Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Robert Walker
in diameter and 195 square miles (505 square kilometers) in area. Its 82-mile (132-kilometer) circumference is entirely ringed by a road—and that’s about the only road on the island for the interior is steeply mountainous and covered in forest. Count on at least three hours to encircle it by car and easily a whole day if you make a lot of stops along the way. As you drive, you will undoubtedly come across some Yaku monkeys (屋久猿 or ヤクザル; Yaku-shima-zaru or Yaku-zaru; Latin: Macaca fuscata yakui), a type of macaque; and Yaku deer (屋久鹿; Yaku-shika; Latin: Cervus nippon yakushimae). There’s an estimated 7,000 of each of them. Both are small and not afraid of people. In fact, the monkeys can be downright aggressive, so take care not to approach them too closely as they can viciously bite.
Yakushima Airport.
The population of the island is approximately 13,500. Administratively, Yakushima Town (屋久島町; Yaku-shima-chō) encompasses the entire island, but the largest settlement, which houses a good percentage of the population, revolves around Miyanoura Port (宮浦港; Miyanoura-kō). Miyanoura is on the island’s northeast side.
There is frequent, daily, year-round ferry and hydrofoil services to both Kagoshima and Tanegashima. Kagoshima’s about 80 miles (130 kilometers) due north and jetfoils take a little more than two hours if they don’t stop at Tanegashima on the way. Ferries take twice as long, four hours, but are less expensive. For an additional cost, they can also transport your car, motorcycle or bike, which the hydrofoils cannot.
Arrival at Miyanoura Port by the Yakushima Ferry
Round-trip ferry services are available daily from Kagoshima. Travel time is four hours one way. In addition, there are a half dozen daily round trips on high-speed jetfoils. They only take two hours but cost about twice as much.
Tanegashima’s southern end is only 12 miles (20 kilometers) across the Vincennes Strait (種子島海峡; Tanégashima-kaikyō) from Yakushima and ferries from Miyanoura Port go to both Nishinoomote, on Tanega’s northern end, and Shimama in the south. Travel time is around two hours and one hour, respectively. Ferry services to Kuchinoerabujima, the last island in the Ōsumi’s northeast group (which is the next island we’ll discuss), located west of Yakushima Island, are also found at Miyanoura Port. These ferries take a little less than two hours. There are no jetfoils on this route. Service is not that frequent to Kuchinoerabu, only twice a week.
The Yakusugi Forest and Yakushima are visited by over 300,000 people a year and thus the local tourist infrastructure is well-developed. There are plenty of good small hotels, minshuku inns and restaurants in all price ranges. There are also several top deluxe luxury resorts on the island, but none are in Miyanoura. The largest resort hotel with golf facilities is the Yakushima Iwasaki Hotel (屋久島いわさきホテル; Yakushima Iwasaki Hoteru) located on the southwest end of the island.
There are almost 40 minshuku inns in Miyanoura and there’s a friendly tourist information desk right at the harbor when you arrive. If you don’t already have an advance booking (probably not a good idea), someone at the desk can call and make a reservation for you. Although almost all minshuku always serve meals, there are also a number of restaurants in town as well as a couple of museums, environmental and cultural centers and other points of interest. Miyanoura is easily the best place to stay if you are looking for something to do in addition to hiking.
Yakushima’s second largest village is located at Anbo (安房; Anbo), which surrounds Anbo Port (安房港; Anbo-kō) on the island’s central eastern side. A few daily ferries and jetfoils also use this port to go to both Kagoshima and Tanegashima. There are approximately 25 minshuku in Anbo. If the over 60 minshuku in Miyanoura and Anbo are not enough for you, note that there are almost 80 more scattered about more or less equally in all of the many villages that ring Yakushima Island.
Lastly, if the 2–4 hour cruise to Yakushima seems too long, be aware that Yakushima has an airport (屋久島空港; Yaku-shima-kūkō). Depending on the time of year, there are between five and ten round-trip flights a day. Most are from Kagoshima, but there are also flights from Fukuoka and Ōsaka. Flying time to or from Kagoshima is 30 minutes. The airport lies midway between Miyanoura and Anbo, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from either of them.
Yakushika Deer (屋久鹿). Dark brown with a white tail, Yaku deer are most prevalent on the island’s wild western side, especially along the Seibu Rindō (西部林道), the dramatic serpentine Western Forestry Road. The Yakushika is one of the world’s smallest deer. A full-grown male only stands about 1–1.5 meters (3–4 feet) and weighs 30–45 kilograms (60–100 pounds).
Miyanoura-daké (宮之浦岳). Mt Miyanoura, Yakushima’s tallest peak, is the southernmost point in Japan where snow falls.
Hirauchi Kaichuu Onsen (平内海中温泉). One of the nicest outdoor hot springs (onsen) on Yakushima, all that’s required is a small 100 Yen contribution.
There are not too many places in Japan that have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, but Yakushima’s warm temperate Yakusugi Forest is one of them and, in fact, was Japan’s first. Yaku Island’s dense, verdant green forests contain some of the largest and oldest species of Cryptomeria (屋久杉; Yaku-sugi; Latin: Cryptomeria japonica) in the world. The term Yakusugi generally refers to large Japanese cedars that are more than 1,000 years old and grow in the mountains usually 1,640 feet (500 meters) or more above sea level. Though called cedar trees both in English and Japanese, sugi are taxonomically unrelated to that group. One giant specimen, the Jōmon-sugi (縄文杉) is tree-ring dated at over 2,000 years. Former reports of it being over 7,000 years old, and thus making it earth’s oldest living thing, have now been discounted.
The Jōmon-sugi is 83 feet (25 meters) tall and has a circumference of 53 feet (16 meters), making it the largest conifer in Japan. The sugi is Japan’s national tree. Perfectly straight, giant Cryptomeria beams are the favored wood for torii gates. If properly protected, the wood never rots. Two of the most spectacular specimens from this island and forming a great torii are at the entrance to the Buddhist temple and Shinto shrine at Asakusa (浅草) in Tokyo (東京; Tōkyō).
In addition to the sugi trees, another plant found in abundance and in giant proportions is the rhododendron. For fans of the king of all evergreen shrubs, the magnificent spring bloom-viewing is unparalleled. In Yakushima’s climate, rhododendrons are not merely shrubs, they are trees, many with trunks over a foot thick and heights of 33 feet (10 meters).
For the most part, viewing the trees will require some hiking. The island’s interior is extensively marked with trails and this is the number one outdoor activity for most visitors. Some will also camp. Worth remembering is that Yakushima’s climate is one of the wettest in the world. There are signs posted everywhere warning hikers to make sure that they have adequate foul weather gear and a plan for their hike. Only designated trail shelters may be used for overnights in the mountains. These are free. A round-trip day hike to the Jōmon-sugi, for example, requires about ten hours, and that’s through and over mountains.
Senpiro-no-taki (千尋の滝). With a vertical drop of 100 feet (30 meters), this magnificent waterfall flows from the Tainoko River in the southeast part of Yakushima. On the left side of the falls is a great slab of solid granite.
Okawa-no-taki (大川の滝). Also spelled Ohko-no-taki,