Japan’s mainland consists of four major Islands: Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku. Honshū is the most popular of the lot, since it houses the major cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and the famous Mount Fuji and is the most ideal destination for first time visitors to Japan. When Rajesh and I were planning our holiday in Japan, we decided to go for 17 days so we had enough time to explore this country! Rajesh suggested we make time to also visit the Kyūshū region!
Kyūshū is certainly off the beaten track and barely makes it onto the radar of many travelers. With its rugged coastline, active volcanoes, onsens galore, lush green rolling landscape of valleys and mountains and gorgeous waterfalls, it is one of Japan’s highlights and was definitely the highlight of our holiday!! Therefore, it deserves a special mention and its own separate blog post! (YAYY!)
Kyūshū is magical! We spent 3 wonderful days driving around this region. The scenery around Mt Aso does not resemble the landscape we saw from other parts of Japan. It felt more like we were driving in New Zealand! Despite his many protests, I smooshed Rajesh multiple times because I was so happy that he planned for us to visit this amazing place! I keep showering him with hugs and human skin flakes all the time! I am a BIG hugger, unlike Rajesh, who will only hug you if he is frisking you for weapons!!
Getting around Kyushu:
We travelled to Japan in Oct 2019. We had a 14 day JR pass! You can get these for 7, 14 or 21 days and you need to pre-order them before you arrive in Japan (as you cannot purchase them in Japan itself). I will write another blog post about the JR very soon (Stay tuned! But not too tuned, because I am lazy and slow and I also have pokemon to catch!).
We took the Sakura train which directly connects Osaka (Shin-Osaka Station) with Kumamoto via the Sanyo/Kyushu Shinkansen and is also covered under the JR pass. From Kumamoto, we hired a car to go around this region. You can also get around using the local buses in this area, but the frequency of these buses is every 1-2 hours and it is also much slower. Kumamoto also has an airport if you choose to fly!
What to do in Kyushu:
- Spend a day Onsen-hopping in the Kurokawa Onsen town
- Visit the Takachiho Gorge
- Explore the Aso-san region
Spend a day Onsen-hopping in the Kurokawa Onsen town
Do you not know what a Japanese onsen is? Do you wake up everyday trapped in a prison of shame fortified by your inability to comprehend this unique and somewhat strange Japanese tradition of taking bath with strangers completely naked??! If yes, there, there! You are not hopeless! (I recommend squeezing this therapeutic stress ball repeatedly and reading on)
I am going to tell you everything I learnt about the Japanese onsens and by the end of this post you too, shall be an onsen master! (Yup! I’m a useful member of the human race.)
Onsens are hot springs. Japan is said to have more onsens than any other country on earth! These communal hot springs adhere to ancient traditions which include bathing naked and following strict etiquettes. The health benefits of onsens date back hundreds of years. The mineral-rich water from the onsens was once used to heal the Samurai warriors after battles! The onsens in the onsen town of Kurokawa were also located in some of the most gorgeous locations, overlooking scenic hills and valleys, some even in caves!
Onsen Rules:
- Nudity is non-negotiable: Yes, you will have to leave your clothes behind along with your inhibitions! No swimwear allowed! Some onsens allow you to carry a small modesty towel (the size of a handkerchief) which doubles up as a fig leaf to cover your privates! Although you cannot dip this in the water! You also have to tie your hair up as you can’t dip your hair in the water either! The idea is to keep the water as pure as possible. Traditionally, Japanese men and women bathed together but this is now rare! (Although you can still find few of these mixed onsens) These days, there are separate ones for males and females, and couples can even rent a private onsen. At first I was a nervous wreck and just marinating in my own puddle of sweat. (Just for the record, I don’t usually sweat, I just sparkle in the sun, pretty much like Edward Cullen from Twilight! If you don’t know who that is, it’s probably because you have good taste in movies! Twilight is a love story between a 17 year old girl, a 100 year old corpse and a hot dog man…..not a hot-dog man, but a hot dog-man – a hot man who is also a dog! I apologise if my description gave you brain cancer. I also seem to have completely lost my train of thought!) Rajesh on the other hand tried to reassure me that it was totally normal for the Japanese people and that no one would bat an eyelid (he was right!). I am a little shy and hyper-aware of how other people are perceiving me and OMGGG, you’re judging me right now, I can totally feel it!!! STOOOOOP IT!!!! But potentially subjecting ourselves to this awkwardness was well worth it! Both Rajesh and I felt relaxed and FREE! It was cool to conquer our fears and isn’t travelling all about embracing new experiences and culture?!
