Comments welcome on this Kyushu travel plan

FWIW, I did 10 days around Kyushu last March, but as I'm not an onsen or climbing sort of person (more museums/galleries etc.), I essentially did an anti-clockwise trip around from Fukuoka to Miyazaki. There's definitely a great deal to see, and I really enjoyed it, but a few thoughts:

As others have suggested, Kyushu is not as populated as Honshu, and so outside of the few bigger cities, attractions are further away from each other, and outside of the Shinkansen, things will be slower and less frequent. As you get further from the big cities, be prepared to walk, pay for a taxi, or just wait an ungodly amount of time before your next bus (still better than rural areas here in the UK).

If you visit Nagasaki, then I can definitely recommend Gunkanjima, and if the weather is bad or you are short of time, the Gunkanjima digital museum was also fantastic. Also if you fancy a side trip, Huis Ten Bosch should not be discounted (as I did for years). It was so much better than I thought, and if you go when the tulips are out, it's truly mind-boggling. The opportunity for a few photos to completely confuse your friends/family is also great.

If you haven't been to Kagoshima, then you really should go. As it's the Shinkansen terminus, it's one of the easiest and quickest places to go to, and there are plenty of things to see, such as the volcano and as a side trip to the Chiran Tokko museum is well worth the effort, even if it is a bit of tear-jerker.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope that you have a great time, remember it's ok to not see everything (which is impossible anyhow), and say hello to Kumamon for me!

David

If you're thinking of going to Dejima, maybe read The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell for a fictional rendering of what life could have been like when it was a trading post.

(He's also a great writer, so I'd read it even if you're not planning on visiting Dejima.)