Highlights of Kyushu Island, Japan

Our journey begins in the bustling coastal city of Fukuoka on the northern shore of Japan’s southern Kyushu Island (one of the four main islands of Japan). It has long been the gateway to Japan, being the nearest point to the Asian mainland. On arrival at Fukuoka International Airport, you will be met by an English-speaking Assistant Guide who will provide you with your travel documents and vouchers and accompany you to your hotel using public transport. We provide you with a local IC Card that is preloaded with 1500 JPY and usable on most local public transport nationwide. This gives you flexibility throughout the trip to travel independently. Your assistant can advise you of suitable places to eat near to the hotel, or further afield, as you wish.You have the rest of your day and evening at leisure, to explore, and recover from your travel. We can recommend visiting the observation deck of Fukuoka Tower - a 234m tall triangular tower covered in 8000 1-way mirrors! Alternatively, if you need a bit of calm, then Rakusui-en is an urban oasis; a Japanese-style garden with a delightful pond at the former villa (dating back to 1906) of a Hakata merchant. Both can be easily reached from your hotel, and reception can advise you regarding transport.For those arriving early, please note that you will be able to leave your luggage at the start hotel, but room check-in is only available after 15:00.Stay at: Hakata Tokyu Rei

Your English-speaking guide will meet you at the hotel after breakfast, to accompany you today by train (Nishitetsu rail ticket is included) to Dazaifu, a town first established in the late 7th Century as an administrative centre for Kyushu. Today it is a small and quiet city in the hills, best known for the Tenmangu Shrine which we will visit today. It is probably the most important Tenmangu Shrines in Japan, all of which are dedicated to the spirit of Sugawara Michizane, a scholar and politician of the Heian Period. Political rivalries resulted in Michizane being exiled to Dazaifu, where he passed away a few years later. A series of natural disasters followed which were linked to his 'unjust treatment' and offerings began to be made to appease his 'wrathful spirit'! Michizane was fond of plum trees and there are as many as 6000 on the grounds of Dazaifu Tenmangu. We also enjoy a visit to the serene Komyozenji Temple, belonging to the Tofukuji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism. Particularly noteworthy are its tranquil zen rock gardens including one where the rocks have been strategically placed to form the Japanese character for 'light'. You have some free time in Dazaifu to explore at your leisure before taking the local train back to Fukuoka for an evening at leisure. Stay at: Hakata Tokyu Rei

Your destination today is Nagasaki, an attractively situated port city infamous of course for being the second city, after Hiroshima, to be destroyed by an atomic bomb towards the end of World War 11. Travelling independently by train from Hakata Station in Fukuoka, direct to Nagasaki (approx 2 hr train journey), and using your JR All Kyushu pass, you will be met in Nagasaki by your English-speaking guide. You will be accompanied to your hotel to leave your luggage before heading out to explore Dejima, once a man-made island in Nagasaki port, but since joined to the main city by reclaimed land. It has been preserved as a historic area with reconstructed warehouses, merchant homes, walls & gates and work is afoot to try and re-create its island status by digging canals around its sides. Other areas you will visit today include Shinchi, Nagasaki's Chinatown and Oranda-zaka; a scenic sloping street in Higashiyamatea area, where Dutch merchants settled in the second half of the 19th Century. Your guide will also accompany you to Glover Garden, an open-air museum and the former residence of Thomas Glover, a Scottish merchant who moved to Nagasaki in 1859 and was a leading figure in the early history of Japan's industrialisation. Stay at: New Nagasaki

Wander independently to the pier after breakfast this morning for your cruise to Hashima island, aka 'Gunkanjima', or 'Battleship' island. A 20-minute ferry ride from Nagasaki, the island was, until 1974, a coal mine, with accommodation built to house 5000 workers & families. Now abandoned, and damaged over the years by typhoons, it has an eerie and haunting atmosphere. A new docking area for boats has been created to safely allow visitors onto the island via 3 observation decks. The risk of a building collapse limits how close visitors are able to get to the disused mine or residential areas. You may recognise the island from the external shots used in the 2012 James Bond movie, Skyfall. You have the rest of your day to yourself in Nagasaki, to explore in a little more depth. We have several recommendations. You may want to visit the Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum, a tranquil and sobering commemorative space built for the tens of thousands of people killed on August 9th 1945. The monolith is built at the blast epicentre alongside a museum where the mission is to inform future generations of the horrors of war.Oura Cathedral and Museum, a Catholic Church built in 1864 for foreign merchants, and the oldest Christian church in Japan is worth a visit, or perhaps you would like to enjoy the Ropeway ride to Mount Inasa (333m), bizarrely close to the city centre. The views are fantastic, especially at night, and help explain why Nagasaki is also known as 'Crane Port', with the silhouette of a crane, with its wings spread, clear to see. Stay at: New Nagasaki

