Mitsui Ocean Cruises

Mitsui Ocean Cruises is the cruise brand of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, one of Japan's great shipping houses, which has carried passengers under one name or another for well over a century. The brand itself is recent, created to bring a more international style of luxury ship to a line long known within Japan.

The character on board is distinctly Japanese. Service follows the principles of omotenashi, an attentive hospitality that anticipates rather than waits to be asked, and the kitchens give equal care to Japanese cuisine and to Western menus. Itineraries concentrate on Japan itself, calling at regional ports and timing sailings to seasonal festivals, cherry blossom and autumn colour, with further voyages to neighbouring parts of Asia. For visitors, it is a way to see the country's coasts as Japanese travellers do.