Hike recommendations for Kyushu 2016

Hi everyone,

I'm planning my first Japan trip for this November. I have 3 weeks in total. Part of my plan that I was very excited about was staying 2 nights in a Kurokawa Aso Ryokan and hiking Mt. Aso during the full day. However it seems that they are not currently allowing access to the Aso crater due to volcanic activity. In fact a lot of trails on Kyushu seem to be closed at the moment for the same reason. Therefore I have a 2 day gap in my itinerary.

I would really like to do a short hike while in Japan hopefully somewhere in an onsen area where I could stay in an onsen ryokan (similar to what's available in Kurokawa) and do the hike. Are there any suggestions for alternative hikes. Is there anything that is currently safe and meets these criteria?

1. Hike is open (obviously)
2. Easy to medium difficulty, just a day hike
3. Hike is near some ryokans
4. Hike is accessible by public transit from the ryokan onsen since I'm not driving in Japan.
5. Strongly prefer something on Kyushu since just before the gap I have in my itinerary I will be in Fukuoka for the Kyushu Basho.

As a bonus I'd love it to be a volcano hike since I've never done this. I'm aware this might contradict with point #1 above since if it's a volcano and there is activity all over Kyushu it might not be safe.

Yes this is a lot and I'm aware there may not be any options considering my limitations. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,

Nenad K.

I enjoyed hiking in the Unzen volcano area, where the autumn leaves were at their best in mid-November. Accessible by bus from Isahaya on the JR Nagasaki line, details here:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4452.html

How about going Kuju-san.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1023437-d1424993-Review...

You can go there by bus, get off at Makinoto.

Thank you both for the response. I looked into Mt Kuju but it's quite difficult to find accommodations in the area. There are 1 or 2 airbnb postings but it seems they are very out of the way and I would probably need to take a cab almost anywhere. I'm thinking this might turn out to be more of a hassle than it's worth.

I decided I will just leave this 2 day gap in the itenerary and forget about the hike. I usually don't do much planning for my trips anyway so having 2 nights that I can figure out as I go along isn't too bad. Some options I am considering are Asuka and Iga. This should give me an opportunity to explore what the smaller towns have to offer but I will miss the volcano hike.

Thank you,

N

I forgot to mention that the primary reason I abandoned this idea was that all the ryokan is Kurokawa Aso area are already fully booked. I had no idea that people typically make reservations 3 months in advance. So Kurokawa onsen is not an option leaving me with only 1 or 2 airbnb postings. Otherwise I definitely would have gone for the Kuju option since there is public transporatation to Makinoto pass.