Kyushu Calling: A Roadtrip Through Japan's Southwestern Island

saracooperamun
Apr 16, 2024
9 min read

Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan's four main islands, is often overlooked by tourists during their first visit to Japan. It is also quite far to reach if you are based in Tokyo, requiring a flight to Fukuoka or most of a day to travel by train.

While probably Nagasaki, the historic harbour city that is infamous for World War II, rings a bell, I would define Kyushu as home of hot springs, volcanoes and pure nature, with plenty hidden gems that make it worth your while. And the best way to explore it is by a road trip around the island.

I will go through my 5-day Kyushu road-trip that I did in February 2023 with my dad, just when I had arrived to Japan on my working holiday visa. My first stop was Okinawa, which I will cover on a separate post, before flying to Fukuoka city in the north of Kyushu. As I was arriving in February we really wanted to start the trip from south to north to catch the best weather, and indeed weather proved to be nice most of the way. The itinerary consists of:

Arrival to Fukuoka, car pick-up, drive to Beppu. 2 nights
Beppu hot springs and town
Yufuin village, transfer to Kurokawa Onsen. 1 night
Kurokawa Onsen morning, drive through Mt Aso, Kumamoto Castle, arrive Kagoshima. 2 nights at ryokan.
Sakurajima volcano in Kagoshima and other sights.
Morning drive through Kyushu to Fukuoka. Afternoon sightseeing. 1 night
Morning Fukuoka, train to Kanazawa.

You will notice we omitted Nagasaki due to lack of time, though it can be done as a day-trip from Fukuoka. In some places more time would have allowed us to be more relax or visit more sights, like in Kagoshima - which is the southernmost tip of Kyushu, requiring quite a bit of driving to get there. I will add some more tips in each section.

Another positive aspect of visiting Kyushu is that accomodation is much cheaper than other areas even for staying at central areas.

Transport

If you are doing a Japan trip with JR Pass, your best bet is to proced to Kyushu before or after Hiroshima and Miyajima visit - 1 hour ride on the Tokaido-Sanyo shinkansen to Fukuoka.

From Tokyo, you can still take the same shinkansen direct to Fukuoka for 5 hours. It is a pretty convenient line as it stops at Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Hiroshima on the way.

For travelling within the island, renting a car is the best option, as unlike the main island of Japan the areas are not that well-connected by public transportation. You can also access more scenic spots along the mountains or coastlines, or even less touristy hot springs. Note you need an international driver's license to rent a car. For us we rented a car at Fukuoka airport where we arrived, at Nissan rental.

Day 1: Arrival to Kyushu and roadtrip to Beppu

We landed at Fukuoka Airport around 11.30 AM, from Naha in Okinawa where we had spent about 5 days. As I was carrying large suitcases for my move later to Tokyo to begin my working holiday year, we left them at the lockers of the airport.

We had previously booked a rental car at Nissan, that was just about 10 minute walk from the airport. Most cars in Japan are automatic, in contrast to those in Europe, so even if we need to drive from the left, it is one less thing to worry about.

Driving out of Fukuoka was relatively easy, and soon we were on the highway. There were many mountains around and even the rest stops along the highway were scenic, and had many snacks like takoyaki or yakitory to refresh ourselvles. It took us about 3 hours to reach Beppu in Oita Prefecture, considering break times for snacks. We were staying 2 nights at J Hoppers Beppu Guesthouse.

Beppu is renowned as one of the most famous hot spring (onsen) resort towns in Japan, with over 200 onsen, hence being known as the "Onsen capital of Japan".

As it was already dark - that is one disadvantage of travelling in winter- we mainly had a wwalk around to see Takegawara Onsen. It is one of the oldest and most famous hot springs in Beppu. In peak hours you need to book in advance. Note it is quite a rustic experience - you need to take your own towel, shampoo and gel, and the water of the onsen is pretty hot at about 43ª. It is also more frequented by Japanese so there are no instructions. As we had familiarity with onsen it was a very interesting experience for us. You can also take a sand bath where you are covered in the sand up to your neck, but we chose to do that elsewhere due to the time.

