Yakushima itinerary: 4 days highway journey to see historic cedars and luxurious nature

It’s at all times fascinating to see how locations that you simply’ve solely ever seen in pixels truly look in actual life. A while again I watched the Studio Ghibli animated traditional movie Princess Mononoke and realized that these lush inexperienced forests featured within the movie had been impressed by an precise island in Japan.

I lastly acquired to see this place for myself and spent 4 days on Yakushima 屋久島, a tiny island off the southern finish of Kyushu, Japan’s southernmost landmass. One of many greenest and wettest spots in all of Japan, this island’s terrain is the exact opposite of Singapore the place 90% of the land is roofed with timber as an alternative of urbanisation. Right here’s my Yakushima Itinerary, a information to Yakushima together with a few of the cool issues I noticed and suggestions for navigating this island by automotive.

Attending to Yakushima

Yakushima was one in every of my stops in an extended journey round Kyushu protecting Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Kagoshima. From Singapore the, closest direct flight choice is a 6-hour pink eye continuous flight from Changi Airport (SIN) to Fukuoka Airport (FUK) that leaves 120am and arrives at 820am.

We retrieved our baggage on the Worldwide aspect and took the airport bus about 10-Quarter-hour to the home terminal the place we had a leisurely sit down meal and chill at a restaurant earlier than catching our aircraft at 1255pm, scheduled to land in Yakushima at 2.05pm.

I flew in to Yakushima by way of Japan Air Commuter (JAC), a subsidiary of Japan Airways from Fukuoka Airport (FUK) in a propeller aircraft that took about an hour. The flight attendants gave us a little bit paper map that confirmed the flight routes and highlighted a few of the main landmarks we flew over like Kagoshima’s well-known Sakurajima volcano.

Yakushima Airport (KUM) is a tiny little airport situated on the island’s east coast. This single storey constructing has no aerobridge and also you stroll a really quick distance from the aircraft to the constructing, and wait on your baggage to be hauled onto the small counter.

On the best way out from Yakushima, I took one other JAC flight to Kagoshima Airport (KOJ) which took about 35 minutes, leaving at 10.05am and reaching Kagoshima at 1040am.

Driving in Yakushima

Yakushima is just not a really large island – to check to Singapore, it’s a little bit beneath 3/4 the dimensions of Singapore in case you examine land space at about 500+ sq km.

It takes round 3 hours in whole to encircle all the island of Yakushima by automotive. Many of the island’s centre is roofed by mountains and forests, with small cities discovered alongside the coast alongside the north, east and southern areas. The West may be very wild and there aren’t any cities situated there.

Driving is by far one of the best ways to navigate Yakushima as it is vitally mountainous and never that small. Each my travelling companion and I had our worldwide licenses, so we took turns to drive. There are many automotive rental choices from the most important corporations like Toyota Hire a Automotive and Nissan Hire a Automotive alongside the highway proper exterior Yakushima Airport.

My automotive rental was made by my lodging Morinokogage Cottage, Matsubanda Hire a Automotive‘s workplace is true throughout the highway from the airport’s carpark entrance. We paid 24,000 JPY in whole for about 3 days value of driving.

On the whole driving is fairly straightforward as a result of it’s a small island and customarily not too crowded after we had been there in September. The primary highway across the island is in good situation, however the roads up into the mountainous areas for Shiratani Unsuikyo and Yakusugi Land had been very winding, particularly at increased altitudes the place some bends had been single lane solely. There have been roadworks occurring so at the very least these are being maintained.

Parking usually isn’t an issue, although within the city space, discovering a spot to park the place you don’t block any homes/roads and never must stroll to far generally is a bit difficult at evening when it’s darkish.

By Bus

For non-drivers, there are buses you can take to get round to Yakushima’s principal sights. However as with public transport on a moderately distant island, frequency isn’t at all times very excessive and you might be beholden to the bus schedules, so be sure you plan nicely, and select to remain in a excessive site visitors city space so you’ve gotten close by choices for meals.

