In all the discussions on this forum that involve ways to get around Japan one mode that seems to escape attention is travel by ferry. I've had some great experiences travelling by boat. I live in Shikoku (Matsuyama) so obviously I have a lot of oppurtunities to do so. In December I travelled to Kansai Airport using the Orange Ferry (www.orange-ferry.co.jp sorry Japanese only). For 6000 yen I had a comfortable bed plus bus transfer to Kansai from Osaka South Port. Exceptional value considering the train for the same route is 12,500 and the plane minimum 10,000yen.There are pros and cons of course.
Pros- cheap, comfortable, relaxing, can combine accomadation with travel so excellent value
Cons- not easily accessible to people who can't speak Japanese, some ports are hard to get to, confusing if you don't know the system, slow obviously.

If you've had experience using the ferry system, perhaps you might post your thoughts here, both positive and negative. I'm sure potential travellers to Japan would be interested.

I once took the ferry from Honshu to Naoshima in Shikoku. It was pretty cool.

Only twice - ferries to Shikoku. I recall a stormy trip and....

The open tatami style areas in economy class - If you stood up at the wrong time in rough weather you could slide 20 meters with nothing to stop you until you hit the group of yakkies playing hanafuda near the starboard bulkhead....

The smell of shochu, vomit and grilled ika....

The relief when we got to the other side.

You're certainly right about the lack of English-language info on the ferries. I looked into it, and found very little.

Did it a couple times when I was an exchange student (many, many years ago): one trip from Osaka to Shodoshima, and once from Osaka to Kyushu (think we went into Fukuoka and out of Beppu, or something like that).

All I can remember is that as two white college-age females who were blond by Japanese standards, we were very popular with the oyaji crowd.... :o But hey, it was cheap, and time wasn't really an issue for us.

Made the trip from Osaka to Beppu twice as a student. Couldn't really say it was anything extraordinary. It was interesting talking to some very blue collar "truck driver" types who love to teach us Kyushuu-ben and share their shochuu with us. Outside of this little bit of local color missing on a shinkansen or bus trip, I really don't think it is that pratical from a cost-benefit analysis.

One of my best memories in Japan was the ferry from Kagoshima-shi to Yoron-tou. The ferry didn't have much on it, but it was great. I was jetlagged and so I was up at about 3:00AM, along with a surprising amount of people. The trip to Yoron was about 36 hours, and then the boat continued on to Naha, about two more hours down the line.

I have yet to meet somebody who has even hear of Yoron island, but it was fabulous. Only 5,000 people, and I didn't see another gaijin for the whole trip. The boat returning was cancelled because of a typhoon, so we flew to Naha for a night (22 minutes in the air- no miles!) and then took ANA back.

A great trip and I highly recommend the ferry. If anyone has any questions about making the trip...