Early turtle spawning on Yakushima

Rental Car Most tourists choose to rent a car for convenience and there are many car rental outlets on the island – mostly near the airport and ports. I have been around many of the local rental companies in Yakushima and the few that seemed foreigner friendly were Suzuki Rentals

Here are the road regulations the access road to the Arakawa trail which are now a permanent fixture in the annual hiking calendar. Arakawa tozan bus

One of the most pressing environmental problems on Yakushima is the human waste that is produced by thousands of tourists who walk the trails every year. The tanks of waste that accumulate at each of the huts have to be quite literally carried down the mountain on the backs of

There are many beautiful hiking trails in Yakushima both long and short. In my guide book (nudge! nudge!) I detail and map 15 different trails from all over the island – Yakusugiland, Shiratani Unsuikyo, Arakawa trail, Okabu trail, Yodogawa trail, Kusugawa trail, Onoaida trail, Mt.Mochomu trail, Mt.Tachu trail, Mt.Aiko trail,

The following video was filmed by Henry Jun Wah Lee as part of the ‘Valtari mystery film experiment’ in which the Icelandic band, Sigur Rós, contracted a different filmmaker for each song on their album ‘Valtari‘. The location for the entirety of this video is Yakushima.

White pine trees among symbols of Yakushima The Yomiuri Shimbun YAKUSHIMACHO, Kagoshima–The late Fumiko Hayashi wrote in her novel “Ukigumo” (Floating Clouds) that it rained “35 days in a month” on Yakushima island, 60 kilometers south of Kyushu. The island is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is