It makes extra sense to purchase a day bus go for limitless rides inside a day (2,000 JPY) or a number of days (3,000-4,000 JPY).

Journey Planning

We spent 4 days and three nights on Yakushima, which I believed was sufficient time to comfortably see the primary highlights with 2 full days, although in case you’re right here for severe trekking you could possibly in all probability spend extra time right here. However for the overall vacationer like us who needs to only take a look at the primary nature highlights and see the sights, this was comfy.

Right here’s my really helpful itinerary to go to Yakushima:

Day 1: West Yakushima

Save the climbing on your full days of exercise. My suggestion is to do a spherical island drive of Yakushima to get a lay of the land and drive by the famously winding Western Highway with its free-roaming wildlife within the late afternoon. You may also go to the Ohko Falls which is close to the southern finish of the highway.

Western Highway / Seibu Rindo 西部林道

Yakushima is a reasonably small island with a principal ring highway that encircles it – a continuous drive across the island will take about three hours, however about an hour of that’s spent navigating the wild, slim and winding western highway which is without doubt one of the highlights of Yakushima.

The Seibu Rindo or Western Forest Path stretches 20 km alongside the western coast of the island by the forests of the the UNESCO Heritage protected space. This scenic drive appears like a mini safari tour as you’ll encounter loads of Yakushima’s wildlife roaming round freely of their pure habitat. Word that you simply’re not purported to feed them!

Word: buses don’t undergo Seibu Rindo – it’s solely accessible by automotive or in case you’re feeling significantly adventurous you could possibly cycle and even stroll.

Look out for the Yakushima Macaques with their distinctive pink faces and buttocks lounging alongside the highway – and generally in the midst of it. Hold a watch out for shy Yakushika or the Yakushima Sika Deer, camouflaging into the forest flooring.

Whereas observing Yakushima’s wildlife up shut is an unforgettable expertise, driving the Seibu Rindo requires a gradual regular tempo and fast reflexes. This slim highway is two-way and since it’s very winding, there are numerous blind corners which you have to strategy slowly as chances are you’ll must again up or pull to the aspect to let oncoming site visitors by. The Seibu Rindo is greatest pushed with a small automotive, some maneuvering ability and loads of persistence.

Word that the highway closes at 5pm to permit the animals unfettered roaming at evening. Late afternoon is just not a nasty time as you may hopefully see extra animals because it will get a bit cooler, and you may time it for sundown views because you’re on the west aspect.

We reached the northern finish of the Seibu Rindo at about 330pm and made it by to the opposite aspect by about 410pm as a result of it was a comparatively quiet weekday so we solely had a handful of oncoming vehicles, however you may encounter extra site visitors at different occasions

Western Highway / Seibu Rindo 西部林道 [Google maps] – the northern finish of the highway begins across the city Nagata and the southern finish is round Kurio/Kuryu. Open 7am – 5pm. Buses don’t undergo Seibu Rindo.

Ohko Falls 大川の滝

South of the windiest bits of the Seibu Rindo are the Ohko Falls, Yakushima’s largest waterfall standing at 88m excessive. Recognised as one in every of Japan’s 100 greatest waterfalls from a 1996 record, the falls are particularly spectacular after heavy rainfall, cascading down the rockface in two distinct streams.

As with most waterfalls, they’re most spectacular after rainfall. We had excellent climate in our time on Yakushima so the falls that we noticed had been usually fairly gentle and small. We didn’t spend an excessive amount of time right here, but it surely was good to get out for a little bit of a stretch after driving the Seibu Rindo.

Ohko Falls are fairly straightforward to get to, a brief stroll from the carpark down a paved highway. There’s a signal right here that claims ‘No Swimming’, however you could possibly step off the boardwalk and climb the rocks to get nearer to the bottom of the falls in case you wished to, although it appears prefer it’ll be fairly slippery.

