After a chancing across a Japanese rail-fan’s account of his lone expedition to Yakushima Island in 1976, we decided to follow his footsteps and travel from Kagoshima to the Island by overnight cargo ship to arrive at dawn in late October 2019. Yakushima Island is a solidified magma dome that was uplifted so fast it failed to weather and lies between Taiwan and Kyushu in Southern Japan. We wanted to explore what remains of Yakushima’s four little known 2’6″ gauge forest railways which used efficient but dangerous methods and a constant gradient track to gravitate precious Cedar from the high mountains down to the coast. The ‘Arakawa Railway’ near Anbo is Japan’s last operating narrow gauge forest railway. Today, it remains a popular walk for tourists wanting to see Jomon Sugi, Japan’s oldest tree so we were lucky to walk and film the Railway’s entire length one day before taking a ride the next afternoon with Forestry management in Arakawa’s delightfully green, ‘Gentleman’s Speeder’!
I’m guiding a series of small group, narrow gauge rail tours to Taiwan and Japan. Highlights of the Taiwan tour is a visit to the spectacular Alishan Forest Railway which climbs from sea level to 2.200m in just 75 kilometers and on special occasions, still operates a Shay geared locomotive!
Check out OzSteam.com for more information as well as tour departure dates.
AloJapan.com