Alley Karasukojima

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Alley KarasukojimasubmarinesKurenaval arsenalred brick

Photo: melvil / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Alley Karasukojima looks different depending on the season, the weather, and the time of day — none of which a single photo can tell you.

Kure was the Imperial Navy's main base and built the Yamato in a dock a short way from here. The submarine pier at Karasukojima has been turned into a public park, and the result is a place where you can stand on a footpath a few dozen metres from moored Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarines and destroyers. There is nowhere else in the world quite like it.

Behind the waterfront stand the red brick warehouses of the old naval arsenal and an original torpedo-loading crane, left in place. The name mixes the English word alley with Karasukojima, a small island of thirty or forty metres that once stood here and was filled in during the Taisho period to make a torpedo range. Parking is free, and the vessels change from week to week.

Before you go

Access hours

Open at all times | Car park 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Closed: Open year-round

Entry fee

Free | Free parking for 28 cars and 10 coaches

Best time to visit

Year-round

Time to allow

45–60 minutes

Access route

Directions

Showa-cho, Kure, on the waterfront near the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base. By car from Kure IC, or by bus from JR Kure Station. Red brick arsenal warehouses and an original torpedo-loading crane stand on the site. Vessels moored at the pier change without notice.

Beyond the guidebook

**Which vessels are in changes weekly.** Submarines, destroyers, minesweepers — it depends on operations, and there is no schedule. That unpredictability is part of why people come back. **It is a working base.** Photography from the park is fine but the fence line and signage are there for a reason. Do not attempt to enter beyond the marked area. **The brick warehouses are the arsenal.** Original naval buildings along the road behind the park, still in use. Walk the street rather than only the waterfront. **Free parking until eight in the evening.** Which makes an evening visit possible, though there is no lighting on the vessels. **Combine with the Yamato Museum.** It is about fifteen minutes away and gives the industrial history that this waterfront is the surviving edge of.

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