A brief distance away from the falls alongside the primary highway, there’s a stopping bay the place you may entry Ohko Spring [Google map] and fill your bottle with contemporary pure spring water.

Ohko Falls 大川の滝 [Google maps]

Day 2: North Yakushima

For this full day of exercise, cowl one of many main must-see nature spots in Yakushima – Shiratani Unsuikyo and a few of the different sights on the northern finish of the island.

Shiratani Unsuikyo 白谷雲水峡

Shiratani Unsuikyo is a stupendous ravine situated on the northeastern finish of the island that’s a very fashionable spot for climbing. It’s most well-known for uplifting that tremendous wild inexperienced forests that set the scene of the Studio Ghibli anime movie traditional Princess Mononoke, which is how I realized about Yakushima to start with so I used to be fairly stoked to lastly see it for myself.

Shiratani Unsuikyo often has a number of path choices with various lengths and ranges of problem, however attributable to some hurricane injury the earlier month, just one path with various detours was open that day.

The one open path was the Taikoiwa Rock Spherical Journey Course which takes about 5 hours spherical journey, and fortuitously additionally it is the route that leads you to the well-known patch generally known as Moss Coated Forest which is the particular Ghibli inspiration spot.

The start of this path was so much tougher than ordinary because it was a modified route in a moderately steep upslope climb as the same old route was closed. Fortunately issues acquired a bit higher additional alongside the route.

Mountaineering at Shiratani Unsuikyo was a beautiful means to absorb Yakushima’s nature – some folks selected to hike in small teams with an skilled information main them, but it surely’s completely advantageous so that you can hike by yourself right here like we did. The routes are nicely signposted total and there are maps you can discuss with alongside the best way. Hold a glance out for the pink ribbons to remain on the route.

We had been fairly fortunate with the climate on Yakushima. Regardless of it being well-known for lots of rain, we had very advantageous climate at Shiratani Unsuikyo, and it by no means acquired too sizzling as a result of the tree cover was so thick and shaded. You’ll be able to sense how previous these timber are throughout with their immense measurement and sprawling roots, however the bizarre factor is that there are hardly any birds right here, or at the very least you don’t hear any birdsong such as you do in our tropical jungles.

It took us about 2 hours to achieve the Moss Coated Forest, which is a really picturesque little grove the place the rocks and tree trunks are all coated with a skinny layer of fluffy inexperienced moss. Once more, I by no means realised what number of several types of moss there are till I noticed the variability on this forest. Numerous folks cease right here for pictures, some folks even carry alongside their little kodama (tree spirit) collectible figurines which is tremendous cute.

We hiked for a little bit bit extra previous the Moss Coated Forest however ultimately determined we had been too drained to go all the best way to the Taikoiwa Rock and turned again. We began climbing at about 8am and left the park at about 12pm.

Shiratani Unsuikyo 白谷雲水峡 [Google maps]. Entrance charge 1,000 JPY. There’s a small low cost when you have Yakusugi Land tickets.

Miyanoura City 宮之浦

The doorway highway to Shiratani Unsuikyo is from Miyanoura City, one of many principal hubs of Yakushima as a result of it’s the place the ferry terminal is situated. If you’re in search of supermarkets, eating places or lodging or particularly in case you aren’t planning to drive, this could be one space I’d suggest staying in.

• Life Centre Yakuden [Google maps] alongside the primary highway had handy parking and had souvenirs in addition to snacks and meals, a very good place to cease and choose up issues to eat or cook dinner.

Panorama Restaurant

Panorama is situated in Miyanoura but it surely has its personal entry as it’s one in every of Yakushima’s hottest eating places, so fashionable that it’s apparently pretty inconceivable to only stroll in and not using a reservation. We had been chatting with the Yakushima Bless store proprietor one afternoon and he was aghast that we deliberate to only attempt our luck at strolling in, so he helpfully made a name and reservation for us.

