Ferry transport in Japan

thumb|upright=1.7|The , photographed pre-1926 by Iida Yonezō thumb|The Michinoku Maru, a modern reconstruction of a kitamaebune The was a shipping route (and also the ships involved) in Japan from the Edo period to the Meiji era. The route went from Osaka through the Seto Inland Sea and the Kanmon Straits to ports in Hokuriku on the Sea of Japan and later to Hokkaidō.