Day 2: Beppu Hells

As an onsen lover, of course the first at the onsen capital was to find an onsen. So we drove to Myoban Yunosato Onsen, about 20 minutes drive north-west from our accomodation. It is an onsen village spa with thermal pools in huts. The rotenburo, outdoor onsen, were on higher ground overlooking the scenery. We also tried some pudding that is steamed with hot spring water. In the straw thatched roof houses iws where they produce Yunohana hot spring powder and you can actually buy some to take home to use it in your bath.

From there it was time to start the visit of Beppu Hells ("Jigoku Hells"). They are 8 unique, natural hot spring attractions located around Beppu, named so due to their intense heat, bubbling water. It costs 2000 to see all of them, we bougth the pass at the first Jigoku. We parked the car at Umi Jigoku area and chose to walk around to see most of them.

They are all different in some way, changing in color, characteristic - some are geyser-like, others even have crocodiles. We omitted one due to lack of time. In many of them we could try the footbath also.

Umi Jigoku: turquoise color

2. Oniishibozu Jigoku: mud-like pond with quite strong sulfur odour

3. Oniyama Jigoku: a peculiar one with many crocodiles, supposedly they are raising them but I am not sure?

4. Chinoike Jigoku (Blood Pond Hell): with bright red color that looks like blood due to high levels of iron and magnesium

5. Shiraike Jigoku (White Pond Hell): a pong with hot milky water

6. Kamado Jigoku (Cooking Pot Hell)

7. Tatsumaki Jigoku: a geyser that erupts every 30-40 minutes. Luckily we did not have to wait too long!

During the visit of the hells we also stopped to try some dumplings and eggs boiled in hot spring water.

It was about 4.30 PM when we finished the route, and also walking around Kannawa neighborhood where the hells are located. It has traditional houses, and boiled eggs and sulfur vents everywhere, I have to say the smell is quite strong. We wanted to visit Beppu Beach Sand Bath, but it was closed on that particular day, so we ended up at Hyotan Onsen. It is a bigger onsen that Takegawara, and we had the opportunity to also try the sand bath there. It was quite difficult to put the sand on top of yourself!

Day 3: Charming Yufuin village and Kurokawa Onsen

We left Beppu early morning so that we could spend half a day at Yufuin, on the way to Kurokawa Onsen, our next accomodation. It is only 40 minutes drive from Beppu. t was quite a spontaneous decision and I was impressed by the village. While it is also known for its hot springs, as it is located within a green valley at the foot of Mount Yufu and has many traditional houses, it is also pretty to simply walk around.

Yunotsubo shopping street was full of street food, from dango to chicken legs to croquettes, we had a hard time choosing what to eat. As it was national holiday in Japan it was also quite packed with local tourists. My favorite stand was Yufuin Kinsho Croquettes and a dango stand.

As a Ghibli fan I had fun window-shopping at Donguri No Mori too which had a huge Totoro outside.

Continuing the shopping street and turning right towards the end I found Yufuin Floral Village, a Disney-like village with small wooden shops.

From there I walked to Kirin Lake, located at the foot of Mount Yufu.

Around 3 PM we headed back to the car to continue to Kurokawa Onsen for 1 hour. It was one of my main reasons for coming to Kyushu. This onsen town in Kumamoto Prefecture has many ryokans and rotenburo located along its river, that seem integrated with the surrounding nature.

We stayed at Okyakuya Ryokan. It was a more expensive experience compared to your average ryokans, but the location really makes it worth. The rooms and the onsen are very pretty, and we walked around the village in our yukata robes.

At night it was only those staying overnight at the village, and there were beautiful illuminations along the river.

Day 4: Roadtrip to south of Kyushu through Kumamoto

This was probably our longest car journey of the Kyushu road-trip, as our aim was to go to the southernmost city of Kyushu: Kagoshima, to visits its Sakurajima volcano.

Before leaving Kurokawa Onsen however, and after a big Japanese-style breakfast and entering the onsen once more, we couldn't help but have a snack at Patisserie Roku, with freshly baked choux pastry and had another walk around the village.

