From the craziness of Shanghai we arrived in Kyushu, the furthest south and 3rd largest of the 4 main islands of Japan. Japan has long been on our ‘must do’ list, following a brief stopover and eye-popping intro to Tokyo back in 2005. Armed with our own knowledge from endless reading of travel articles and books, and countless recommendations and suggestions from friends, we allocated a full month to get an insight into this beautiful country and explore its cultural, natural and gastronomic delights.
It’s easy to assume that Japan is all mega-cities and crowded train stations (there are over 125 million inhabitants at last count) but our adventures on Kyushu told a different story. We started in Yakushima, a sub-tropical speck of an island off the south coast of Kyushu. It’s fair to say not too many anglo-tourists make it this far south, let alone Australians, so we were really off the tourist trail down here. The reason for boarding the 2 hour ferry to Yakushima was to explore the world heritage protected cedar forest, and an organised full day hike with Y.E.S. Yakushima was worth every cent.
To wander amongst trees that have stood for 5000 years and longer is truly humbling and awe inspiring. Our guide Steve was a closet botanist, so we got the lowdown on all things botanical, but as a UK guy who has been in Japan for 20yrs he was a fountain of info and opinions on the economy, culture, politics, food and customs of Japanese life. It was the perfect intro to Japan.
Easing our way north, we had a few days in the village of Aso, in the centre of the island of Kyushu and home to an active volcano. Quite literally a village, the trains are irregular and restaurants close around 8pm, it was yet another place where we found ourselves as virtually the only native English speakers in town. The trip up to the volcano crater was stunning, offering a view of rolling hills and pastural fields, and once again Mother Nature reminded us of her skill and power as we stood watching steam rising continuously from a boiling lake. Aso was a detour off the fast rail path and required a little effort to get to, but the views were worth it, as was the idyllic little town. The horsemeat steamed bun experience was not so bad either.
In just our first few days in the country we experienced the brilliance of the rail network and ultra-fast shinkansen (bullet trains!); sashimi, ramen and gyoza; shocu (a delicious liquor distilled in this case from sweet potatoes); an onsen (Japanese bath house) and sleeping in a traditional guesthouse room. But above all, the politeness and attention to detail that is evident in almost every interaction we have had with the locals surpasses any other country we have travelled in. So far, so great!
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