Hello, I’m planning a trip to Japan in Fall 2022, hopefully.
We’re planning on hitting Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka mainly. I was tentatively thinking 5 days for Tokyo, 3 for Kyoto, and 2 for Osaka. Undecided on other cities to visit yet but he have some extra days to work with from our tentative plan of 14 days.
I want to solidify our itinerary soon but the other main thing we want to do is take the hike to Jomon Sugi. Yakushima is pretty far from our other current plans though, and looking into it, sounds like it could potentially add a bunch of extra days. I’m unclear how long a train that far would take, plus I know we’d probably have to ferry in, stay the night on the island, start the hike in the early morning, and then spend another night before ferrying back to the mainland. Would it be worth it to go all that way for just one attraction? Maybe we could add in other places to stop at along the way?
I don’t mind adding a couple extra days to make this work. I’m just worried this won’t be possible without greatly extending the trip. This is my first time planning a big international trip like this so I’d appreciate the help.
My questions are:
Is this possible to add to our trip?
How many days would it add?
What are places to visit between Yakushima and Osaka?
Alternatively: Is there any other hikes like this on the mainland? What’s drawing us to this hike specifically is the seclusion of it, but if it ends up not being possible, what would you replace it with?
6 comments
Note July to October is typhoon plus storm season. So weather can affect your trip to Yakushima.
Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka and from Osaka, it is 3.5 hours via the fastest Shinkansen to Hakata. From Hakata, you can continue on to Kagoshima , a short ride away.
I would recommend that you explore Kyushu (Hakata being the Center hub). Hakata has Daizaifu (old Japanese regional administration area) and lots of old temples around … one is far older than Kyoto‘s own since it was the entry port of the terminal Silk Road point.
If you like nature, 45 minutes by ferry and you can go to Iki island from Hakata. Great for sea urchin and huge oysters plus a museum on the Yayoi period and a long distant ancient kingdom named Harunotsuji . To the Japanese, they visit for the Nature. 75% of Iki is a nature reserve. Nice cruise around their part of the Genkai sea.
Saga has pottery…Nagasaki is the old port open to European trade and known for their castella cake (old sugar road there) but they have …small cities. Kumamoto has their castle but it isn’t too exciting.
From Hakata , Kagoshima is also a nice place to visit if you like active volcanos. Sakurajima erupts everyday so regularly that they worry if it doesn’t erupt. [https://www.kagoshima-yokanavi.jp/en/spot/10021](https://www.kagoshima-yokanavi.jp/en/spot/10021) Incredibly friendly locals, compared to other parts of Japan I have been to.
Kagoshima is also known for their onsens in the Kirishima area. The Kagoshima wagyu and black pig pork (kuro buta niku) are a must try. Kagoshima has the best and cheapest Wagyu (which is better than even matsuzaka wagyu). On Sakurajima, they have the sweetest mikans (mandarins) and basketball sized radishes due to the extremely fertile volcanic soil.
Then from Kagoshima, you can take the ferries to Yakushima. Well, whether it is worth it to see an ancient tree on a far away island is another story. To some, it is for the nature. To others, it is spiritual.
Considering that I stay in Hakata for the chances to go to Iki island, plus spending Christmas 2019 (whole 3 days) watching Sakurajima erupt everyday, well, I am a tad odd in that aspect. I would love to go to Yakushima though but Covid-19 isn’t being very nice at the moment.
There are flights from Osaka to Yakushima. It’s the fastest option to get there.
Many years ago before it became a World Heritage Site, I took a night bus to Kagoshima from Osaka. I got there in the morning to make the ferry connection, the slower one. At the time, it was actually better to do this because the plane would get you into the island much later in the day. From the port I traversed the island, staying two nights in the free mountain huts and one night camping along the trail. I saw Wilson’s Stump, Jomon-sugi and climbed Mount Miyanoura. From Miyanoura it was a tough up and down hike to get to the southern coast of Yakushima. I spent four days hiking, three nights on the island and two days getting there and back. It was one of my best experiences in Japan. I would skip Tokyo to see it.
About other hikes I done a few extended backpacking hikes in Kansai and Shikoku… in Nara ihere is O-daigahara which is a two day hike. You must stay in a hikers lodge, there is no place to camp. You can do a multiple day hike in the Kamano Kodo (Nara/Wakayama). I did a four day hike from Wasamata-hutte to Zenki, which was incredible. I didn’t see another human for four days which is really hard to do in Japan.
I can’t help you regarding Yakushima question. My trip In japan too me from Tokyo -> Kyoto -> Nara [day trip] -> Himeji [day trip] -> Hiroshima [day trip] -> Osaka (overnight only) -> Kyoto -> Hakone -> Tokyo.
Also a 14 day trip, as you can see I traveled quite a bit. What really helped is https://www.hyperdia.com/sp/. You can use it to map you train trips, the train are almost always on time so it’s very accurate. In my case I got the Shinkansen pass. Just a tip if you haven’t heard of it.
I think if you want to add Yakushima to your plan, you have to factor in travelling there, spending at least a night and then back. And it also depends if you want to fly or take a ferry there.
I think there are flights from Osaka there, so maybe you can try extending your stay in Osaka (2 days is not enough I reckon).
“What are places to visit between Yakushima and Osaka?” – wow I can’t answer this question…like a lot a lot? It all depends on what you are interested in. The huge islands of Shikoku and Kyushu are somewhat between Osaka and Yakushima.
Considering the location plus expense in time/money to get there, I’d vouch for at least 3 nights in Yakushima. Alllows you to settle down properly, enjoy the amosphere, plus do one longer or a couple of shorter dayhikes with good time and without rushing things, before continuing to other places.
In my view, places like Yakushima aren’t really conductive “checkbox travelling”, and if you do it that way you end up missing a large part of what makes the place attractive.