Kyushu: Things to Do and Places to Eat throughout Kyushu
- Next Stage Travel
- Jan 14
- 19 min read
On this page you can jump to sections on Kumamoto, Yakushima, Yufuin, Beppu, Takachiho (Gorge) and Mt. Aso, and Obi Castle Town in Nichinan
There are separate pages for Kagoshima things to do and food, Fukuoka things to do, Food in Fukuoka, and Nagasaki To Do and Eat.
Also, note that we mostly used trains and buses to get from place to place. We did, however, rent a car when going from Beppu to Takachiho to Obi Castle Town in Nichinan to Kagoshima, and then when we were on Yakushima Island. Read about car rentals here.
Kumamoto
Kumamoto Castle
The castle grounds have many souvenir shops, snacks, and a museum. The museum was mostly a chance for interactive photos; unless you have kids, probably skip it.
The castle is the largest still existing in Japan. It has an impressive moat and 6 floors in the main castle building. They continue with restorations and reconstruction, with an estimate of completion in 2028.
The main castle can be toured but reconstruction is ongoing with several other buildings through 2027. There is a foreign language app; most signage is in Japanese.
Kumamoto Castle. 1-1 Honmaru, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto, 860-0002, Japan. 9 AM - 5 PM daily. 800 yen pp. Note that the South Gate is the main entrance and the only one open on weekdays.
This garden was initially created in the arly 1600s by the local daimyo, Hosokawa Tadatoshi and various buildings and gardens were added over the next 100 years (the buildings are mostly gone now).
This is a beautiful park you can see in one hour. We were there in December which is perhaps the least interesting season and it is still stunning. The garden imitates a Mount Fuji scene. In December they run an evening light show (with a separate admission of 2000 yen). Also, there is a short block at the main entrance of shops, restaurants and cafes. The shops have some interesting local foods and crafts.
The garden grows a local herb which is a popular culinary addition and is also featured in vinegars for sale. Alone it did not taste remarkable in any way — mostly green. It’s supposed to have many health benefits.
Suizenji Jojuen. 8-1 Suizenji Koen, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto, 862-0956, Japan. Open daily 8:30 AM - 5 PM. 400 yen pp (though if you staying in a hotel nearby, ask your hotel about discount or free tickets).
Shopping in Kumamoto
We went to the Kokai Shotengai Market (on Kokai Shopping Street) on a Saturday when they happened to have a special event with activities for kids, a local radio station broadcasting live, and most shops offering something for 100 yen. This is more of a locals' market than a tourist market and has been running since the early Showa era (early 1920s). Lines were long for most 100 yen offerings but we had a yummy sweet potato and some dango, each with no wait. The dango shop is worth a visit (Fuya Ujisuke). The street also has several non- Japanese Asian and African restaurants.
Kokai Shotengai Market. 8 Higashikokaimachi, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto, 860-0854, Japan. Open daily. Free
Food in Kumamoto
This was a very good kaiseki experience. They have only 14 seats so you need a reservation (Tabelog link for reservations). Every dish was good, and we especially liked some foods new to us: female snow crab (only harvested in December), Ebi-imo (a type of taro, grown to look like a shrimp), a persimmon salad with tofu dressing, and Tairagi (a large fan mussel prized more than scallops).
Sogetsu. 11-12 Minamisendanbatamachi, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto, 860-0842, Japan. Open daily (except Wednesdays) 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM and 6 - 10:30 PM.
Excellent kaiseki meal based on fish.
As with many Japanese restaurants, this place asked which of three courses we wanted— 3 different price points (11,000, 14,000 and 16,000 yen) with no explanation of the differences. In our experience, the middle of three fills us up and offers something special. The largest can be too much, or may add one expensive ingredient that we can live without.
When we visited, the group next to us probably had the least expensive option, and they missed the preserved mentaiko and the tempura. These were both really unique and delicious !
Crab roe miso chawanmushi
Crab claw meat and greens with sesame dressing
Soup with Stewed long tooth grouper, turnip, with yuzu rind
Sashimi of hata (grouper), squid and sea bream
Oma tuna sashimi — bluefin tuna caught near the town of Oma in the Aomori prefecture - prized for its high fat content and rich flavor. Served with smoked dry kelp threads. Like eating butter. This was amazing.
Karasumi (salted and sun-dried mullet roe) : a special delicacy. It was slightly chewy, not too fishy or salty though both those flavors are present. Traditionally eaten (and really good with) sake.
Grilled fish: Hairtail fish on a bed of greens with turnip sauce. The sauce had a sweetness that was a great pairing with the fish.
Ganmodoki is a tofu ball with fish and vegetables, here with ika. Fish ball with grilled nasu (eggplant) and a vegetable broth (mock turtle soup).
Hamaguri (clams) and shiitake tempura with sweet daikon sauce and a hint of yuzu The clams were not at all tough and the turnip sauce stuck to the tempura nicely. One of our favorite dishes within a menu with zero disappointments.
Wagyu and sato imo (taro)
Tsukemono and rice and red miso soup— the pickles were awesome and included the fermented miso tofu of the region.
Dessert wasabi mochi with red beans and soy bean flour
Ichiza Konryu. Japan, 〒860-0846 Kumamoto, Chuo Ward, Jotomachi, 5−59 １Ｆ. Open every day except Monday 12 - 2 PM and 6 - 10 PM.
Yakushima
Yakushima is an island south of Kyushu, known for forests of very old (>1000 years) cedar trees, also known as yakusugi. Starting in the 16th century, this island was the main source of cedar, primarily used for roof shingles, for the rest of Japan. In the late 19th century, widespread logging was halted and most of the island eventually became a national park. Yakushima is best known for the incredible hiking all over the island. There are both day-trip routes and multi-day backpacking routes.
