Yakushima Newsletter May 2010

FOOD SPECIALITIES: Tankan oranges: Ponkan oranges: Passion fruit: Flying fish: Just the smell of them now is enough to set the nausea wheels in motion (see creatures in the sea to find out why), but others insist how tasty they are. Mitake shochu: So popular that to buy a bottle

The Arakawa Trail Entrance Shuttle bus. The stretch of road between Arakawa junction and the Arakawa Trail Entrance is closed to traffic and walkers between May 2th and 5th for 4 days and July 7th and Sept 22nd for 67 days. The only way you can get to the Trail

Yakushima is famous for its wooden Yakusugi crafts. These are made from Yakusugi tree trunks, often 1000s of years old, which were lying on the forest floor. They are brought down the mountain, sliced into manageable pieces and distributed to craftsmen around the coast. It is an incredibly difficult task to change these chunks

There are 6 mountain huts on Yakushima’s mountain ranges. All of them offer a dry place to sleep and a toilet but little else. Water can be found in the streams that run near to them and like all the rivers and streams in the higher mountains is crystal clear

Yakushima offers a selection of campsites around the coast ranging from virtually no facilities to cabins and open air hot tubs. Much more information about each campsite has been included in the guide book but I have listed the bare bones of each place below. Booking ahead is rather difficult

The North East of Yakushima covers the area from Isso around to Anbo and includes the airport area and Miyanoura. There are lots of things to do and here is a selection. SHITOKO GAJUMARU BANYAN PARK Location: Shitoko (See Google maps) A small park full of banyan trees which have distinctive