Totoro bus stop (OITA) access, car

Hi. I'll be visiting the Beppu/Oita/Miyazaki region in my visit to Kyushu and in case I get some time I want to rent a car for a few hours to visit the infamous Totoro bus stop near Saiki in Oita pref.

I saw there were rental shops in Oita, Beppu, Saiki and Usuki and according to Google maps the travel time should be around 1 - 1,5 hours, not sure what the roads are like from there as some seemed quite windy and small looking at the map.

The car GPS might take me on other roads perhaps as well, so not sure about that.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Sorry to be a downer. But you know the bus stop is just a regular bus stop that looks nothing like the movie and has a painted plywood cutout of the characters.

Sorry I'm not trying to shoot down the idea. As I love the Ghibli movies also. But this bus stop is not worth wasting half a day on.

Taking a rent-a-car at Saiki for a few hours is a good idea. The Totoro bus stop is preserved by the local people. There are a lot of Totoro and May's dolls made by local people near the calm and serene bus stop booth. Although this is not a tourist spot, you can feel a real rural atomospher of the Totoro world.

We went there this month. It's about 30 mins drive from Higashi Kyushu Express Saiki IC. Locate Road Station Ume (Michi no Eki Ume). First head to the road station near the bridge. There's very local map in the restaurant casher. The staff there should be the ones to know the location very well. Although the local map is in Japanese, you'll see where it is. On your way back to Saiki city centre, turn left at the second traffic signal and drive for about 10 minutes. There're direction notices in Japanese. It's very rural area.

Probably a google map links could help most?