High-Speed Tracks Don't Change Slow-Paced Town

What?
Tsuruga (敦賀) is a sleepy town that was recently more or less awaken by the arrival of the Shinkansen. As the (temporary) new terminus of the Hokuriku Shinkansen (北陸新幹線), the station area has been completely renewed with a fine looking green square, a modern yet too big looking bookstore-slash-café and a bunch of fancy shops and restaurants. Further away from the station though, Tsuruga is still quite sleepy with a few moderately interesting spots: a few museums, a few shrines, a pretty coastline stretch and some nostalgic reminders of an era where Tsuruga’s railways had a very different importance.
Where?
Tsuruga is located centrally in Fukui Prefecture (福井県) and is easily reached from whichever big city in Japan, as it is now the terminus of the Hokuriku Shinkansen. The station is a little distance away from the city’s attractions, but a convenient loop bus connects all the necessary dots. Unfortunately, the loop bus will be discontinued in March, 2026, so after that you will need to figure out which bus to take from the regular network. Difficult, but the people at the tourist center were extremely helpful so I suggest you hop in before exploring town.
URL
Tsuruga Tourism Association Japan Guide

As a resident of Osaka, I have been to Kanazawa many times. The limited express train Thunderbird went in a direct line up and down – super easy. With the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen between Kanazawa and Tsuruga though, the Thunderbird only goes as far as Tsuruga and a transfer is necessary.
So in coming back from our 3rd pretty much failed trip to Kanazawa – as we needed to get off the train anyway – we stepped out of the station to take a stroll and see what Tsuruga had to offer.

Tsuruga’s station area is modern. It has recently been completely renewed. The station has received a major facelift and must have grown three times in size to accommodate the shinkansen. Apart from the station there is a newly looking hotel and some new fancy stores and restaurants. They all seem very much modeled on success stories from metropolises like Tokyo or Osaka, with that huge difference that there aren’t near as many people strolling around and actually buying things. It makes me wonder how long this area will keep its shiny looks. One store that piqued my interest was a shop full of (new) retro stuff. They had a small decorative corner built like a kitchen of the 70’s, but the products on display were also diverse, funny and interesting.

The town has a few museums and shrines, but I cannot tell you anything about them as we skipped them in favor for stroll along Tsuruga’s coastline. We hopped on the town’s loop bus and got off at Kehi no Matsubara. It’s a stretch of beach that is buffeted between the ocean and a - for Japanese standards – large pine tree park. Walking along the trees made me immediately understand its beauty. The winds were strong and the water was wild and murky – courtesy of the big storm that had passed a day before – so we didn’t see the beautiful clear water that the brochures promised us. Yet the place was full of charm. Not in the least thanks to many locals enjoying picknicks (while their cutlery was blown away) and fishing.

From there we continued walking along the coast. We wanted to see the local fish market, but like many things in this sleepy place it was closed. We instead decided to hop into a restaurant which had some delicious rice bowls topped with fresh raw fish.
Continuing our stroll we arrived at the harbor. For the biggest part this port is industrialized and plagued by rust, but a small part is touristy and a reminder of a more glorious past.
It starts with the very small but free railway museum. There is a bunch of stuff for train aficionados, but I was more interested in why this museum was located so far away from the current station. Apparently, before flying became the preferred long-distance way of traveling, Tsuruga was the port of connection between Europe and Japan. In peacetime, the Trans-Siberian express would still connect Europe with the far eastern city of Vladivostok, which in its turn was connected by ferry with Tsuruga. So this today pretty unknown port was connected by train with the big Japanese cities. You wouldn’t notice it in the present day, but it’s an interesting piece of past nonetheless.

Retro stuff on sale near the station.

One of the many paths in the pine tree grove.

The brochures showed calmer water.

The seafood was great though!

Next to railway museum you can enjoy some views over the bay, and if you walk just a few hundred meters further there are the red brick warehouses, equally a reminder of a busier past.
Like many red brick warehouses in Japan it has been renovated and now houses a diorama show, a craft beer brewery and a few other shops, mainly handling in things that only became popular once you could add the word “craft” to it. Certainly nothing to dislike, but a little bit generic.

We did enjoy our stroll through town, but the question is whether it is because of the sights or because of each other’s company. My conclusion though, is that Tsuruga is sleepy for a reason. No amount of passing shinkansen tracks or artificially funded renovations can change that.
Kehi no Matsubara however might be worth getting off if you yearn for some quiet afternoon in a natural setting.