Yakushima

Hi all,

I am planning a trip to Japan for 14 days (with my sister and friend). 7 Days in Tokyo and than I was thinking 7 days in Kyushu with a trip to Yakushima. This will be our third trip, but we have not been this far south. Please let me know if there is a easier or cheaper way to do this.
Day 1
Planning to
fly from Handa/Narita to Kagoshima
Take the Bus from the Kagoshima airport to the Jetfoil
Jetfoil to Kagoshima and take a cab to the hotel
(I think this might take up the whole day, does that sound right?)

Day 2
Hike around Kagoshima
Back to hotel by 5 - 6 pm

Day 3
!/2 day Hike and than aftertnoon Jetfoil to Kagoshima
Stay the night in Kagoshima

Day 4
Kagoshima to Fukuoka (kyushu Pass? / Shinkansen or is it better to fly)
Spend afternoon in Fukuoka

Will this be enough time to see Yakushima? Should I spend 1 more night there?

You should look into flying all the way to Yakushima to cut out the bus into town and the ferry to Miyanoura. (HND-KOJ-KUM). You can also look into transfers in Osaka and Fukuoka as there are flights to Yakushima from those cities as well.

Depending on where your lodging is, the taxi could take a while and be expensive. Also, to get to some of the trails, you would need a taxi or a rental car. Buses tend to be infrequent. To make the best use of your time on the island, I recommend renting a car at the airport, driving to your hotel, and then around the island. Without a car, you would be missing a lot of places.

Hikes on Yakushima can take several days. Some good short ones can be found around Yakusugilando, up a winding road into the mountains from Anbo. Bus service is very infrequent.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4655.html

You could leave Yakushima by ferry for Kagoshima City, and then spend a couple of days there before flying back to Tokyo if those are your plans.

The Kagoshima Airport is well north of the city and takes about an hour to get there by bus. There are buses between Kagoshima Chuo Station and the 4 ferry ports. Make sure you pick the Yakushima Ferry port. Coming back into Kagoshima wouldn't be a problem.

??
i think you meant Yakushima some of the sentences.??

Thank you Anaguma for your advise.

Is there a good site to look at flights? Anything I should know about renting a car in Japan? Anything special I need to do to be allowed to drive? Suggestions welcome.

Day 1
Planning to
fly from Handa/Narita to Yakushima
Rent a car
(I think this might take up the whole day, does that sound right?)

Day 2
Hike around Yakushima
Dinner around 5 -6 pm
Back to hotel after dinner

Day 3
Yakushima
!/2 day Hike and then fly to Fukuoka

Should I add a day?

To rent a car, an International Driving Permit (IDP) and a credit card make it easy. I usually start with Tocoo
http://www2.tocoo.jp/en

and if they don't have anything, I just check Google maps and see what and where car rentals are available. The red circles are rental offices. There are 2 at the Yakushima Airport:
https://goo.gl/0cNju7

Whether you add a day or not depends on how much driving/hiking/sightseeing you want to do. In the summer, I try to make it down to Ohko Waterfalls on the SW part of the island. There's a nice deep pool at the bottom to cool off in.

With a car, you could spend half a day at Yakusugi Land for some short walks and then spend the other half driving to the Senpiro and Ohko waterfalls and points between. The road on the west side of the island goes through forested highlands without too many views. I've seen monkeys hanging out on the road there, though.

To see Kagoshima City, you would want to take a ferry from Yakushima to Kagoshima. From there, I think it would be easiest to just take the shinkansen up to Hakata (Fukuoka). On the train, you start getting some views of the countryside around Sendai northwards. From Kagoshima chuo to Sendai, it's all inside tunnels.

You can check on Experience or Yokoso Japan airfares to add to your international ticket. Flights can be added at Y10,,000/flight.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

I start by looking into kayak.com or expedia.com sites and if they don't show anything for whatever reason, I go to the airline site directly.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4651.html

On Yakushima, you want to take some gore-tex rain gear. The forests often drip even when it's not raining.