About 30 minutes drive from here we entered Aso-Kuju National Park, home of Mt Aso, an active volcano of Kumamoto Prefecture, considered to be the largest in Japan - and one of the largest in the world! We stopped at Daikanbo Peak observatory, a lookout that supposedly offers good views of Mt Aso crater. Unfortunantely it was foggy when we arrived so we were not able to see much.

So we continued and entered Kumamoto city. It was about 1.5 hours but due to the traffic jam it took us longer than expected to reach Kumamoto castle. We also had issues in parking - we were not aware it was a private parking or rather we could not understand the sign, so when we came back to find the car the police were asking us about it. But seeing foreigners, they let us go.

It is a pretty impressive castle and one of the biggest I have seen. While it was affected by 2016's Kumamoto earthquake and it was currently on repair work, we could still walk up and the surrounding areas.

It cost 500 yen to enter. To be honest I did not find the interior too interesting as it was mainly a museum with text information for many floors. But for sure the exterior is impressive.

Around 5 PM we took the highway to drive non-stop to Kagoshima. We were staying 2 nights at Green Guesthouse. We had futons but it was quite cramped. However it was fairly cheap and Sakurajima volcano was just in front of us!

Day 5: Kagoshima

Kagoshima is the southernmost city of Kyushu, capital of Kagoshima Prefecture. Due to its bay location and hot climate - even for February it was about 20 degrees- it is a popular destination for locals.

The main highlight of Sakurajima volcano, an active volcano that constantly erups and showers ash to the city. Residents tend to wear an umbrella and masks specifically to counter the ash. We were also monitoring the status of the volcano, such as checking if the ash was white - not likely to erupt- or blacker - time to run.

We took a ferry from Kagoshima Port, taking only about 15-20 minutes to reach the volcano. We actually put our rental car inside the ferry as it was convenient to them explore the volcano. In total we spent from 10 AM till 3.30 PM around the volcano.

There are many observation points and things to do, the best is to drive in a circular way. For example, the Nagisa lava trail, Yunohira Observation Point for a closer look to the volcano. Kurokami Shrine gate was peculiar as well as it is a a gate that was buried due to a 1912 eruption, covered now in volcanic ash.

We finished by dipping our feet Nagisa Park foot bath before taking the ferry back.

As there was still a bit of time we popped by Sengan-en, an UNESCO heritage traditional Japanese garden 25 minutes drive from Kagoshima port. It has stunning views of Sakurajima as well and a Starbucks with equally great views. It costs 800 yen just to visit the garden, it also has a museum but we did not enteer due to lack of time.

In the evening we explored the shopping district around Tenmonkan.

Day 6: Sunny Fukuoka

While visit to Kagoshima was rather short, and ideally another day would have been better, potentially to visit Ibusuki even more south, popular for sand baths, we were still happy to have made it to see the volcano.

It was our last day in Kyushu, so we drove all the way back north to Fukuoka, only stopping for lunch at a rest stop, in total taking 4.5 hours. We left our car at the airport, and as for my big suitcases, I booked Yamato luggage forwarding service. It is pretty handy if you have heavy luggage as they can transfer it from different cities.

We were spending 1 night at Smile Hotel - Hakata Ekimae. In the afternoon we visited Fukuoka Castle Ruins and Ohori Park at the westside of the city. It was pretty chill and nice to see the sunset from there.

We walked back to city center to try Ichiran ramen, as ramen was created in Fukuoka! The chain is also one of the most popular throughout Japan, mainly for the tonkotsu ramen (pork).

In the evening it was nice to stroll around Canal City next to the river, there were also many street food and people eating at terraces. The actual Canal City is a big shopping center that has night illumination shows.

Day 7: Goodbye to Kyushu

Taking opportunity of our last half-day, we got up early to visit Tochoji Temple and Kushida shrine. The temple is the oldest in Japan supposedly and has a huge wooden statute of Great Buddha. The shrine is the oldest in Fukuoka.