- Shower before entering the onsen: You will usually enter the onsen area wearing a Yakuta (a japanese robe). Remember to take off your shoes at the entrance, put all your belongings in a locker and go for a shower. Along with the nudity requirement, pre-washing oneself is also non-negotiable! You will notice a row of shower stations, each equipped with a hand-held shower and a stool to sit on. It is considered bad manners to stand up while you wash. Most onsens will also provide you things like shampoos and soaps! Also do not stare at other people because that is rude guys! Don’t slap a panda either! (That is rude too!! Also Pandas are cute!) I just looked down at my knees, not making eye-contact with the other earthlings and also wondering why my knees looked strange! (I suspect it is from feeling an impending sense of doom if I don’t align my feet with the tiles every time I walk, also my knees suck at being knees!)
- Cover up your tattoos: Tattoos are something of a taboo in Japan, because they are associated with the criminal underworld (the Yakuza). I covered my tattoo with a sticking plaster for most of my trip, but if you have a larger tattoo that is difficult to cover up, you may not be allowed admission here.
- Do NOT click pictures: Just keep your mobile phones away! JEEZ! There was a lady in the onsen clicking a gazillion photos of her perfectly pedicured nails while bathing with twenty other awkward ladies! How many pictures does one need to take of their feet anyway? We get it! You have pretty toenails! I was freaking out that she would accidentally take a picture of my butt and upload it on Instagram for the whole world to see! I narrowed my eyes to slits and glared at her while trying to make as much fire and laser beams out of my eyes as possible. To my disappointment, I failed to make her head explode!
We drove to Kurokawa onsen town from Kumamoto, making a few pit stops on the way to pick up snacks and munchies! Rajesh gets hungry only on two occasions, when he is driving and when he is not driving! Like a good wife, I hurled chips into his mouth because I am fattening him up for slaughter…umm….i mean because I LOVE HIM!!! [nervous laugh]
The drive itself was really really beautiful! We stopped multiple times to take in the views! We first stopped at the Nishiyunoura Lookout, which boasts of gorgeous views of the 5 peaks of Aso and is also said to resemble a sleeping Buddha! We also took multiple pictures with Kumamon, the mascot of the Kumamoto Prefecture! He is Japan’s most popular bear!
The Kurokawa Onsen town is a small charming town with 25 onsens. It is these little rural towns that we liked the most! They made us feel like we were in the real Japan! Just traditional Japanese wooden buildings, bath houses, cafes and loads and loads of trees! You can get a full day onsen pass which costs ¥1300 and gives you access to any three onsens of your choice! We first stopped by the visitor center to collect our pass and a map outlining the different onsens in this town. There are 25 in total to choose from! “Where will you go, Mrinali? WHERE? WHERE?!! ANSWER MEEEEEEEE!!!!” My brain screamed at me! I don’t do well with too many options and neither does Rajesh! The lady at the visitor’s center helped us pick the best ones! Our top three choices were:
- Ryokan Konoyu
- Yamamizuki – This onsen is directly by the riverbed
- Yamanoyado Shinmeikan – This sulphur spring bath was located inside a dark, steamy cave!
Onsen hopping or as the locals call it – Rotenburo Meguri was a great experience! Rajesh and I also went to the private couples onsen, which was pretty cool! We also stayed in the beautiful Ryokan called Oogi Onsen Oogiso, which had the outdoor onsens where you could sit in your hot bath and gaze at the stars at night! It was magical!
Visit the Takachiho Gorge
We checked out from Oogi Onsen Oogiso at some ungodly hour! Even though it was so early in the morning, the owners of this place packed some local delicacies for us to eat on our journey!! Japanese people are just sooo sooo nice! They are made of sunshine, rainbows and happy bunnies! The only thing better than food, is FREE FOOD ofcourse! (Rajesh’s favorite F word) The day had started out perfectly! We accidently stumbled upon some gorgeous valleys and rivers! The water was a gorgeous teal green and we took a billion pictures which does not do justice to the place but I will show them to you anyway!