Panorama is a really cute little izakaya restaurant – it’s small measurement can also be why you have to make reservations to get a seat right here. Panorama is situated in a small home close to the Miyanoura port space – the roads listed below are fairly slim so it’s greatest to park within the tons alongside the Miyanoura River and take a brief stroll over to the restaurant.

We had seats on the bar counter ordered a bunch of small dishes. The Panorama menu makes use of plenty of native greens and seafood of their menu. The camembert cheese with tankan orange was fairly attention-grabbing, and the rooster liver pate was fairly good. We shared a pork stomach don and I had some deep fried tobikatsu which is sort of a fried flying fish fish cake. The creme brulee with black tea and tankan from Yakushima was additionally fairly superior.

Total this place has very nice hipster vibes and the meals was fairly good. We paid 5,720 JPY in whole for two pax together with cocktails which is fairly first rate. I can see what the hype is about and it’s a very nice place to eat at… in case you can swing a reserving! Do make your reservations early.

Panorama [Google maps] Open 6pm – 1030pm, closed on Wednesdays

Catch the Beer

Catch the Beer is Yakushima’s very personal craft brewery and so they have a tiny little store situated on the east aspect of the island you can purchase beer from. Not likely a lot of a spot to take a seat down although. You may see a few of their beers offered in different eating places across the island as nicely.

Catch the Beer’s location is in Koseda which is a small city simply north of the Yakushima Airport. Discovering this store was a little bit of a problem because it’s a really tiny spot!

Catch the Beer [Google maps] Open 1pm – 6pm, closed on Sundays

Isso Seaside 一湊海水浴場

I visited Yakushima in September on the tail finish of summer time, however I didn’t do something significantly summery like swim or lounge on the seashore an excessive amount of, however I did cease by Isso Seaside which had some pretty coastal views, and make me really feel like I want to come back again once more for a correct summer time day trip.

There’s apparently an Isso lighthouse [Google maps] on the hills to the appropriate of the seashore you can drive out to.

Isso Seaside 一湊海水浴場 [Google maps]

East China Sea Observatory 東シナ海展望所

The highway between Isso Seaside and Inakahama Seaside climbs over a hill, the right spot for a little bit elevated viewpoint that drivers can cease at for a little bit breather and think about of the ocean north of the island. There’s a small pavilion right here if you wish to cease and have a snack, in any other case there’s not an excessive amount of else right here.

East China Sea Observatory 東シナ海展望所 [Google maps]

Inakahama Seaside 永田浜

Inakahama Seaside alongside the northwest coast of Yakushima island is a stupendous lengthy stretch of golden yellow sand, and whereas it wasn’t significantly attention-grabbing once I visited, this seashore is hottest in summer time from Could to July when turtles come as much as nest right here.

Inakahama Seaside 永田浜 [Google maps]

Day 3: South Yakushima

Dedicate a full day to a Yakushima spotlight of very previous timber known as Yakusugi and luxuriate in extra nature and waterfalls alongside the best way.

Yakusugi Land ヤクスギランド

One other must-visit spot in Yakushima is Yakusugi Land, a nature park on the jap slopes of the island named for one in every of Yakushima’s distinctive options. Yakusugi is a particular title given to Japanese cedar timber which can be over 1,000 years previous and are often further tall and thick! These particular cedars are thought-about sacred and guarded by legislation.

Yakusugi are sometimes discovered at increased altitudes, and also you’ll really feel the temperature distinction as you ascend the winding mountain slopes to the doorway of Yakusugi Land over 1,000m above sea degree. Layering is fairly key when climbing in Yakushima!

Yakusugi Land was as soon as a logging forest courting way back to the Edo interval, and proof of logging actions can nonetheless be seen alongside the paths, with large stumps and fallen tree trunks strewn throughout.