We have plenty of recommendations for your self-guided day in Yufuin Onsen, a popular hot spring resort that is delightful to explore, with its art museums, cafes and boutiques. Although fairly lengthy (your train journey, using your JR All Kyushu Rail Pass will take around 4hours) it is a wonderful opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery. The route will take you through rice paddies and beautiful rural landscapes to Yufuin, set on a flat river basin surrounded by mountains, more specifically, with a backdrop of the twin peaks of Mount Yufu.At one end of town is Lake Kinrinko, just 1.5km from the station, and a lovely place to wander, and visit the shrine at the lake's southern end. The town boasts several public bathhouses, some only for local residents, though the Shitanyu is open for visitors. There are options to enjoy an onsen tour if you would like hot spring bathing to be the focus of your day!You stay tonight in Yufuin at a traditional ryokan, where you will enjoy a delicious traditional Japanese dinner, before continuing your journey to Kumamoto tomorrow afternoon.Stay at: Yufuin Sansuikan

Spend a relaxed morning for as long as you would like, before catching a train from Yufuin Onsen to Kumamoto, via Kurume, a total journey of around 2 hours. Regular departures enable you to choose where you would like to spend your time, as long as you arrive in Kumamoto in time to spend the night at your hotel there. There is much to see in Kumamoto so you can split your itinerary between today and tomorrow (see Day 8 itinerary for details).Stay at: Mitsui Garden Kumamoto

Enjoy a self-guided tour of Kumamoto city encompassing some favourite spots: Kumamoto Castle: one of Japan's largest and most complete castles, with magnificent and extensive grounds. Constructed in 1607, only a few original structures have survived its turbulent history of sieges, uprisings and fires, not helped by the more recent 2016 earthquake which caused some serious damage. The castle keep had already been a high-quality modern reconstruction, and has been further restored since 2016.The picturesque Uto Turret is one of the original buildings that has survived since its construction. Worth seeing is the reconstructed Honamaru Goten Palace, now housing accurate recreations of the opulent surroundings in which the daimyo (local feudal lord) would live. There are over 800 cherry trees in the grounds, pretty at most times of year, but obviously striking in the spring (15min tram ride from Kumamoto Station).Suizenji Garden: Find some peace and quiet wondering around the spacious Suizenji Garden, a traditional Japanese-style space built by the Hosokawa family in the 17th Century to represent the 53 post stations of the Tokaido (the road that connected Edo with Kyoto during the Edo Period) including a mini Mt Fuji! (15min tram ride from Kumamoto Station.)Lafcadio Hearn's former residence: Known in Japan under his Japanese name 'Koizumi Yakumo', Lafcadio Hearn was one of the first Western authors to write books about Japan, including 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan' and 'Kwaidan: Stories & Studies of Strange Things'. Hearn lived in Kumamoto City from 1891 to 1894 and his former home is open to the public, with a small museum about his life & works. This afternoon you jump on a Shinkansen Bullet Train (included) which departs at regular and frequent intervals to Kagoshima. Make your way to your comfortable 3* hotel using public transport or grabbing a taxi (not included).Stay at: Sunflex Kagoshima

Kagoshima is Kyushu's southernmost city and enjoys a mild climate, symbolised by palm tree-lined avenues. The iconic symbol of the city is the just offshore (3.5km), still active and constantly smoking, Sakurajima volcano (1117m) in Kagoshima Bay, which periodically experiences minor eruptions. Although a larger-than-usual eruption in 1914 connected the volcanic island to the Osumi Peninsula in the east, the best way to access the island is still by ferry. You are joined by an English-speaking local guide today, to help you to make the most of your short time in the city. Sakurajima has 3 main peaks (north, middle & southern) with the latter being the most active. For obvious reasons, visitors are not able to approach within 2km of the volcano's craters, but you can access several observation points to witness the mini eruptions and rising plumes of smoke. There is also an onsen, numerous long foot baths along a stretch of land offering views onto the bay and across the water to Kagoshima City, plus hiking trails that start at the information centre close to the Ferry Terminal . You will follow the Nagisa Lava trail; 3km of walking along the water and through a lava flow, where you can see how nature is recovering (and flourishing) post-eruption. Taking the return ferry to Kagoshima, Senganen Gardens (aka Isoteien) is not to be missed. The landscaped gardens, built in 1658 by the wealthy Shimazu clan who ruled the Satusma domain for almost 700 years, offer striking views of Kagoshima Bay and Sakurajima. The centrally situated residence (Iso Residence) was reconstructed in the 1880s and its rooms have been preserved to show life as it was around the time of the reconstruction. Many of the buildings here are classified as UNESCO World Heritage sites; particularly those relating to Japan's earliest Western-style machinery factories and the use of charcoal and hydropower as a power source. Enjoy an evening of leisure before the group arrives tomorrow for the Lost Islands of Japan adventure, if you are joining this also: You will join the itinerary on Day 2 of the tour, as your fellow travellers will have been journeying to Japan during Day 1. If this is a separate trip we will arrange your onward travel from here.