Kyushu
So much fun rolling down from Mount Unzen
This post is the last part of a three-part series from my three month long trip to Japan in the fall of 2025. I’ve made a collection post under Three months in Japan. Here you can read a short introduction, and what gear I used for my trip.
This post is about my trip to Kyushu, so I will try to write it in the context of the time I spent there, and for someone that would like to cycle in Kyushu. I have already been to Kyushu before, cycling from Kagoshima to Beppu, back in 2023. So I was looking forward to experiencing this beautiful part of Japan again.
Verdict (TL;DR)
There was a poster showing off how nice it would be in the sunset in the spring
Kyushu was kind of a victory lap on my three month long adventure. I planned it a bit last minute, I just knew that I wanted to visit Yakushima, and Nagasaki. And boy did Kyushu deliver!
Yakushima island was beautiful! You have the endless sea on one side, and the majestic Yakushima mountain on the other, and in between you have wild animals, good food, and great people. I only spent three days there, but it was well worth the added hassle with the flight and ferry.
Just like a Studio Ghibli movie
After cycling around Yakushima, I continued north, cycling over the mountain from Kagoshima, following the coast to Nagasaki, before I ended up in Fukuoka where I took the train to Tokyo. On the way I experienced both sunny days, and one rainy day. Focusing on camping, I got to experience some beautiful sunsets, and quiet areas.
I feel like Kyushu is a good representation of the whole of Japan, with its rolling hills, some big mountain climbs, and flat rides between rice paddies.
Already missing cycling between rice paddies with the mountains in the background
The route
It’s always hard to plan long cycling trips, at least for me, as I like to use the time to look for good routes and interesting things to see. My main goal for Kyushu this time was Yakushima and Nagasaki. Following the coast from Kagoshima to Fukuoka turned out to be a really nice choice, and something I would definitely recommend. It’s not going to be a flat trip, but not as hilly as my first adventure in Kyushu. There are plenty of onsen to relax in, good food to eat, and museums to visit. There were also surprisingly few cars, even though I followed mainly well used roads.
Transportation
The fast JetFoil Rocky3, you have to use seat belts to ride it
This is my second trip to Kyushu, and as last time I took the plane, but this time I had already shipped my luggage in advance. Either shipping or taking the luggage on the plane is probably the easiest way.
On the way back I took the train from Fukuoka to Tokyo, but I again shipped my cycle bag to the airport, as I was only staying in Tokyo for three nights before heading home.
If you want to cycle around Yakushima, it’s probably easiest to either ship your luggage, or fly to Kagoshima and take the ferry from there.
Bike and luggage ready for the ferry
Accommodation
Mount Yae Park was a quiet camping ground with a beautiful view
My goal for this last part of the adventure was to camp as much as possible, and with a bit of courage, I managed to do it! It wasn’t easy every night, and two of the nights I ended up eating cold dinners from the store, but it just added to the adventure. As it was way out of season, it looked easy to find hotels if you want that. One thing that surprised me was that some parks and beaches were closed for the season. People were still walking there, but parking and toilets were locked - luckily, it’s easy to jump a chained gate with a bike.
Not surprisingly, but my tent got drenched by just staying close to the sea
What I’m happy I did
I’m really happy I got some days on Yakushima island! One of the absolute highlights from my three month journey. Also cycling out of Kagoshima, a pretty big city in my eyes, was surprisingly nice, with a quiet long road going up to where I was camping for the night.
The south coast of the Nagasaki peninsula was also a beautiful ride in itself, with houses dotting the mountain side, and rolling hills. I got surprisingly many meters riding up and down, no wonder my legs were tired at the end of that day.
The sun going down outside of Nagasaki peninsula
Challenges
Being late in season meant that at least some parks and beaches, and therefore their toilets, were closed. Also, there were a lot fewer restaurants at the west coast of Kyushu, so I had to remember to check if I would have to eat dinner early, or if there actually was an open restaurant where I had planned to camp. The wind coming from the north was also a hurdle the further north I got.
For some reason this beach was closed for the season, even though the weather felt like a Norwegian early summer day
What would I change for my next trip
At no surprise I’m really happy with how my trip was, two nights in Yakushima felt too short, but it was still worth it to just take the ferry and cycle around! If I lived nearby, it would be a great weekend, or maybe even daytrip. It’s a beautiful island, that I want to explore more.
