Transportation to Chiran

hi,
we will be visiting Kagoshima area on March 2017 and would lime to visit Chiran. does anyone know if there is a way to get to Chiran from Ibusuki?

thanks!

You are probably referring to an area of Minamikyushu city. It is quite large, so please be more precise.

There are buses, but they're infrequent and the pilot museum is a bit away from the old town (I assume you want to see both).
I think there's info on the main Japan guide website, or maybe in an old thread on this forum (?maybe do a search?).

We visited by hiring a car for the day from Kagoshima. This allows you time to go to the sand baths as well.

thanks!

we actually wanted to see the Samurai neighborhood.

we don't want to take a car since we're not used to driving at the left side..
in the Japan guide search I could only find infrequent buses from Kagoshima, not from Ibusuki :-/
thought maybe someone here would know something else.

I also tried to search for websites of tourist info in that area, but it seemed like old sites and when I tried to contact them via e-mail they didn't respond...

I guess that we'll find out when we're already there.

From Kagoshima there is the bus service. Last time I visited we took the bus direct to the museum.

Not sure about from Ibusuki - probably some back-tracking required.

Here is the time-table of the bus service.
http://www.chiran-tokkou.jp/access/timetable/documents/20150901152729....

Stop names are from left to right:

いわさきホテル　Iwasaki Hotel
砂むし会館前　Sunamushi-Kaikan-mae (sand bath)
指宿駅前　Ibusuki-eki-mae (JR Ibusuki station)
喜入駅　Kiire-eki (JR Kiire station)
特攻観音入口　Tokko-Kannon-Iriguchi (Peace Museum=Kamikaze pilot Memorial Museum)
知覧　Chiran
武家屋敷入り口　(Buke-Yashiki-Iriguchi) Samurai neighborhood

Frankly saying, if your destination is only so-called Samurai neighborhood, without visiting the Kamikaze Pilot Memorial Museum, your visit to Chiran will not be worth it.
I recommend you to rent a car, and drive around in the region; there is very little traffic and you will get accustomed in five minutes to driving on the left. It is not so difficult as you imagine.

thanks a lot for the details and translation :)