Editing Transport in Japan (section)

==Maritime==
{{See also|List of ferry operators in Japan}}
[[File:FerryMiyajima7511.jpg|thumb|[[Miyajima Matsudai Kisen|Ferry Miyajima]] on the [[Seto Inland Sea|Inland Sea]] near [[Miyajima, Hiroshima]]]]
There are 1770&nbsp;km of [[waterway]]s in Japan; seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/pro-transportation.htm|title=Transportation in Japan|website=asianinfo.org|access-date=2019-02-01|archive-date=26 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126014038/http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/pro-transportation.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are some 994 ports in Japan as of April 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000211526.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=23 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110103005/http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000211526.pdf |archive-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> There are overlapping classifications of these ports, some of which are multi-purpose, e.g. cargo, passenger, naval, and fishery. The five designated "super" container ports are Yokkaichi, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kobe, and Osaka. 23 are designated major/international, 125 designated as important, while there are also purely fisherman ports.

The twenty-three major [[seaport]]s designated as special, important ports by the [[Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism]]: [[Chiba (city)|Chiba]], Fushiki/[[Toyama (city)|Toyama]], [[Himeji]], [[Hiroshima]], [[Kawasaki, Kanagawa|Kawasaki]], [[Kitakyushu]], [[Kobe]], [[Kudamatsu]], [[Muroran]], [[Nagoya]], [[Niigata (city)|Niigata]], [[Osaka]], [[Sakai]]/Senpoku, [[Sendai]]/[[Shiogama]], [[Shizuoka (city)|Shimizu]], [[Shimonoseki]], [[Tokyo]], [[Tomakomai]], [[Wakayama (city)|Wakayama]], [[Yokkaichi]], and [[Yokohama]].

Japan has 988 ships of {{GT|1,000|disp=long}} or over on its national ship register, totaling {{DWT|38,053,000|metric|disp=long}}. However, only 17% of Japanese-owned capacity is registered in Japan. UNCTAD estimates that 224 million dwt of tonnage is controlled by Japanese owners, making Japan the second largest beneficial owner of tonnage after Greece.<ref>{{cite journal |title=UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport |date=2018 |page=30 }}</ref>

[[Ferry|Ferries]] connect Hokkaido to Honshu, and [[Okinawa Island]] to Kyushu and Honshu. They also connect other smaller islands and the main islands. The scheduled international passenger routes are to China, Russia, South Korea, and Taiwan. Coastal and cross-channel ferries on the main islands decreased in routes and frequencies following the development of bridges and expressways but some are still operating (as of 2007).