Cycling north of Kyushu was less interesting, as it was more crowded, and fewer old forgotten roads.
Curious roads on the south west side of Yakushima
Trip report
This trip report will be different than the others I’ve done. It will mostly be highlights and things I can recommend for others to experience. So no day-to-day updates. If you want to read the full report head on over to my Norwegian Plog and use Google Translate or something like that to translate the text to English.
October 27th to 28th - Yakushima
After being delayed for a day, I finally got to experience a sunset at Yakushima
From Imabari I shipped my bike and luggage to my hotel in Yakushima, so I didn’t have to worry about my bike while staying in Tokyo. Originally I was supposed to transfer planes in Kagoshima, but my first plane got delayed, so I had to stay a night in Kagoshima and take the jet ferry instead. I was looking forward to the propel plane to Yakushima, so that was a small bummer.
My first day started a bit later than I had planned, but I got my bike and luggage from my hotel, and they helped ship my bags to Fukuoka, where I’ll end this adventure. From the hotel I started cycling clock-wise around the island. First stop was Yakusugi Museum, a natural history museum, to learn more about the island.
One of the highlights from my trip around the island, and as a climber, the wall on the left looked very interesting
I stayed at Jerry’s camp site and Mandelas guest house, which was a nice spot to camp, and the host had great suggestions for hiking the mountain of Yakushima. We had a great chat before I left the next morning. Sadly didn’t have time for hiking on this trip, the weather forecast looked too rainy for me. The list of things I want to do in Japan just gets longer, and longer.
Next time I’ll come a little earlier in the day
The next morning I first cycled all the way up a steep hill to see Senpiro Falls, a beautiful waterfall. I also had my breakfast there, looking out at the sea, a beautiful start to the day.
After that I quickly rode down to see if I could try out Hirauchi Kaichu, an outdoor onsen by the coast, before it disappears in the sea with the tide. The tide was starting to eat it up when I arrived, but I stripped down, and got maybe 20 minutes, before I was just bathing in the sea. Still worth it if you ask me. For lunch, I stopped at Cafe La Ponto.
Monkeys everywhere, not afraid of cars, but a bit scared of bikes
The highlight of Yakushima was cycling the southern part of the island, a narrow windy road filled with monkeys, and deer! At first, I thought I would only see the monkeys once, but at the end I had to stop taking photos and looking at them, as they were all over the road for the next 20 km! // TODO: forrige setning kan bli bedre
Magnificent creatures. Deer, and monkeys, are smaller on the island, compared to the rest of Japan
October 29th to November 1st - The coast to Nagasaki
Stormy weather approaching
I was unsure if I would get off the island today, as it was so windy that the car ferry had stopped running, and the jet ferry website said only folded bikes were allowed on the boat. So I got up early and was ready when the ticket counter opened. Luckily the bike was no trouble, and I was able to take the first boat back to the “mainland”.
I had lunch in Kagoshima, before I changed to cycling clothes in a bathroom in the park, and brushed my teeth. I really felt like a bikepacker at that moment!
The sunset that night was magnificent, it was so quiet up at Mount Yae Park
From Kagoshima I cycled north, following the coast all the way up to Nagasaki. The first night I stayed at Yaeyama Park, and I was the only one there. Sadly the onsen was closed, but they had a camp ground house, where I could heat my food, and relax inside before going to sleep in my tent. It was so quiet and serene there.
For the first time, I got up before the sunrise
The next two days I did some island hopping. Shimoshima island, and the area around really felt like cycling back home in Oslo. You’re cycling close to the sea, riding on rolling hills, where you can see other islands on the other side of the water. Something that is quite uncommon in Japan. Most of Japan, when you’re at the coast, there is just sea as far as the eye can see, but here, there were islands all around you. Similar to the Shimanami Kaido, another beautiful place to cycle in Japan. This was a really breathtaking area to cycle in, and a perfect ending for my trip.
