I’m in the brainstorming phase of another trip, and am looking to focus on Kyushu and one of the Ryukyu islands. My first stop on my 2019 japan trip was Nagasaki, and I absolutely loved it there, which makes me want to see much more of it. so far I’m thinking of going from Fukuoka to Nagasaki, ferry to Kumamoto, around Aso area (dying to see Takachiho gorge and would like to see Kurokawa for the onsen) and back up. Anything particularly nice in this area to see other than these? or even on the whole island.
Also the general consensus on here seems to be that Ishigaki is the best of the islands to go to instead of Okinawa, but still very open to ideas.
2 comments
1. As your plan goes: going from Kumamoto to Mt. Aso, Takachiho Gorge and Kurokawa Onsen is going to require renting a car, or some very careful scheduling (and frankly renting a car here is the convenient option).
2. Going from Nagasaki to Kumamoto via ferry only makes sense, if you are doing that to visit the sights on Shimabara Peninsula (Shimabara itself, Unzen Onsen).
3. Other areas of Kyushu you might explore: Arita (pottery), Yoshinogari-Koen and Dazaifu (for ancient and medieval Kyushu history respectively), Yufuin (very nice and pleasant onsen town), Kagoshima (Sakurajima), Beppu (Beppu Hells).
4. As far as Ryukyus go: it depends on the time of the year and what you are actually looking for: historical sites, open-air folk museums, aquariums – probably Okinawa island makes most sense. Miyakojima or Ishigaki may make somewhat more sense for the beaches. This comes with a caveat: while summer/early fall period is a peak period for the beach resorts – the closer you get to Taiwan, the greater chance of being affected by typhoon season you have.
Fukuoka and the rest of northern Kyushu are greatly underappreciated. I did day trips from Fukuoka to Dazaifu (for temples and the branch of the national museum) and Yahata (for industrial heritage sites) which I really enjoyed. There are a bunch of other worthwhile-looking towns in the area as well.