Hiking guide to Jomon Sugi – when to visit
The following is a guide to choose the best time to hike to Jomon Sugi. It is based on visitor numbers from previous years and is to help avoid adding to the queues of hikers on the trail. If at all possible visit outside of the busy periods so that you can experience the forest as it should be experienced and not standing in line behind groups of colourful aging tourists!
You can download the PDF below:
Guide to Visiting Jomon Sugi, Yakushima(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();
Hi. We are planning to visit Japan in md-late Feb / Early March of next year, and really want to visit Yakushima. Are there restrictions about visiting Jomon Sugi or the other trails at this time? The guide shows March onwards for 2011 but nothing for Feb.
The only restriction will be the amount of snow on the trails. This year there was snow until the end of March.
Hi! Amazing site with lots of information. Many thanks for taking the time and effort.
I will be visiting Japan this November and thought that I would include 3 nights (arriving on the 8th and leaving on the 11th) in Yakushima. I will be flying from Itami to Yakushima. I wonder if this sector is covered by the JAL "Welcome to Japan Fare"?
I have checked weather underground for the weather of the last 5 years in Yakushima and it seems the odds of it raining are 2 in 5. It didn't rain on these days last year or in 2006-7, but did rain on the rest of these year. I'm willing to take the chance 🙂
I wish I could stay more by my time in Japan is limited so I hope 3 days will be enough to cover the major attractions. One day hiking + One day visiting attractions + rest of time relaxing and enjoying the scenery is what I'm aiming for.
How about January? Is it possible to trek to Jomon Sugi then?
Yes, but you have to know how to hike through snow.
Hello- I am planning a trip to yakushima arriving on the 17th March 2012 midday. I was wondering if this arrival plus one full day, the 18th, leaving on the 19th to get the ferry to Kagoshima, was enough time.
I want to do The Shiratani Unsuikyo forest hike on the 18th. I wont have a car to drive around the island; just take buses to do this little adventure.
As I will be flying further south to visit Iriomote and finally back to Okinawa's beach islands, will one full day at Yakushima be enough to gain a worthwhile experience? Or do you strongly recommend staying 2 full days and 2 travel days?
Thankyou – your website is brilliant
This sounds feasible if you stay in Miyanoura and take the bus to/from Shiratani. Take the longest circular walk and you'll get a sense of the forest. It all depends on the weather as to how enjoyable it may be.
I find your website really interesting and informative. I believe readers who have intention to visit Yakushima would greatly benefit from the useful shared information. Keep up the good work!
We are planning to go to Yakushima this November (26-29) spending a total of 3 days two nights there. I read that it has the most rain in November and will it be dangerous to hike to Jomon Sugi in heavy rain? What precautions do we need to take? Is it a good idea to rent a car since there are four of us?
No, November is normally fine. Most rain falls in rainy season – June/July. There's not normally much rain in November unless there's a late typhoon. It starts to get a bit chilly in the mountains though, so you need warm clothes. If there are 4 of you, definitely rent a car – it will be much easier.
Hello, thanks for all the great info! I will be visiting Yakushima late December and was wanting to do some hiking around the island, but by the sounds of it the snow will make it pretty difficult. Would you advise against hiking at this time, and if so then is it still worth visiting? Thanks in advance!
If you're an experienced hiker, it should be fine but if not you may have difficulties. It's very cold up there and there's usually thick snow.
Hello. I'm going to Yakushima on 8 and 9 December next month. I noticed that the calendar in this website does not have December to February dates. Is there a reason for this?
Thanks.
Yes, the reason is that the buses don't run and the mountain road gets blocked with snow.
Hi, we're visitng Yakushima in February. Is it true that there are no buses running? Will it be difficult to get around? And will it be worthwhile hiking the main trails, or too difficult?
Buses do run around the coast but it's the coldest month of the year with snow on the mountains. You can hike some of the lower trails without much trouble but if you want to hike in the higher mountains, you need to be prepared for hiking in the snow.
Thanks for sharing the hiking guide !!
Hi Yakumonkey, we are planning to visit Yakushima on the 28th of February to the 3rd of March, do you know whether there will be a lot of bugs and the big asian wasps around that time?
Furthermore, we were hoping to do a hike to one of the waterfalls around Yakushima, which one would you recommend and will it be feasible to do for this time of year (we are not experienced hikers and it will be our first time). Yet, we would like to hike and see a waterfall that is quite beautiful and scenic.
Can you recommend any places to stay that is close to what we want to do i.e. canoeing/close to the beach (where it will be warm)/ hiking/waterfalls/good restaurants/beautiful scenery… Maybe this is hoping for too much.
Any tips/feedback that we should know would be very much appreciated.
Hi Yakumonkey,
thank you so much for sharing all this information. I also bought your book and I think it is very helpful to plan our trip.
I have one remaining question: how much snow will be there in March? We will be traveling in Japan from 7th till 20th of march and were planning to spend 3-4 nights on Yakushima, mainly to go hiking. Which trails will be accessible around that time, meaning mostly without snow?
Many thanks for your help!
Sarah
Hello Sarah. All the snow should have melted by then so you'll have the pick of the trails.
We really want to visit Yakushima in middle of december for a few days. I am aware that it is cold and that there might be snow but is it possible to still hikie up to Jomon sugi?
We don't have much time and so was wandering if it was worth going if we cant do majority of the hikes. We are experienced hikers but not on snow.