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  • PeteM 920 posts

    Hi all,

    We are heading to Osaka in September for the Expo. Having covered a lot of Japan previously, we’ve decided to then centre on Kyushu, flying into Miyazaki and out of Fukuoka, and staying for about a week. We’ll have a car for the duration.

    Any recommendations or places people love there, please?

    Alex G 579 posts

    We spent a week in Kyushu last year, flying in and out of Beppu (Oita).

    The Hells of Beppu are worth visiting if you are in the area, but probably too far out of your way as you are heading to Fukuoka.

    We spent 3 nights in Miyazaki. Didn’t particularly like Miyazaki itself (felt like Blackpool on steroids), but it is a good base for touring.

    Driving south from Miyazaki along the coast, stop at Aoshima Beach Park, and walk across the causeway to Aoshima shrine. As well as the shrine, it is nice to walk around the island on the beach. There is an interesting rock formation (Devil’s Washboard).

    Avoid Sun Messe Nichinan. A rather bizarre hillside park with fake Moai. Not worth visiting. They have a sign at the entrance saying no refunds – you have been warned.

    Do go to Udo Jingu Shrine. Beautiful shrine in a cave. If you watch YouTube videos, it’s the one where you throw a pebble onto a rock in the sea for luck.

    That’s as far south as we drove, but it was a nice drive and we stopped off in a few other places.

    If you should find yourself driving north along the coast, I would recommend going to Mimitsu Historical District. It is a beautiful unspoilt traditional village. There were no tourists there. It is about an hour north of Miyazaki.

    You won’t find many western tourists in Miyazaki, and we didn’t feel welcome when trying to get into local restaurants. We ate at Miyachiku one night, which we had reserved in advance and which was welcoming, with staff speaking good English. https://rest.miyachiku.jp/hitotsuba/

    We stayed at the Dormy Inn in Miyazaki, which has large rooms – two singles and a sofabed. Rooms are quite basic, but the location is convenient. On site reasonably priced parking. Surprisingly good breakfast. Free noodles at supper time and free popsicles outside the Onsen in the evenings. On site laundry room.

    I thought Aso-Kuju National Park was fascinating. Asu is the worlds second biggest caldera of an active volcano (the biggest is Yellowstone), but unlike Yellowstone you can actually see that you are in a massive caldera. We drove around the edge, and got as close to the volcano as we could. You can take helicopter trips to see the crater, but they sell out quickly and the waiting time can be several hours. Depending on volcanic activity, you may be able to hike, drive, or take a bus up to the crater.

    We stayed at Kurokawa Onsen Oyado Noshiyu, Minamioguni for two nights https://noshiyu.jp/ which was £350 a night but fabulous.

    Although we had reserved an ETC card for the car, we avoided toll roads through our stay in Kyushu, and enjoyed meandering along quiet country roads.

    We decided to do a round trip as car hire was cheaper than doing point to point. Car hire through Avis last year worked out at £26 a day for a Yaris. This year, it is coming in at just over £27 (we are driving from NGO to Shikoku in April). Although we book with Avis, the rental companies in JP are Budget. The bookings don’t show up in my President’s Club history, and we didn’t get any avios (nor did I chase them)

    For flights, hopefully you know about the JAL Explorer Pass fares, which are better value than Avios redemptions now. We flew home OITA – HND – HEL – LHR, separate tickets as the Finnair flights were a redemption, and the friendly helpful JAL staff at Oita checked our bags through to LHR, which made the transfer from T1 to T3 at HND super easy.

    PeteM 920 posts

    Amazing – thank you so much for the detailed review!

    I’m pretty happy renting cars from local brands, tends to be good value.

    meta 1,732 posts

    When in September? It’s going to be scorching hot and humid all of September and also possibility of typhoon. And Kyushu can be hit hard unlike Osaka or Tokyo. If that’s the case trains won’t be running.

    Not very far from Fukuoka is Itoshima with several beautiful interest points and beaches. Although be careful because at that time of the year there can be jellyfish in the sea. If there are many locals swimming, it’s safe. You should rent a car as the area is pretty inaccessible without one. I did it once without the car and it takes ages to get around with local buses.

    Kurokawa Onsen is great, but also have a look at Nagayu Onsen in Taketa (stayed at Shukubo Kawaseminosho in 2019, it was £750 for two nights half board, but these are normal prices for top onsen ryokans).

    Other places – Yanagawa for best grilled unagi (eel) and Japan’s answer to Venice (totally different!)

    Then there is also Kagoshima, being on the active volcano is fun if you’re not too scared. It’s different feel to Mt. Aso.

    Ihenders 8 posts

    We had a few days in Kyushu as part of our October 2023 trip.
    Temperatures were comfortable mid-20s in late October. I imagine September will be fiercer, and concur with @meta about risk of typhoons (with Kyushu particularly prone to flooding)

    Some highlights:
    • Nagasaki is a friendly city – and less touristy than expected. We arrived by train (very indirectly from Takayama) which made the location seem a little remote on the island as a whole.
    • Particularly enjoyed a half-day boat trip from Nagasaki to Gunkanjima – an interesting insight into Japan’s industrial heritage as well as satisfying the James Bond enthusiasts. Gunkanjima Concierge ran the trip well.
    • Hired a car from Toyota in Nagasaki to drive the nearby Unzen National Park and then on to Fukuoka. Very happy with Toyota Rent A Car.
    • Staying at the Unzen Kyushu Hotel (a modern ryokan) overlooking the fumaroles of Unzen Jigoku was the highlight of the trip. Incredible location, incredible food and good walking.
    • The nearby Nodake Observatory provides incredible views from near the top of the volcano. Like Sakurajima (and most of the other volcanoes on Kyushu) it’s active – but on a slow burn cycle😉

    If you’re driving other parts of Kyushu and interested in Unzen, it’s worth investigating the car ferry from Kumamoto over to Shimabara on the peninsula. This also gives a different way of approaching Nagasaki.

    Kyushu is well worth a visit. It has a different atmosphere to Honshu. We enjoyed it enough that, in October 2025, we’ll be back in Fukuoka, Kagoshima and Yakushima.

    PeteM 920 posts

    Many thanks @meta and @Ihenders. Plenty of ideas to consider, much appreciated!

    We’ll get to Kyushu in mid-September, so fingers crossed for the weather.

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