I cycled past an art exhibit made by the different school district in the area
One of the highlights for this stretch was the Mandarin museum, and old museum that hadn’t changed since the 1970s, but the staff there was lovely. I ended up chatting with them for nearly an hour. One of them had moved from Tokyo to work at the museums, because she was that interested in mandarins! And they did have some tasty mandarin.
It was a bit nightmare-ish to see the “dance”
From there I took two ferries in a row, and rode all the way up to Mount Unzen, and had a lovely stay at Yukai Resort Unzen Toyokan. It’s always fun to check out the Hells, and the smoke coming up from the ground.
I also cycled past something quite unique for Japan, a water reservoir, which was one of the top 100 water reservoirs. Only Japan has these kinds of lists
I was a bit ahead of my planning, as I had left Yakushima a day early because of the weather. So I had time to cycle to the bottom of the Nagasaki peninsula, to visit yet another dinosaur museum! The Nagasaki City Dinosaur Museum was small, but well worth the visit, they had a very real looking dinosaur robot!
Visited the hell on Mount Unzen
It turned out to not always be easy to find a camping spot every night. The tip of the Nagasaki peninsula was quite small, so I had to cycle up a small hill to find a camping spot. Staying down in the park around the museum felt too close to other people, I wanted a more remote park. While setting the tent up I nearly managed to lose it in the wind, as the ground at my first spot was too loose, so my pegs wouldn’t sit. So I ended up pitching the tent behind the restroom, the soil was really soft there.
Small museums, big skeletons
November 2nd, and 3rd - Nagasaki
The right hand symbolizes the threat of an atom bomb, while the left hand symbolizes peace
It was just a short ride into Nagasaki city, and I visited the Glover Garden on the way. Glover Garden is an old park and collection of houses from the time of modernization of Japan in the middle of the 19th century. I learned about the international trade history of Japan, and the importance it had for Nagasaki.
For my rest day I visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. It was smaller than the one in Hiroshima, but still really powerful, as was the peace park next to it.
In the evening I visited Mount Inasa Triangulation Point, which had a beautiful view of the city!
The night sky of Nagasaki, can you spot the hearth?
For dinner both days, I ate at Ramen Hiiragi, and I can really recommend. Maybe not the tomato ramen, that one kinda just tastes like tomato soup, but the other ones were really good.
Another Nagasaki highlight was the Pokémon ceramic traveling exhibition
November 4th to 7th - The last stretch
These are just too cute
Out of Nagasaki I was heading a little bit inland to see all the cute bus stops shaped like fruits. This is one of the many things I really enjoy about cycling in Japan, the cuteness and weirdness of it all.
I also had another Japan goal for this trip, to try out the hidden gem of brown cheese produced in Japan! Norway is famed for its brown cheese, and Nakashima Farm have taken inspiration and started making their own, so I had to try it now that I had the chance! Compared to Norwegian brown cheese, the texture is a bit off, it was too crumbly, and a little bland on the taste. Still recommend making the detour as the café is in a historical town (called Shiota-tsu Historic Townscape) with old buildings.
Brown cheese cake with cranberries
From the farmland, I was crossing over towards the coast to first visit a small Horseshoe Crab Center, before heading north to Genkai Undersea Observatory Tower. Can also recommend stopping by the Saga Prefectural Space & Science Museum, they had fun science activities.
I had beautiful weather these last days, but it was a bit hard to find open camp spots, so some of the toilets in the places where I camped near the end were closed.
I keep on finding roads that are long abandoned
I also rode through the Niji No Matsubara Pine Grove, which is an old man-made forest, built to protect the city from the harsh winds, and to avoid that the sea moves the sandy beach away.
There was yet another castle at the start of the man-made forest
It was getting chilly in the morning these last days, in early November. So I had to wear all the clothes that I had brought in the morning when I got up. Luckily it got warmer later in the day. so it was a perfect send off to my three months long adventure.
It has been a wonderful journey and something that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. As I’ve written these three posts about my trip, it’s been emotional to look back at it. Part of me wants to break free from my normal daily life to ride more and longer, but I also remember how mentally, and of course physically tired I was at the end of the trip too. It’s always easier to remember the good parts. Luckily this is not my last adventure, and even though Japan is not my next destination, I will come back!
It was time to pack up