I went to Yakushima for tea, but it would have been silly of me to go there only for the tea. After all, Yakushima was the inspiration for the forest in Princess Mononoke (it’s a great movie – go watch it if you haven’t!). Since we were going to stay the night, I wanted to try at least one trail. There’s only one catch – I am not a very good hiker. The first proper hike I went on was to Suicide Cliff in Hong Kong and that did not go well, to say the least.

The preparation for the hike was a bit of a worry. I read a lot about needing specific clothes and shoes, but those posts were also for the longer, whole-day hikes that I didn’t plan on doing. So I decided to pack regular exercise clothes and rent whatever else was needed. But as it turned out, I didn’t need to worry! The beginner trails are actually very accessible and I’d recommend them to anyone who’s interested in exploring the nature in Yakushima.

The trails are located in two locations: Yakusugi Land and Shiratani Unsuikyo. There are entrance fees to help with the conservation efforts, but if you go to both you can get a 200 yen discount (just show your ticket from the first place you visited when you buy tickets at the second).

Yakusugi Land

This was the first place we visited, since it’s relatively near our hotel in Anbo, and the one with the easiest trails. For beginners like me, there are thirty minute and fifty-minute trails.

We went on the 50-minute trail and it was lovely! I think we reached about 9am so there weren’t too many people and we got to take in nature.

The paths for the two beginner trails are paved so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about.

There are quite a lot of steps but they are pretty even and easy to climb (they were definitely easier than the steps leading up York Minster!)

Some of the sights along the way.

It was still summer when I visited, but due to the elevation it was actually pretty cool on the trails.

Shiratani Unsuikyo

Since the trails at Yakusugi Land were pretty easy, I was optimistic for Shiratani Unsuikyo. I had the hope of making it to the moss forest that’s supposed to have inspired Princess Mononoke, but that is part of a longer trail and we didn’t have enough time.

This was at the entrance!

There are three official courses around Shiratani Unsuikyo – a one-hour course, a three-hour course, and a four-hour course. If you’re planning to go to the Mononoke moss forest, you’ll have to go for the four-hour course. According to the guide, there are paths that may get your feet wet, so if you’re looking to go there you might want to get proper hiking shoes.

Unlike Yakusugi Land, the path on the one hour course can get a bit rocky at times. Personally, I found this manageable.

For me, the most difficult part was the climb up this huge rock. Thankfully, I didn’t have to climb down (we used an alternative path) so I was okay as long as I made sure I didn’t look down.

Given my fear of heights, you can imagine how happy I was to have successfully gone up the rock and through the rest of the trail.

As with Yakusugi Land, the scenery is amazing.

It started to rain a little while we were on the trail which made everything seem even more magical.

Although I took most of my photos before the rain started.

Personally, I found this trail to be a bit more challenging than Yakusugi Land but still easy enough for a beginner like me. But if you’re travelling with elderly folk or very young children, you may want to stick to Yakusugi Land – the paths there are easy to walk on and you can still see lots of yakusugi (old cedar trees).

More information

Yakusugi Land and Shiratani Unsuikyo Official Site

Yakusugi Land Pamphlet (Japanese) – There is a map on the second page, and in case you don’t read Japanese, the orange trail is the 30 minute course, the red trail is the 50 minute course, the blue trail is the 80 minute course, and the purple trail is the 150 minute course.

Shiratani Unsuikyo Pamphlet (Japanese) – The map is on the second page and the three trails are also marked out: red for the 1 hour course, orange for the 3 hour course, and green for the 4 hour course. The exclamation points are areas where you have to be careful during the times where the river banks are flooded.

Getting there: There’s free parking, so if you’re driving like we did, we’d recommend just driving up the mountain. We also saw a few buses, but as I didn’t take them, I don’t really know the timings – this post from Yakumonkey seems to have more information.

Price: 500 yen for entrance to one of the parks, 800 yen for entrance to both parks (you’ll have to pay twice – 500 yen and 300 yen)