Before I went to Yakushima, I went online to look for some itineraries for inspiration. I quickly realised that most of the online itineraries were based around hiking, which is great if you’re a hiker but not so great if you’re me and only planning some beginner-level hikes/walks.

In the end, I decided to just wing it and only made an appointment for my visit to Hachimanjyu. But everything turned out great and I had fun, so I thought I’d share my itinerary if you’re like me and wondering what you can do in Yakushima.

Day 1

We boarded the 7:45 am Toppy boat to Yakushima, arriving at 9:45 am. We were greeted by our car rental company when we arrived and quickly got our car.

Our first stop was Hachimanjyu Tea Farm. It’s a must-visit for tea lovers: their shop stocks not only tea made in their farm but also local produce from all over Yakushima. Their green tea ice-cream is amazing too!

We decided to drive around Yakushima after visiting the farm, since Watanabe-san pointed out several spots accessible by car. Next stops: Senpiro no Taki and Ryujin no Taki.

The Yakushima Larva Pillow Field (枕状溶岩) is also pretty close by and you can visit them after the waterfalls, but we totally missed the turn on day one and only found it the following day. Parking is pretty limited here and it’s literally just a small beach with a few cool rock formations (which I didn’t take a picture of) but if you want to be by yourself, it’s a nice spot.

For lunch, we dropped by Sushisho. Their food was so good – we had the Ladies Set (1300 yen) which comprised of seven pieces of sushi, one piece of tamago, miso soup, chawamushi, and ice cream. The sushi is made from freshly caught fish and paired perfectly with the rice. If you love sushi, I’d definitely recommend this place.

After lunch, we continued our drive along the island, stopping by the outdoor onsen and Ohko no Taki before going onto the Seibu Rindo. The drive through the forest took us almost an hour, but we managed to make it out before the road closed. I wish we could have dallied and see the sunset, but it was time to check-in so we drove to the hotel and ended up having an early night.

Day 2

We woke up bright and early the next day to visit hiking places! Yakusugi Land was closer so we went there first. I thought of visiting the Yakusugi Museum before Yakusugi Land, but the museum wasn’t open when we reached so we continued on to Yakusugi Land first and dropped by after the hike.

To be honest, I didn’t really think that Yakusugi Museum was going to be very interesting, but it was mentioned several times so I decided to drop by. It turns out that the history of Yakushima is closely tied to Yakusugi and the museum it super fascinating! We learnt about the trees, how the people of Yakushima harvested them, and how the relationship between nature and people has evolved over time.

Don’t worry if you don’t speak Japanese, the museum has this speaker pen that will give you the English explanation of the exhibits. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the explanations were too – I didn’t have to translate much for my mum.

We weren’t too hungry after the museum, so we headed straight for Shiratani Unsuikyo. It’s pretty close to Budget Rent-a-car (once you come down from the mountain), so we returned the car after that and got a lift to the ferry terminal. There’s another museum with a cafe within walking distance of the ferry terminal, so we had some food there while waiting for our ferry.

By the time we reached Kagoshima, it was evening time and we headed straight to our hotel near the train station. Luckily, I didn’t decide to take a train to Sasebo the same day – I think that would have been a bit too much!

There’s definitely more that you can do in Yakushima – if you go at the right season, you can take a look at their turtles (that’s something that I want to visit someday!). But for me, this was a great introduction to the island and it left me wanting to go back.

Where We Stayed

If you’re wondering where to stay, I’d recommend Hotel Auberge in Anbo. There’s a port there, but you can also drive or take the bus down from Miyanoura if you’re disembarking there. For about SGD$100 per person a night, we had an amazing dinner and breakfast included in our stay. If you book through their website, it’s slightly cheaper and they’ll give you a few perks as well (we got two bottles of juice!)

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The food was truly amazing. We received a seven-course dinner featuring fish. Apart from sashimi, we had fried fish (made from the sashimi fish), handmade fishcakes, melt-in-your-mouth nikujaga, and so much more. We were stuffed by the time the meal ended. Breakfast was also great – fluffy white rice, a fresh egg, and fish!

If you don’t want to worry about dinner and breakfast, I’d recommend getting the 2 meal + stay set. We got the Japanese-style room and had a pretty comfy time there as well, so overall I really liked Hotel Auberge and would recommend it.

I hope this helps give you some ideas if you’re thinking about visiting Yakushima. If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll try to answer them.

Featured Image: Photo by Me