Ubuyama/Kumamoto

I would like to plan my trip to visit my friend at ubuyama. Can you recommend my trip plan for 6-7Days from Fukuoka or from Osaka ?
Thank you so much in advance.

I would like to plan my trip to visit my friend at ubuyama. Can you recommend my trip plan for 6-7Days from Fukuoka or from Osaka ?

If you're already in Osaka, you could take a ferry to Matsuyama on Shikoku. There you can check out the castle and Dogo Onsen.

You could then take a ferry to Beppu to check out the hot springs there. You could also go to Yufuin, a quieter onsen area.

You can then take a bus down the Yamanami Highway to Kurokawa Onsen, and hang out there.

From there you can drop into the Aso caldera, making your way to Ubuyama for your visit.

Along the way there are side trips, good hikes, and some good swimming places.

If you want urban experiences, you can leave Osaka for Himeji for the castle, Okayama for the garden, Hiroshima for the museum, Fukuoka for the bars, and then drop down to Kumamoto City for the castle, garden, and bars, before taking a train or bus up to the Mt. Aso area and Ubuyama.

Ubuyama-mura is on the north side of the Aso peaks, so you'd want the JR train from Kumamoto City if you go that way.

Thanks so much for the information, Actually, i have my 3 children together with this trip.. We plan to arrive Fukuoka and then depart from Osaka.

Thank you in advance if you could provide us the trip plan for 8 days from fukuoka via Ubuyama for 2 days and then take along way to Osaka.

Thank you again:-)

You can take a Relay Tsubame train from Hakata to Kumamoto City where you transfer to Miyaji using the JR Hohi line, and then you're going to need a bus to Ubuyama, unless you're renting a car for the whole trip. Your friend may prefer you go to Takamori from Kumamoto Station instead of Miyaji. In that case you take the Minami Aso Line from Kumamoto.

When you leave Miyaji, you can get trains to Oita and Beppu, or take a bus up the Yamanami Highway to Beppu. The bubbling mud and colored hot springs might be interesting for the kids.

Beppu-Matsuyama ferry. The main sight is the castle, although the hot springs bring a lot of Japanese.

Train from Matsuyama to Takamatsu. Along the way there's the Hojosuigun Youth Hostel which might be fun for kids for swimming and walking around the island. It's just north of Matsuyama.
http://www.geocities.jp/kyon4741/indexenglish.html

There's also a castle at Marugame and the famous shrine at Kotohira. These can be done as side trips from Takamatsu.

In Takamatsu, the gardens and the Yashima area are sites to investigate.

From Takamatsu, you can take the train across the Inland Sea Big Bridge checking out Okayama Castle and garden and Himeji Castle before Osaka.

If you're driving, you can get to a lot more places. You can also get your car onto the ferries.

With 3 kids in Kyushu, they may like to go to Space World and Harmony Land (Hello Kitty Land). Both can be reached by using Beppu as a base.

Harmony Land is just NE of Beppu in the town of Kitsuki.

Space World is in Kokura, a little more than an hour JR from Beppu. There is a JR Spaceworld station.
www.spaceworld.co.jp

Thank you so much for your kindly advise.
We are from Thailand and i can read just only Hiragana , no Kanji. So i'm not sure that it will be easy to drive in Japan since we assume that all signs are mostly Japanese. Or if i take GPRS in English, Is it possible ?

Thanks again ;-)

So i'm not sure that it will be easy to drive in Japan since we assume that all signs are mostly Japanese.

Important signs along major roads (expressways and national routes) are always in Japanese and English. Car navigation systems are Japanese.

In the countryside of Japan, it is easy to drive. In urban areas it is more challenging. Also, in case you are not used to driving on the left side of the road, you need to be very careful.

Basically: if you are a good driver in your own country, you will be okay in Japan. If you are good at orientation in your own country, you should be okay orienting yourself in Japan. However, if you are a bad driver in your own country and are not good at orienting yourself even in your own country, then you might want to think twice about driving in Japan.