Our trip ran from the very north to the deep south of Japan. At the end, we boarded a jetfoil from the very tip of Kyushu – Kagoshima – and sped down to Yakushima. It didn’t stop raining the entire time we were there, but that didn’t wash away our determination to get out and hike amongst the Yakusugi – a cedar tree endemic to Yakushima.
We walked for about 4 hours in this park
You don’t get lush green forest like this without a lot of rain
This forest was the art inspiration for the anime film “Princess Mononoke”
The stone staircase on the path was built 400 years ago
The tree roots criss-cross the path. Sometimes they are the path – but somehow not slippery!
All that rain has to go somewhere
Can you spot the monkeys?
How do so many trees grown on the granite rocks?
Even the swing bridges are different. Less swingy than NZ
The Yakusugi grow to be huge!
An old lava field, the pillow shaped rocks reminded me of home
We set off on a drive all the way around the island. Including stops, it only took 3 hours
Our first stop was the Nagata Lighthouse
The 88m tall Oko-no-Taki falls are considered some of the best in Japan
And the Senpiro-no-Taki falls were mesmerising – not tall, but vast!
