Yakushima Articles

The South-west coast of Yakushima NAKAMA BEACH 中間浜 Location: Nakama (See Google maps) Nakama beach Nakama is a quiet village and the beach is usually deserted. It’s the best place on the island to surf.   TSUKAZAKI TIDAL POOLS 塚崎タイドプール Location: Kurio (See Google maps) Tsukazaki Tidal pool is usually

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

‘Princess Mononoke’, the Studio Ghibli animation, was inspired by the thick forests of Yakushima.  Hayao Miyazaki stayed in Anbo and roamed the forests with his crew before drawing the storyboard. There are many parts in the film that match Yakushima’s distinct scenery exactly. Just as art imitates life, so life imitates art

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

Nagata Trail Hanayama Trail Kurio Trail Yudomari Trail Onoaida Trail Tachu dake Trail Aiko dake Trail Mochomu dake Trail Ryujinsugi Trail Illustrations by www.realwave-corp.com

You need to be cautious when swimming in the sea around the island as the current runs very near to the shore and would sweep you away in a second. I was a flying fish fisherman on Yakushima and the strength of the tides on the fishing boat never ceased