Ferry To Yakushima, 2012

 
I had read about Japanese ferry routes in the travel guides and found some additional information on the general Japanese travel web sites; but once I dug down to the web pages of the ferry lines themselves, things got more difficult since I cannot read Japanese. So when I arrived in Kagoshima I wanted to check-out the ferry to Yakushima  I planned to take the next morning.

I dropped my bags at my hotel (The Sun-Flower) and then walked from the hotel to the ferry terminal building to see if I could buy a ticket or make a reservation. In any case this was an excuse to see the harbor. I love a new city's waterfront and will always want to explore it. All was quiet mid-afternoon at the terminal, but I did learn I was to simply line up for a ticket  for the 'Yakushima 2' at 8 am. No reservation were needed or apparently possible for a walk-on passenger. That done, I wandered over to the Kagoshima Aquarium , which turned out to be terrific.

Yakushima 2

The island of Yakushima lies off the southern coast of Japan and can be reached by air from several Japanese cities or by one of several ferries. The route I sailed traversed the 80 miles of sea between  Kagoshima and the port of Miyanoura on Yakushima island. Along this route there is a choice of conventional ferry (ship) the 'Yakushima 2' or several fast 'jet' ferries (hydrofoils). I opted for the ship on the way out, as I had read it was more comfortable. I returned on one of the jetfoils on a day when the Yakushima 2 was not running because of rough seas.

Travelling on the jet-boat was more like a flight. Passengers stayed seated in a compartment reminiscent of a plane. There were stewardesses and seat belts. All the announcements were in Japanese.

Aboard the Yakushima 2 however; there were three decks to explore: several lounges, outside decks to walk, a small store and a tatami mat sleeping room for napping.

Many of the travel guides say that the 'jet' boats are cancelled in bad stormy weather. I found the opposite to be true, the big ship did not sail on a stormy day, while the jet boats continued to run back and forth on a special schedule.

The  'Yakushima 2'  cruise took about 4 hours. We sailed at 8:30 in the morning and were tied up at Miyanoura Port on Yakushima a little after noon. The return trip is in the afternoon.

Once we got underway I found a spot in the upper non-smoking lounge to read with a view of the coast to the west. The ship first travels south down the long expanse of Kagoshima Bay. At the southern end of the bay you can spot the symmetrical cone of the Kaimondake volcano to the west and then rocky Cape Sata to the east, before emerging out into the open waters of the East China Sea.



Once we were out on the open ocean I explored the ship: found some green tea to drink, passed through a smoky bar and peeked into the sleeping room where several backpackers were doing yoga. I talked to some of the other passengers. One couple, about my own age was planning to camp on the island for the next 4 days. Another younger couple told me they were staying in a guest house in Miyanoura. They were very excited about hiking in the dense tropical rain forest known as Yakusugiland and asked if I had seen princess Mononoke . Yaku-sugi is the term for the giant cedars more than one thousand years old.  Yakusugiland  is a forest of these trees and one of the spots which inspired the animated film: Princess Mononoke .  The man looked at me and asked, "Jamon-sugi?"  He wanted to know if I planned to visit one of the sights the island is best known for -- its ancient tree, the Jomon-sugi, a giant Japanese cedar (cryptomeria)  reputed to be more than 2000 years old. They were surprised, even disappointed,  when I shook my head no, but I quickly explained with gestures and my best fifty words of Japanese that I did plan to hike to the top of Miyanoura-dake, Yakushima's tallest mountain, an excursion I'd been looking forward to for months.

The breeze picked up and the haze began to clear. We could see the Yakushima ahead, its mountains rising right out of the sea. If all went well, tomorrow I would be up there in the mountains, walking among the highest peaks I could now just begin to make out.

When we disembarked in Miyanoura I was surprised by a man at the bottom of the gangplank holding up a sign with my name on it before  I realized he was from the car rental agency. He led me to a van and we sped off for a three minute drive to the rental office.  

I had never driven in Japan, but had chosen to rent a car so I could get around the island easily. The car would give me a great deal of freedom over the next four days; making it much to get to and from the trail heads and other sights without negotiating the bus schedules. I used the Mazda car rental in Miyanoura and everything worked out well. I made the reservation on the web several months in advance and when I picked up the car, was able to use my credit card to pay for it (both if these things are not always true when booking Japanese travel). I had been warned to have my international drivers license with me as it is required for car rental  in Japan. I chose a small compact van-like vehicle -- something like a Honda Element, but smaller. It was an automatic, which made driving on the left hand side of the road considerably less of a challenge -- although my mantra for the next few days would become  'StayLeft  StayLeft  StayLeft'

Yakushima basically has one road which circles the island from which other roads make short intrusions into the mountainous and heavily forested interior. It is not clear on the map, but the circular island road varies in quality depending on which direction you choose to go round the island. Heading east toward Anbo is the easier route, heading west takes you through the World Heritage preserve on a very scenic but much slower road which has numerous hairpin turns and is often only a single lane wide for both directions. There are also the monkeys to watch out for.

Because I had rented a car, to keep within my daily budget, I looked for inexpensive accommodation on the island. I had thought about bringing my tent and camping, but since Yakushima is often wet that seemed a risky proposition. Instead I found a room at 'Jerry's Camp Ground and Mandala Guest House' in the town of Onoaida on the southern (opposite) side of the island. We'd emailed back and forth and I'd seen pictures of the Guest House. The room I had reserved there was large, with a great view. There was a shower and toilet downstairs, but there was no kitchen or food. I'd have to sort that out when got there.

Once I had the car and had driven to the local supermarket in Miyanoura to buy some fruit, some bottled green tea and a bento box; I drove inland to the Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine to hike a bit and see some of the less giant and ancient cedars.

Ticket from JetBoat

Resources:

Yakushima: Visitor's Guide    http://www.yakumonkey.com/

Princess Mononoke    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke

Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine (白谷雲水峡, Shiratani Unsuikyō) http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4654.html

Jerry’s Guest House & campground http://www.eu-guesthouse-in-yakushima.net/