Yakusugi Land has a special forest really feel in comparison with Shiratani Unsuikyo. I believed Yakusugi Land had extra number of landscapes – there have been extra rivers and bridges past the forest and towering timber. I additionally really feel that the paths right here (at the very least on the 80 min course) should not as robust because the Shiratani Unsuikyo ones so in case you solely had time for one nature spot, I believe Yakusugi Land could be a neater choice in comparison with Shiratani Unsuikyo.

There have been some indicators of hurricane injury and restore in Yakusugi Land, however all of the routes had been open and we had our choose from quick 30-minute strolls to the longest hike to the height of Mount Tachu that takes about 3 ½ hours – we opted for the 80 minute course and in whole in all probability spent about 2 hours exploring Yakusugi Land.

The shorter programs characteristic coated boardwalks, and solely people who exit a bit additional characteristic extra rugged paths.

There’s a present store on the entrance of Yakusugi Land, and throughout Yakushima there are many Yakusugi/cedar wooden associated souvenirs you can buy. I caved and acquired cedar wooden chopsticks, cup and and even some wooden chips potpourri!

Yakusugi Land ヤクスギランド [Google maps] Open 9am – 5pm. Entrance charge 800 JPY – there’s a small low cost when you have Shiratani Unsuikyo tickets.

Yakusugi Museum 屋久杉自然館

En route as much as Yakusugi Land is the Yakusugi Museum. Numerous parking right here as that is the place you are taking the bus to the Arakawa Trailhead hike in case you plan to see the Jomonsugi, aka the 25m tall behemoth that’s doubtlessly 2,000 – 7,000 years previous – it’s a hike that requires a 4am begin and takes 8-10 hours so… nope not for me.

However you may nonetheless study in regards to the Jomonsugi even in case you don’t hike to it – the Yakusugi Museum has a very nice exhibit that reveals you the dimensions and many historical past about this historic tree, in addition to the stays of the ‘small’ department that fell off some years again.

The Yakusugi Museum is nice because it offers a variety of context to Yakushima’s greenery, the right spot to go to both proper at the beginning of your journey or to relaxation up after a strenuous hike at Yakusugi Land. It covers two storeys and is so much greater than it’d look from exterior, extending to the again. You do must pay an entrance charge to go in however I believe it’s very well worth the charge as a result of the displays are each instructional and really detailed.

Yakusugi Museum 屋久杉自然館 [Google maps] Open 9am – 5pm. Entrance charge 1,200 JPY.

Tama Cafe

Noticed this cute little cafe situated very near the Yakusugi Museum, and determined to pop in there for a late lunch after leaving the museum. It’s a really cute little spot and whereas the menu is small, one in every of its highlights is the deer meat tomato stew – there are sufficient deer on the island that they aren’t a protected species.

Love the gorgeous drinks as nicely – I had the Yakushima tankan (mandarin orange) and my buddy had some form of fruit enzyme tea. Total nice vibes and spot to sit back out for anybody tackling Yakusugi Land.

Tama Cafe [Google maps] Open 1130am – 5pm, often closed on Wednesdays

Hombo Distillery 本坊酒造 – Yakushima Denshogura

Kagoshima and by extension Yakushima is known for his or her potato shochu – I had a variety of sake (brewed like beer) up in Niigata, however right here in Kagoshima, the liquor of alternative is shochu (distilled like whisky), and specifically made with potatoes as an alternative of different grains like rice, barley or buckwheat.

Hombo Distillery is one Kagoshima’s extra well-known shochu distilleries, and this department Yakushima Denshogura is exclusive as a result of its shochu right here makes use of largely Yakushima particular substances, just like the water (apparently further candy and tender) in addition to candy potatoes grown on the island itself.

It looks as if in case you time it proper or can converse Japanese you may get a tour of the amenities and see the getting old barrels and all making course of, however we headed straight to the little store for tasting and buy. They had been fairly strict about drink driving, so I teetotaled whereas my buddy acquired to attempt every little thing on my behalf.

