6 Day road trip across Kyushu, Japan. Top places to visit in Kyushu (4K)

6 Day road trip across Kyushu, Japan. Top places to visit in Kyushu (4K)

[Music] Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan with mostly subtropical climate and 10% of the total population of Japan being the nearest island to Asian continent. Historically, Kyushu has been the gateway to Japan. This land is known as the land of active volcanoes and Japan’s most active volcano, Mount Aso, is right here. Kyushu is mountainous and is very famous for its natural hot springs such as those at Bapu. Its city of Fukoka is home to museums, mega malls, and ancient Shintu shrines. We pretty much drove across most of the island, if not all, because my wife likes to see it all in one trip. So, follow along as we travel across Kyushu on a 6-day road trip. Hi, I’m Fzan. I got into traveling since I met my wife Chien and the journey has not stopped since. We’ve traveled to a lot of places within US and around the world, but this one was a little special as now we also have our infant explorer with us. We call him Razi. [Music] Landing at Saga airport. Already impressed with the Japanese idea of laboratory hygiene, we began our journey towards Fukoka, which is 40 mi north to Saga airport and our first destination. Hotel. This is Fukoka city. Fukoka is the most popular city on Kyushu Island and is the sixth largest city in Japan. It’s known for its ancient temples, beaches, and modern shopping malls, including the Canal City. We stayed in Hakata, the business hub of Fukoka and the terminus for the bullet train line that runs from Tokyo to Kyushu. Fukoka’s Hakata has an amazing underground market connected to Akata station with so many options to all kinds of shops and restaurants. So this is beautiful. [Music] USA underground restaurants, desserts famous. [Music] What’ you get? Two sweets. [Music] Japan specific. Thank you. Honey very balanced and it’s pretty good. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you. basement floors and buildings. Very again I said very Japan specific. [Music] And then there is this canal city Hakkata, an artificial canal that runs right through the middle of a very popular shopping and entertainment complex. At the center of the canal, there is a fountain with water shows every 30 minutes. I mean, if water fountains is your thing. We were there during Christmas times, so it was extra special. Hakata was bright, beautiful, and alive with all the hype. Christmas and holiday season is in full swing. And also very importantly, when in Hakata, why not buy some electronics? Hey, it’s all taxfree. [Music] Desifu, a shrine for learning, culture, and art for more than a millennium. This is one of Japan’s most important Shinto shrines and one of the top places to visit in Fukoka. With more than 3 million visitors a year, the shrine and its surroundings are ancient, but its approach to ours is timeless, blending the spirituality and creativity in a unique environment. This place had an ultimate vibe of a sanctuary and very much being in Japan. Welcome to Desu. [Music] This is the first very first temple in Japan that we have visited. You hear the drum beat in the back. That’s a beauty. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Beu Anen on Oita’s east coast is one of the most famous hotring towns in Japan. It produces more hotring water than any other place in the country and the view of the townscape with plumes of rising steam is striking. Beu is especially famous for its hells or jikoku in Japanese. Hot springs that reach over 100° C. There are seven spectacular hot springs in a hotring system in Oita called hells of baboon. The largest of the hells is umi jikoku. Umi means sea. Contrary to the name hell, the cobalt blue color gives the water a beautiful and dazzling appearance. in on usually island Japan. Heat. Heat. [Music] One of the smallest hot springs located within the larger complex of Pumi Jukoku is Akai Jikoku or Red Hill. The name comes from the red hot spring mud filling the pond. Hells of Beu got the name from the mysterious and temperamental springs here. boiling water and gas bubbling up to the land so violently that people in ancient times feared its presence. These are too hot to soak in, not your regular hot springs. So, better just watch from a distance. Wow. Boo in Kyoshu Island, Japan. First experience at any onen in the world. Hotring. This is umi onen. Umi hotring. Um Joku [Music] [Music] Driving through the winding roads and breathing in the scenic views of a spectacular Mount Yufu comes Euphrin village located at the base of this mountain. This village is inspired by the Cotsworld village of England which were also used as inspiration for the Harry Potter books and films. The village features shops including a Harry Potter themed area. Close by is a small lake and a popular spot for scenic walks and enjoying the surrounding landscape including the Euin Floral Village. [Music] Well, so this This is a house, a villa which we rented for the night. Let’s show you how cool it is. So, let’s go in the back. This is the view of the house. It’s beautiful. We’re in the back from Beu and all the way down here because all the mountains are all famous for their hot springs. It’s very culturally like in Japanese culture do have hot springs. Ooh, nice. This is so cool. It’s pretty warm. Wow. and indoor which is I’ve been told oh much higher so well that is so cool so we drive a lot wherever we go and one thing my wife is always googling for is a place a good place to grab coffee and some snacks for the road so on our way to Mount Aso we found this amazing cafe in the middle of nowhere not