Yakushima itinerary

Maybe you could give me some advice for my Yakushima itinerary.

I will spend 3 full days / 4 nights on Yakushima in early November, getting around by rental car. One of my interests is hiking in the forest, but my other main interest is photography.

So I've decided not to walk the whole way to Yomon Sugi, but to take shorter trails and to take my time to use the photo opportunities I find. I'm interested in trails that offer different views and picture opportunities, for example moss, nice bridges over rivers, strange roots and trees and so on.

So my itinerary is
- one day in Yagasuki Land
- one day driving around the island
- one day in Shiratani Unsuikyo


Around the Island:

I've already found some interesting spots (waterfalls, coast, gorge, beaches) for my journey around the island, but if you have advice for nice spots, please tell! I'm staying near Anbo. Is it better to go clockwise or counter clockwise from there?


Shiratani Unsuikyo:

As I understand it, it's a about 3 km (one way) from the parking lot to Taikoiwa rock. Is it possible to hike there and take the Geneirin trail and the Yayoi Trail on the way back and still have enough time for just relax, enjoy the forest and take pictures? If it's to much, which part of these trails should I skip?

In the map, most trails are marked as mountain climbing path (including Genserein and Yayoi trails). What does that mean? I like hiking and I'm not afraid of walking through the forest on my own, but I don't want to take difficult rocky mountain trails because I'm afraid of accidentally being injured with no help available.


Yagasuki Land:

I'd like to take the Kohana Trail. Is it recommendable to proceed to Tachudake peak on my own?


Thank you!

Hello - I spend quite some time in Yakushima including the November season (http://bizarrejourneys.com/yakushima). Your itinerary is actually exactly the same with mine on my first trip to the island, I did not have a car but a guide at the time. You can do Tachu Dake on your own since you have a rental car. It otherwise does not work out with the public bus schedule. During your drive around the island, I recommend a lunch at Cottage Davis in the Southern part of the island (nice view, chef quality food but they are not open everyday so place check ahead). I would also recommend one of the ocean side onsens if the tide schedule fits with yours (Hirauchi Onsen). Not an ocean and open air one but Onaida Onsen is very nice with its super hot water (50c) and extremely local feeling. There is also a hiking trail starting right from the onsen, which takes around 4 hours roudntrip and takes you to a beautiful waterfall. I cannot comment much on the side trails you mention along Shiratani trail but you can also check this site, which offers very accurate advice about hiking trails in Yakushima: http://yakushimalife.com/

Anything heading toward the center of the island is uphill. I've been to the top of Miyanoura-dake and up to Tachudake (‘¾’‰Šx) as well as other hikes and that's all they were. There are steep places on some trail sections, but no rock climbs unless you want to boulder in places. Some of the steeper are in the valley where Senpiro Falls are. I've wondered about getting around the falls and heading up the valley but have never looked into it. One place I've liked in the summer is Ohko Falls as there's a deep pool at the base. After coming down from a hike it's a good place to swim. I haven't been there during the summer for a while though. I found most of the interesting stuff on the ring road between Ohko Falls and Anbo. The road along the west coast gets up above the ocean and there are places with big leaves but not a lot of views. There are some beaches around Nagata where they hype the sea turtles on the west side but not much else. On one trip ran into a troop of macaques along the road on the section south of Nagata.

Thank you to the both of you for your encouragement and your suggestions.

So I`ll prepare to face some up and down paths, maybe slippery, maybe strenous, but not dangerous.

Thanks for your suggestions regarding the coast, especially for lunch. I'll check the website!