Yakushima

I spent 2 nights in Yakushima. The airport was the size of a small strip mall and served one plane at a time.

The airport offers umbrellas to flyers so they can get from the airport to the plane dry while it's raining. On the day of my departure, I arrived before most of the staff and found Umbrella Hill (the umbrellas were left overnight to dry).

My room was about 10 square feet. The food tray and the bedding were the only furniture. I had to unfold the bedding to make my own bed, a situation somewhere between a sleeping bag and a futon. They had a central area for people to sit, talk, and drink tea. I hung out there several times, and one guest finally chose to join me for a 15 minute chat.

The view outside my "inn" room window. The entire island was this wet, green, and lush.

The 30-45 minute bus ride up to Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine.

Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine

Rating: A+

This was the whole reason I came to Yakushima. The ravine has three different routes, some of which overlap, that take 1 hour, 2 hours, or 3 hours respectively. I took the "3 hour" route to Taikoiwa Rock - more like 4+ hours round trip hike (not including the bus ride) if you stop for photos, scene viewing, and resting. This was the route that supposedly inspired the anime movie Princess Monoke (or at least inspired the location). You can supposedly recognize a few key spots along the route while watching the movie.

I didn't take pictures because it was raining and my phone lens was fogging up. Also, I didn't want to drop my phone on hard rocks, into a puddle, or bounce to someplace I couldn't reach. However, you can check out these photos of Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine - scroll almost halfway down until you see deer and monkeys (which I did see in the ravine). The pics of the ravine start where it says "Yakushima Day 2". It includes shots from the Princess Mononoke movie for comparison. See the last ravine photo of someone sitting on Taikoiwa Rock overlooking the valley? I was there and that is exactly what it looked like. Now imagine those mountains and trees stretching left to right over 180 degrees. Inspirational, indeed.

The Taikoiwa Rock route felt like a week's worth of leg days at the gym. If the toughest parts of the route were any steeper, I would need a rope or extra equipment to get up. The senior citizen groups, and even some of the younger tourists, turned back about 2/3 of the way up. Here are tips regarding gear:

• I wore tennis shoes instead of hiking boots. I slipped several times on wet, slick rock and one of those slips tore a hole in my shoe. Another couple of times, a rock or log rolled and I could have sprained my ankle except I am resistant to sprains. I recommend hiking boots.
• I rented and wore supposedly-waterproof rain pants and rain jacket so I wouldn't have to carry an umbrella. I can't tell if it worked because I was so sweaty from the hike, and from the body heat trapped by the rain clothes, that I was drenched. The thick canopy protects you from some of the rain. If it's pouring heavily, you won't be able to cross key points and there is no point in doing anything but the 1 hour route. If it's raining lightly enough to complete the 2 or 3 hour route, and the weather is warm, I recommend skipping the rain gear and just accept that you'll get a little wet.
• You should wear a baseball cap or wide-brimmed hat to keep any light rain from dropping straight onto your face. If you rent the rain jacket, wear a baseball cap under the jacket hood so the hard brim will keep the hood from falling into your face.
• You'll want more than one 24 oz water bottle. Each person should take at least two water bottles or a hydration pack.
• You'll want to bring some trail snacks. Even if you don't get hungry from the hard work, you'll want it for quick release energy.
• You could rent hiking poles if you want, bring your own, or do as I did and borrow 1 or 2 rough hiking sticks provided for free by the park. I can't honestly tell you if they helped prevent falls or aided in climbs. Having the sticks as extra stabilizers certainly felt safer, especially on the way back down when I had to step down off some tall rocks and deep "steps". You might also wear weightlifting gloves, or something similar, so you don't get blisters from the poles/sticks or scrape your hand on rocks if you fall.

More information on the unofficial Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine website.

Go to top or Cityscape Photos