It seems that the regular ferry service between Vladivostok and Fushiki (Toyama) Japan will not be running this year. BUSINESSINTOURSERVICE // Tourist Company
There are two other options available.
DBS Cruise Ferry (Vlad to Sakaiminato (Tottori Prefecture) via Korea. The ferry company only has a website in Korean http://www.dbsferry.com. But I found a page with english for the office address in Vlad and Sakaiminato.
http://www.dbsferry.com/img/06_company/tt01.gif
There is also
Heartland Ferry (Sakhalin to Wakkanai, Hokkaido Prefecture). WAKKANAI - SAKHALIN TIMETABLE -

I'll post more info as I get it.

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Japan touring information

Thanks for the info. Chris. We are hoping to use this ferry sometime in June/July next year (2011) on our RTW - so if you can find out if the cessation of service is temporary or permanent that info would be welcome.

Thanks

Martin

I'll be attempting the DBS option in about a month, I'll let you know how it goes

Once again Silky, any info welcome.

Martin

It seems that the New Dong Chun Ferry is running the Vlad - Fushiki/Toyama route as of late August 2010. I'll update here and on my website as info becomes available. Anyone 'on the ground' in Vlad who has any updates, please let us know.
Personally, I think Toyama is more convenient that Tottori, where DBS Cruise Ferry runs from unless you are already in southern Japan (if only because it is within a day's ride from my house and I can go check on the situation from time to time).

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Japan touring information

Hello
Just to update things we recently travelled from Vladivostok to Fushiki with the Dong Chun ferry company so this route is now running again.
The Russian company that ran the route before has definitely stopped but the Dong Chun office is only a couple of doors down in the ferry terminal building unit 241. This is the building behind Vladivostok railway station with the red letters on the roof. The office is located on the first floor the entry level being the ground floor.
Dong Chuns website is in Korean only I believe but the tel no. of the Vlad office is 7-4232-30-2660 there are a couple of people there who speak a little English.
We paid 270 us dollars each for the crossing this was the second cheapest option -economy B which was a bunk in a communal area.
Economy A was 250 us dollars which is a mat and a duvet on the floor. With hindsight we would have done this as a fellow traveller paid for economy A and slept in a bunk anyway as the boat out was so empty but be warned if it was full this would not be very comfortable.
The bike shipping cost 250 us dollars which seemed to be a flat fee and customs and document fees were 112 us dollars this included help with customs in Vlad.
The ship and crew are Korean and all the vending machines take Korean money but the shop took Rubles and Dollars. The info desk will also change dollars into Korean money and there is a basic restaurant on board. All change will be given in Korean money.
You might want to bring a sleeping bag liner as the bedding wasn`t the cleanest I ever slept in. The ship isn`t the nicest I ever sailed in either but its ok. The crossing took 16 hours but when we got there customs was closed so they let us stay on board another night for free.
There is a water cooler on board which also dispenses hot water so take some packets of noodles etc if you are on a budget. We were allowed access to the car deck to get stuff from the bike but only once we were sailing.
At Fushiki you can go to the JAF office in Toyama city yourself to authenticate your carnet but be aware it will take all day to get there and back, there is a helpful guide on Chris Lockwood`s website Information for overlanders | Japan on two wheels

NB you need to fax a copy of the front and inside page of your carnet to the international relations office of JAF before you leave Russia.

There is also a company opposite the ferry port at Fushiki which will assist with all formalities including driving you to the JAF office in Toyama for 5000yen about 45 uk pounds. We used them and they were extremely helpful, note nobody in the JAF office or customs speaks any English whatsoever. You will need to purchase at least third party insurance and this party can arrange that also but they cannot offer any higher cover than this.
We hope this helps those who follow behind us, we absolutely love Japan and would recomend it to anyone but be warned it is expensive at the moment due to the strong Yen. If you are on a budget we would recomend that you bulk buy some foodstuffs in Russia as customs didnt seem bothered by this so long as its sealed. Food is expensive in Japan even rice so whatever you have space for will help if money is tight. We wish someone had tolｄ us this as we ran all our food stocks right down before we sailed thinking that customs would be touchy about food which they were not.
There is a free campsite on the beach near fushiki the gps co ordinates are 36.822478,137.026441 It is a beach area but no one seems to mind if you camp there and there is a toilet block open 24hours.

We have tried to update this info in the shipping section but it does not seem to load at the moment, I am told there is a problem with it, if any mods would care to load it into the shipping section when it is fixed hopefully it might help someone. It is hard to get internet access in Japan as foreigners cannot get a sim card.

Guzzi

Thanks for the update, this is good news for us as we were planning on using this route from Japan to Vladivostok. Even more thanks for the detail about where to get your carnet stamped and some extra thanks for the co-ordinates of the camp area

Martin

The ferry? Totally never thought of that. I've been twice now to Japan and your idea sounds like an amazing next-time-I'm-in-Japan experience. I was thinking of doing Russia first, so that's a cool way to incorporate them.

I found Chris Lockwood's website helpful too, it's worth a look. Cheers.