Scenic Photos of Kyushu

Takachiho-Gorge @ Miyazaki Prefecture - beautiful in one word

The best way to enjoy the waterfall is to take a short ride on a boat

The only challenge here is not the rowing part, but you have to queue for many hours - especially during peak holiday season like the Golden Week. Off peak season is during winter.

Shirakawa Mineral Water @Kumamoto Prefecture

Around Mt Aso there are various spots where you can drink fresh mineral water as it comes out from the source, from between the rocks like a waterfall or from below the earth creating a natural pond of pure mineral water.

Scenic Photos of Kyushu - Kumamoto Prefecture

Mt Aso caldera is apparently one of the biggest active volcanoes in the world... unfortunately it is difficult to capture the size of it from these photos. Concrete shelter houses were built around the caldera for safety purposes in case of unexpected eruption..... frankly, i wonder how effective they really are considering the size of this volcano.

For more information about Mt. Aso, go to : http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/kumamoto/aso.html

Scenic Photos of Kyushu - Oita Prefecture

Beppu's Five Famous "Hell-like" Hot Springs, known as the Blood red hot springs, the Ocean, the Stone-goblin, the Hot pot and the Mountain hot springs . The water temperature is more than 99 degrees Celcius. For English map, click http://www.beppu-jigoku.com/images/English.pdf

Along the scenic drive of Yamanami Highway, you can see green pastures where horses and cows lay resting in the sun or busy eating grass.

Unless you are allergic to eggs (like me), you can enjoy a freshly "hot springs" boiled egg, which supposedly contains a lot of minerals.

People of all ages stroll along the road of local towns, Beppu and Yufuin, where you can find various shops, from pottery to home-made roll cakes. Those who prefer not to walk can take a rickshaw or a horse wagon ride.

Scenery of Kyushu

Kyushu is an island located in the southern west part of Japan. You can drive from Tokyo to Kyushu, but it will take many hours or you can fly from Haneda Aiport and arrive at the local airport, such as Kumamoto, Oita, or other cities in Kyushu.

This time, we took a four days trip down to Kyushu, by air then rented a car to enjoy the scenic drive of Yamanami Highway, to visit Japan's "hot springs" city, Beppu and Yufuin (Oita Province), then a walk along the famous Takachiho Gorge.

During the four days we managed to cover the best part of Oita, Kumamoto and Miyazaki. These places are popular spots for tourists from Korea, Taiwan and China, naturally since geographically they are near. There are only a few travelers from US and Europe, therefore at public places we see many signs translated into Chinese and Korean but not English.

For more information about the provinces:

http://www.pref.oita.jp/english/

http://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/english/list.html

http://www.kanko-miyazaki.jp/Language/english/index.htm