Yakushima
Kagoshima,
Kyushu-Okinawa,
Japan
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Yakushima was very attractive with its ancient nature, but we couldn't take a direct flight from Nagoya. So my mom and I took a flight from Nagoya to Kagoshima and stayed in Irifune hotel, which was the cheapest hotel, but it cost 4750 per person. In the next morning, we took another flight of Japan Air Commuter taking 30 mins to Yakushima. There were a few passengers on the plane even though it was Sunday. The airplane was small and the Yakushima airport was the smallest one I had ever used. Anyway, some parts of the island was designated as a UNESCO's World Natural Heritage Site and so really beautiful.
Our first destination of the island was Shiratani Unsuikyo Forest. We took a bus from Kamiyaku town hall, which had only several passengers. It was lucky that we could left our bags at the log house of the entrance. The forest in the movie Princess Mononoke was modeled after the Shiratani Unsuikyo Forest. The gloomy forest was beautiful with a stream and mossy rocks. Unfortunately, my mom was too tired to get there, waiting for me at Shiratani Log House. What was worse, it was heavily raining and I found my iPod was out of order after the hike.
Because of the heavy rain, we gave up going up to Jomonsuigi Cidar which lived 4000 years and stood in the middle of the mountain. Instead of the oldest and largest cedar, we visited Kigensugi cedar, which was about 3000 years old and it was very easy to access, but impressive enough. Near the cedar, Yakusugiland Park was located. It was a park for everybody including seniors and small children to enjoy seeing some Yaku cedars which lived more than 1000 years. By the way, only the ceders which are more than 1000 years old are called Yakusugi ceders in Yakushima. We stayed in Minshuku Hanasatsuki for 3150 JPY per night in Abo where was comfortable to stroll around in the morning. Because it was difficult to visit many attractions by public transportation, we decided to rent a car for the second day and then, went round the island anticlockwise. We visited Shitogo Gajumaru-en Banyan Garden, Nagata Inakahama Shore, Okonotaki Waterfall, Hirauchi Shore Hotspring. On our way, we met wild Yaku monkeys sitting on the road. We had a trouble in finding a gas station on the island. The black pork noodle soup was tasty in the noodle restaurant near the airport. Black pork seemed a speciality of the island.
The next day, on our way back to Nagoya, we dropped by Kagoshima, where we took some pictures around the Takamori Saigo statue and then headed for Sakurajima Island. Actually it used to be an island, but it's not any more, because the lava from the volcano erruption in 1914 made a way to the mainland. At the Kagoshima port, we took a ferry to Sakurajima. Then we enjoyed walking to Karasujima observatory on the Lava Nagisa Boardwalk which had a lot of lavas along the way. I took a bath in the public bathhouse with a view of the sea. We were fully satisfied with the island. However, on the ferry to the mainland, I realized we were next to late for our flight, but fortunately, the departure was delayed and so we barely made it.
