japan. (for that I would take a flight Kamchatka > Vladivistok(s7) > Japan(aeroflot). I also red that in the Unesco directive for this region(both Russia nd Japan) is to develop the entrance point to Japan via Kurils, but it seems to take time. Finally, my conclusion today, after some dayy of research in different languages, is that the north of Hokkaido is amazing enough(similar too) and even cheaper, than visiting Kurils.
    – tanja
    Sep 12, 2013 at 11:02
  • the Unesco directive for this region and since when "superpowers" follow the UNESCO directives when it comes to contested territories?
    – Karlson
    Sep 12, 2013 at 12:02
  • Hearland ferry seems to have quit the route to Sakhalin but an alternative ferry may operate instead. I have a question about this seeking more details.
    – hippietrail
    Jul 3, 2016 at 23:21

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