Particular Yakushima shochus had been out there – I significantly loved the tankan sake that I purchased again and need I had extra of! It was candy and engaging and I like the tankan flavour.

Hombo Distillery 本坊酒造 [Google maps] Open 9am – 4pm (closed 12pm – 1pm)

Anbo City 安房

The closest principal city to my lodging was Anbo and in addition the place one of many excessive pace jetfoil ferry terminals in Yakushima is situated. There are a variety of eating places round right here and we ended up consuming right here a good bit simply because it was probably the most handy location for us.

The highway to Yakusugi Land can also be situated proper the place this city is, making it a really perfect stopover spot for lunch or dinner.

Seirios 島海味kitchenシリウス

On the primary evening in Yakushima, our guesthouse really helpful us to take a look at Seirios for dinner. It’s acquired a moderately homely bar vibe, and whereas parking was a little bit of a ache right here (we parked close to the Mos burger throughout the highway and walked a bit), I believed this restaurant was a pleasant place for a meal.

Right here was our first encounter with venison aka deer meat on Yakushima within the type of a pizza! Truthfully venison doesn’t style that totally different from beef. They did even have a very uncommon matcha inexperienced tea beer which tasted fairly good surprisingly sufficient!

Seirios 島海味kitchenシリウス [Google maps] Open 5pm – 1030pm, closed on Wednesdays

SamPoTei 散歩亭

One other cool restaurant we present in Anbo city was this riverside home known as Sampotei. It has a beautiful location by the water, although it drizzled on the evening we had been there so we sat indoors.

My travelling companion is just not a fish/seafood eater whatsever, so I had the really helpful scallop and bonito sashimi all to myself – these are fished from round Yakushima, in addition to some native tankan beer (Catch the Beer!). Love the vibes of this spot, would think about it being fairly good to sit back out in within the day time as nicely given its location.

SamPoTei 散歩亭 [Google maps] Open 530pm to 12am

Yakushima Bless

Yakushima Bless’s clear zen aesthetic actually stands out within the Anbo downtown space. They’re situated proper alongside the primary highway so we drove previous this store a number of occasions, and on our penultimate day lastly determined to cease and have a look.

Yakushima Bless has some actually minimalist and delightful house decor objects – their picket cedar blocks and ornamental vases are so fairly! I additionally beloved their uncommon mononoke brooches formed like skulls – very uncommon, however I resisted shopping for and now barely remorse it…

I did purchase a cute woodblock print postcard that includes the well-known jomonsugi, and the proprietor of the store was very nice. He speaks good English and whereas chatting with us, even helped us make bookings for Panorama restaurant which we had been having bother reserving, so kudos to their nice customer support!

Yakushima Bless [Google maps] Open 8am – 5pm

Hachimanju Tea Backyard 八万寿茶園

Contemporary off the aircraft from Fukuoka and proper after choosing up our rental automotive, we made a visit this cute little store known as Hachimanju Tea Backyard, well-known for his or her tea! Apart from a very nice tender serve ice cream, that they had plenty of attention-grabbing inexperienced tea merchandise together with matcha noodles~

Hachimanju Tea Backyard 屋久島八万寿茶園 [Google maps] Open 830am – 5pm.

JA Tanega Yaku Pontan-kan

In case you’re headed to Toroki Falls, this curiously orange-shaped structure the place you need to park. It is usually house to a reasonably cool market – there may be contemporary produce and meals out there within the morning, however not a lot left by the point we acquired there within the afternoon, however there was an entire part promoting varied Yakushima-themed objects so it’s a very good place to choose up souvenirs as nicely.

JA Tanega Yaku Pontan-kan ＪＡ種子屋久 まごころ市 ぽんたん館 [Google maps] open 830am – 4pm

Toroki Falls トローキの滝

Toroki Waterfall is on the mouth of the Taino River, a reasonably small waterfall at simply 6m excessive, however what makes it particular is that it spills instantly into the Pacific Ocean.