expecting what We’re going to find inside. [Music] in the middle of nowhere. Highway. This is what we found. And this is such an interesting place. Hey, I want all the viewers, whoever drive on this highway, drive on this road. I would urge everybody to stop here, look around. So, this is a very little cute looking place where nobody I think they have some music also uh on weekends. I I suppose. And look at the bakery stuff they have over here. And look at this. And this one cute woman runs this business. And I was not anticipating to see this. So viewers, whoever drives on these highways, come along. Look around. This is beautiful. So I say whoever drives along on these highways from Euin from east to west or whatever in Japan, I would say give it a stop, have a coffee, talk to the amazing this lady and uh have a few seconds here, a few minutes, I would say. So look around. So would you want to stop here? I would every time I drive. So, well, see you in the next destination. [Music] This is the second hike for Razi, huh? Yes, she is. Second hike. Keep going. [Applause] [Music] Mount Aso or Aso volcano. This is the largest active volcano and one of the most popular volcanoes of Japan. It stands in Asukujo National Park in Kumamoto. It last erupted on October 2021, sending a massive plume of dark volcanic smoke up to 3,500 m. [Music] This is a very active volcano as you can see. But unfortunately, it became a little more active as we drove up to the rim when announcements went off to stay clear of the crater. Hence, the access to the crater room was closed. We could still walk around to capture the scale of the crater and the activity. However, I’ll be honest to admit that I was very, very consciously walking to not go too far from my car in case there’s more serious sirens to come. [Music] Come on. [Music] Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Hey, Heat. [Music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Well, there are 280 steps for this shrine. Razi going to climb 280 steps. Is it right? Okay. Kami Shikimi Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Takamorei, Kumamoto. as remote and peaceful as it gets. The ascent up to the shrine is approximately 300 steps and offers a sense of remoteness and sacred atmosphere. Most noticeable and famous features of the shrine are the gate, path of shrine and the stone entrance. I say famous because of the shrine being the setting of a popular anime and manga comic which was set here in this very forest around the shrine. According to the story, a boy was abandoned in these forest and was raised by ghosts. Sees a lonely girl in the forest and falls in love, but couldn’t say a word that he was different. They met every day, talked and walked the stairs of the shrine, but wouldn’t say his feelings. The girl wasn’t allowed to touch him or he’ll vanish, which he did in the end. What a sad story. [Music] [Music] So quiet, so peaceful. This [Music] is [Music] [Music] here. [Music] Hello. [Music] Today is the boat ride. Takiho Gorge and Razi, how we doing? Hey, he’s interested. Never mind. He’s interested in something else. Okay. You going to help? I don’t think so. Okay. All right. Well, the guy told me to keep my legs stretched, but I guess my legs are fall off. Keep hitting the paddles. No, this side more. This side. All right. Thank you. This spectacular gorge in northern Miyazaki was formed after the eruption from nearby volcano Mount Hasso 100,000 years ago. It’s a narrow chasm cut through the rock by the river. The nearly sheer cliffs lining the gorge are made of volcanic basalt columns. Partway along the gorge is the 17 m waterfall cascading down to the river below. And it’s truly impressive to see the waterfall against a backdrop of surrounding gray cliffs and dense green foliage, especially in fall season. [Music] Okay. Okay, so I was saying you see this formation on the rock. This is the quick cooling down of the lava from as volcano that made this formation. Do you see that rainbow? Yeah. Wow. Rainbow rainbow. There are two perspectives from which you can enjoy the gorge. The first one is from below which is done by rowing down the river in this so calm and easy to navigate water. By the way, the rental boards are available at the south end of the gorge. This highly recommended route offers a close-up view of the cliff and the waterfall. The second perspective is from above and is done by walking the paved path that runs along the edge of the gorge. There are beautiful views all along the way. And at some points on the trail, you can look practically straight down to the river below. And actually, there’s a third view, bird’s eye view from the top of the gorge. [Music] I don’t think the audio is going to be good enough, but this is Tako Takiho and it’s Korea. [Music] Thanks for watching and if you also wish to visit Kyushu one day, just hit like and subscribe and the Karma Fairy will make your wish come true.

Kyushu, the southwestern most of Japan’s main islands, has a mostly subtropical climate. It’s known for its active volcanoes, beaches and natural hot springs such as those at Beppu. Its city of Fukuoka is home to museums, mega-malls and Kushida-jinja, an 8th-century Shinto shrine.
Fukuoka, Hells of Beppu, Kamishikimi Shrine, Mount Aso, Takachiho gorge and much more. Our itinerary of 6 days in Kyushu Japan
Time stamps:
00:00 – Kyushu intro
0:53 – How i got into travelling
1:26 – Fukuoka City (Day 1)
5:50 – Dazaifu Temple (Day 2)
7:32 – Hells of Beppu, Oita (Day 3)
11:00 – Yufuin Floral Village (Day 3)
13:32 – Humpty Dumpty Bakery (Day 4)
15:24 – Mt. Aso (Day 4)
18:29 – Kamishikimi Shrine (Day 5)
21:07 – Takachiho Gorge (Day 6)