Japan’s first firefly boat – an hour from Fukuoka, and almost unknown to foreign visitors.
Each June, thousands of Genji fireflies rise over the Koyagawa River in Toyota-cho, a mountain valley in Shimonoseki’s rural interior. The Hotaru-bune firefly boat offers a way to experience them that exists nowhere else in Japan.
Hotaru-bune – Japan’s First Firefly Boat
For about 30 minutes, a boatman poles a boat 800 meters down the Koyagawa in near-total darkness, fireflies flickering on both banks. Toyota-cho ran Japan’s first firefly boat, and the ride has changed little since: no motor, no narration, no lights.
Passengers board at the Michi-no-Eki Hotarukaidou Nishinoichi roadside station. As its lights fall away, the banks fill with Genji fireflies – the species whose slow, loosely synchronized pulse sets it apart from the erratic flash of other varieties.
How to book: Every passenger needs a reservation, and the season often sells out immediately after it opens. Book online (hotarubune.toyotacho.com) or by phone, from 10:00 on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The site is in Japanese; your hotel can help with the booking.
Guaranteed-seat packages: Ichinomata Onsen Kanko Hotel and Ichinomata Onsen Grand Hotel sell overnight stays with secured seats from February – the most reliable route if you are booking from overseas.
Note: The details below are as of the 2026 event. Dates, fares and other details for 2027 onward are subject to change – please check the official site before you travel.
- Dates: Monday, 8 June – Wednesday, 24 June 2026 (Rain: go / Storm: cancel)
- Meeting Point: Michi-no-Eki Hotarukaidou Nishinoichi
- Fare: Adults 3,000 yen / Children 1,000 yen
- Duration: Approx. 30 min on the water (800 m route)
- Reservations: Required – opens 10:00, Thursday 7 May 2026
- Booking: hotarubune.toyotacho.com (Japanese), or via hotel package
- Enquiries: Toyota-cho Hotaru-bune Executive Committee – +81 83-766-0031 (9:00-16:00)
- Parking: Michi-no-Eki Nishinoichi: 143 standard / 5 large / 6 accessible spaces
- Access: Approx. 20 min from Ozuki IC (Chugoku Expwy) / 25 min from Mine IC
Planning Your Visit
Shimonoseki sits at the southwestern tip of Honshu, under an hour from Fukuoka (Hakata) by shinkansen and about 90 minutes from Hiroshima – an easy detour from the standard western Japan route. Toyota-cho is a 50-minute drive from the city center.
While you’re in the area: The Toyota-cho Hotaru-no-Sato Museum is one of very few museums in Japan devoted to firefly ecology. In the city, the Chofu district preserves an Edo-period castle town with a fraction of Kyoto’s crowds. Shimonoseki is also Japan’s fugu (blowfish) capital, and you can walk between Honshu and Kyushu through a pedestrian tunnel under the Kanmon Strait.
Source: Toyota-cho Tourism Association | toyotacho.com Photography by K.Seto