These falls are straightforward to see, situated a brief 5 minute stroll down a little bit forest path from the primary highway throughout the highway from the Pontan-kan market. There’s a lookout level on the finish the place you may see the falls and a tiny little bit of the ocean.

Toroki Falls トローキの滝 [Google maps]

Senpiro Falls 千尋の滝

Additional up the Taino River not too distant from Toroki Falls is the nicest waterfall that we noticed in Yakushima known as the Senpiro Waterfall, a picturesque 60m falls bracketed by a large granite valley mentioned to be as large as a thousand folks holding arms in a line – that’s the falls acquired its title.

Once more the falls weren’t significantly large as a result of it had been pretty dry whereas we had been there, but it surely was nonetheless fairly a reasonably sight. You’ll be able to usually climb down a staircase resulting in the Taino River path but it surely was closed due to hurricane injury. There are a number of different viewpoints of the falls you can take a look at from this similar carpark, every providing various views of the falls together with sweeping views of the shoreline.

Senpiro Falls 千尋の滝 [Google maps]

Day 4: Issues I missed

This can be a 4-day itinerary, however I left the final day clear in case you intend to fly out within the morning or do some final minute actions.

Another issues I didn’t do however you could possibly take into account on your itinerary:

• Yakushima Todai / Yakushima Lighthouse – situated on the northwestern nook alongside teh Seibu Rindo, this was closed after we had been there, probably attributable to latest hurricane injury, however apparently this small lighthouse is sweet for coastal views.
• Kurio and Nakama are very small cities on the southwestern finish of Yakushima the place there are small seashores and little swimming tidal swimming pools if that’s your jam
• Hirauchi Kaicho and Yudomari are pure open-air onsens alongside the southern coast. I didn’t cease over in them this time round, however I would take into account doing that in future. Word that you need to go bare but it surely looks as if you may carry a towel for modesty as these are mixed-gender and out of doors.
• Jomonsugi is the possibly 7,000+ 12 months previous cedar that’s completely large however not simply accessible. Anticipate to hike for 8-10 hours to see this tree. Some folks come right here specifically to see this tree.

The place to remain in Yakushima

Yakushima is just not too large an island. You undoubtedly have extra choices with a automotive as you may afford to remain someplace a little bit extra distant. In case you’re counting on public transport, I extremely suggest sticking with one of many greater cities like Miyanoura or Anbo for comfort.

Cottage Morinokokage 森のこかげ

I stayed at Cottage Morinokokage – the placement was nice, conveniently about 10mins drive south from the Yakushima Airport on the east coast of Yakushima. The city of Anbo was about 10 minutes south of the Cottage, so it was a handy place to take a look at within the evenings after we had been in search of dinner places close by.

The Cottage Morinokokage compound may be very cute, with clusters of little bungalow guesthouses which can be designed to appear like picket cabins, and there may be even a little bit cluster that appears like previous city sq. structure!

The proprietor Mr Nakashima was very useful proper from the time we booked, serving to to rearrange our automotive rental and giving us data on Yakushima. He got here to greet us and examine us in after we arrived and confirmed us across the place. There are washing machines and dryers which can be free to make use of (nice in case you plan to hike!) and so they have some merchandising machines in case you want some final minute snacks/drinks close by.

Cottage Morinokokage value about 50,000 JPY for 3 nights, which for two of us labored out to about 8,300 JPY per evening which is fairly cheap given the placement and facilities.

Guide a room at Cottage Morinokokage 森のこかげ on reserving.com (affiliate hyperlink) [Google maps]

Different lodging choices in Yakushima

Listed below are a few of the different locations I thought-about staying in Yakushima (affiliate hyperlinks)

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Have you ever been to Yakushima? What did I miss? Take a look at my Japan articles for locations exterior of your typical vacationer areas.

Searching for extra Studio Ghibli inspiration in Japan? I additionally visited Ponyo by the Sea’s cute seaside city of Tomonoura.