Years ago when Mount Aso erupted, the lava which flowed from it created the Takachiho Gorge! You absolutely MUST take a boat ride here to see the breathtaking Manai waterfalls up close! It was hands down the best experience of our holiday! The boat rentals opened at 8 AM, so it gave us plenty of time to explore this beautiful gorge! I have a lot of skills and rowing isn’t one of them. At first it seemed like the shore kept following us, but as it turned out I was just rowing the wrong way. Fortunately for me, Rajesh took away my oars! Rajesh was magically imbued with skills of a decade-old boatsman, for he took both of us around the gorge while also rescuing a bunch of girls from two evil rocks that had trapped their boat!
There is also a walking paved path that runs along the gorge. There are beautiful views of the gorge along the way. We walked the entire trail and stopped at some interesting spots on the way! Just by the souvenir shop in this area, there is a flowing noodle restaurant – Chiho No Le Teahouse! You can try the famous Nagashi Somen here! It is really interesting to see the noodles flowing in a long bamboo flume with cold water running through it. The diners are supposed to catch them with their chopsticks and dip it in the broth of their choice! The release of the noodles is timed perfectly, and noodles that are missed flow into the bucket at the end of the flume and these are recycled!
Not too far from here is another hidden gem in Amano Iwato shrine! A cave filled with piles of rocks arranged by worshippers for good luck. According to Japanese mythology, Amaterasu – the sun goddess hid in this cave leaving the world in darkness. The shrine is said to have been the meeting point of eight million gods and goddesses, all of whom came together to discuss how to lure Amaterasu out of the cave! As you walk to the cave, you are greeted with the sound of the stream of water from the neighbouring spring, birds chirping and everything else you would expect to find in a forest!
Explore the Aso-san region
Mount Aso is Japan’s largest active supervolcano! We drove towards the Mount Aso Nakadake crater and caldera! My googling skills tell me that hiking in Mount Aso is one of the most incredible adventures you can have in Japan! The main crater can be accessed and viewed by tourists, but gets occasionally closed due to high levels of volcanic gases! Unfortunately, for us we would not hike up to the Caldera as it was completely closed off due to recent increase of volcano activity! But we did manage to see Mount Nakadake pretty up close! It was nothing like we had ever seen before! We must have inhaled a lot of toxic gases released from the crater! I suppose our lungs weren’t happy but we were!! (but what are you gonna do about it huh lungs!? BUAHAHAHAHA!) [*cough! cough! wheeze!*]. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger eh?! (however, what does kill you makes you dead!)
We drove back to Kumamoto via the Milk Road, stopping at all breathtaking viewpoints on the way. You can stop at the Daikanbo which gives you an unrestricted view of the whole area- picturesque mountains and rivers in tandem!
Also on the Milk road, you can check out the Laputa Road (Laputa-No-Michi)! If you are familiar with the works of Studio Ghibli, you will remember Laputa, the floating castle in the sky! This road is nicknamed Laputa because of its resemblance to a floating castle when the clouds roll in to the caldera and obscure the farmland below from plain view! It looks like you are driving into a floating sea of clouds. The Milk road gets its name from the sheer number of cows you see in this region. The Laputa Road is also hidden and a bit of a task to find. When you go along the Milk Road, there is the important Jizo statue that marks the entrance to the Laputa Road. You turn left with this jizo to your left and go off of the Milk Road.
Unfortunately, the Laputa road is closed due to the extensive damage during Kumamoto’s earthquakes and also frequent landslides caused by the rains. But I believe it is incredibly beautiful! (Here is a picture from google to prove I am right!)
Another absolute must see is Mount Komezuka, it literally means rice mound! It is the youngest volcano in this region and quite the site!
Kusasenri is another gorgeous viewpoint to gaze at the smokey Nakadake Peak! There is just sooooo much greenery everywhere! You can even get a horse ride across this amazing landscape! We also witnessed the most incredible sunset here! As far as road-trips go, this was one of the best road-trip we have been on!
If you get a chance to visit Kyūshū, you must take it!! Anyone who has visited Kyūshū will tell you, usually with crazed scary eyes of excitement that it is AWESOME and you will ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! I am happy to confirm that they are 5000% correct! There is A LOT in this area to see and explore! Just sit and watch the endless sprawling valleys of lush green speckled with horses and cows grazing……aaaaaawwwhmmmmhuuhhnnngggglaamuhhggg [excitement dissolves into sobs of longing].
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Thank you! 🙂