Fukui Prefecture has become considerably easier to reach in recent years, thanks to the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen. Now, getting around the region is getting a little easier too, with a new direct bus connecting one of Fukui’s best-known sights with a nearby international airport.
Sakai City began operating a demonstration bus service between Komatsu Airport in Ishikawa Prefecture, Tojinbo, and Mikuni Station on October 3, 2026. Importantly for travelers, the trial is specifically intended to gauge demand from tourists, including foreign visitors to Japan.
Tojinbo is one of Fukui’s most dramatic coastal sights. The cliffs rise above the Sea of Japan, with distinctive columnar rock formations created by volcanic activity and shaped by erosion. The scenery has also become familiar to Japanese television audiences, particularly through crime and suspense dramas that have used the dramatic cliffs as a setting.
For visitors arriving at Komatsu Airport, the new bus provides a direct option for reaching Tojinbo without piecing together several local train and bus connections. The journey takes around an hour, while Tojinbo is only about 10 minutes from Mikuni Station on the Echizen Railway.
The service operates two round trips on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, and during the year-end and New Year period, for a total of 54 days through February 28, 2027. Some services are timed to connect with flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and Taipei, potentially making the bus useful both at the beginning and end of a wider Japan trip.
An adult one-way fare is 1,000 JPY, with children paying 500 JPY. The bus carries up to 33 passengers per service and does not accept reservations, with seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. Payment is cash only.
As this is a trial service, its future will depend partly on how many travelers use it. For visitors looking beyond Japan’s major cities, it offers a convenient new way to add one of Fukui’s most distinctive coastal landscapes to a Hokuriku itinerary.