We did most of the planning ourselves. However, I did interact via email with Yakushima English Services (Y.E.S. tour company) and found them really helpful. We recommend them if you want help or guiding services for Yakushima (note: we receive no compensation or other benefits for recommending them). They can help with everything from hotels, ferry, hiking and sightseeing guiding. The guide(s) are proficient (or native) English speakers.
You can get to Yakushima by plane from Kagoshima airport (or less frequently from Fukuoka or Osaka) or by ferry from the Kagoshima Ferry port.
We purchased tickets for the high speed ferry from Kagoshima, leaving at 7:45 am for a 2-hour trip. See here for a ferry schedule (may need to use Google translate).
We bought the tickets online (Tane Yaku Jet Foil (aka Toppy and Rocket) a month before - with early bird plus round trip discount, we paid 36,200 yen (US$241) for two round-trip tickets. This was cheaper than flying and basically as fast since the ferry port is in town while the airport is 45 minutes outside town. Purchasing the ticket directly was a little convoluted. First you pick your specific segments and pricing; then you get a link to pay for the ticket. You must buy the ticket, not just reserve it. Though the emails instruct you to have print-outs of both the reservation and proof of payment, providing the reservation number and our name at the ticket office was sufficient. You can get seat reservations one hour before departure. Below is the line 45 minutes before departure (though the line moves fast).
If this seems like a hassle, you can also purchase tickets via this English language ferry site.
At 7:06 it was twice as long
The ferry was a pleasant ride. We brought bentos for breakfast that we purchased the night before at the department store grocery level
When we arrived, a person from Destino Rent-a-car (use google translate to read and make a reservation or contact Yakushima English Services) was holding a sign with our name, and 3 other (Japanese) couples. Within 2 minutes we were all in a van on our way to get our rental car. The car rental operates out of a cafe! We sat around a table signing documents, photographing license, passport and international drivers license, and then paying (~23,000 yen (US$153) for 2 days including comprehensive insurance). The whole process took maybe 5 minutes.
We dropped our luggage at the Hotel Yakushima Ocean and Forest
This was a nice hotel. The “best” rooms are in a separate wing and folks there get pajamas instead of yukata to wear. Our Japanese style tatami room on the 3rd floor had a clean but not new bathroom and a stunning ocean view. They changed the flowers in the vase each day. We pre-ordered dinner and breakfast here. The breakfast is one of the better hotel spreads we have had. The dinners were reasonably priced and good. The staff was always earnest and friendly, though often seemed like they were still in training. That’s probably standard for a small island in a country with a small workforce, and it didn’t detract from our stay.
Other features here include a very nice public bath which was empty both nights at 7-7:45 pm; ability to rent hiking gear (Salomon boots, backpacks, jackets, pants, gators, etc.); bento lunch orders for $6; and e-Audi car rentals.
We headed to Shiratani Unsuikyo (Google Maps link) (this link needs Google Translate) for a hike. The road to the trailhead is one lane in several places. The views are stunning, and we saw some monkeys by the roadside.
We walked for 2.5 hours. We walked about halfway to Takoiwa rock then worked our way back. Other trekkers who were younger and faster did the whole loop to the moss forest and Takoiwa rock in 2.5 hours.
The trails require attention to each step, but the trail is very well maintained. It was originally created in the Edo period, so some of the credit goes to those historical figures who probably walked this path in quite simple shoes. We were in athletic shoes and did fine. Below in the photos we have some shots of the more difficult places for footing.
We also took a second loop, the Yayoisugi Cedar Course, which takes about 1 hour. It has a significant number of steps but the whole trail is mostly paved.
The next day we headed for Yakisugi Land. (200 yen discount if you are doing both parks so save your entry pass from the first park).
Again there was a road with significant 1-lane portions, and yes, the city bus and tour busses go here. Amazing! We also saw monkeys on the roadside at about 1:30 pm.
The hike was very well labeled with several path options in terms of distance/time. The first part has paved sections and easy stairs. A bit farther in the steps require more attention. Sometimes it felt as if we were climbing into a tree house on branches and roots.
There are several bridges, fabulous waterfalls, moss and of course, the cedars. The starting point has a small education center and a gift shop. We found the education center helpful in understanding how these trees differ from the ones in our hometown in California.
We also visited several souvenir shops. The only one with wood products that are actually art was Suginoya.
Near Isso beach, we visited a mackerel smoking factory (Marukatsu Fisheries) where they made saba-bushi and were treated to a tour! The guy in the office welcomed us and immediately started showing us some laminated pages that explained the factory process, and showed us the fish in production. We bought smoked mackerel for 500 yen and dried smoked mackerel for 700 yen
Yufuin
Yufuin is definitely worth a day trip or overnight!
This hot springs town is more or less in the middle of the island, and draws day-trip tourists (both Japanese and foreign) from a wide variety of locations. We visited in mid-November, which is a very popular time because it is peak leaf-peeping season. The town's mountain was awash in varied colors, and the popular "lake" (more like a pond) and ryokan gardens offer stunning water-and-leaf views.
We spent about 4 hours walking the town's main streets. There are plenty of food establishments--enough that you should not settle for something that looks edible but not exciting. We grazed on chicken skewers, grilled mushrooms with cheese, fish cake, and dango with yuzu sauce. There are numerous cafes and always the vending machines with varied drinks for 100 Yen or so. We highly recommend the Amazake store, which had 2 types of amazake (plain or yuzu) and they are served hot or cold. The amazake here has no added sweeteners, but you wouldn't know it! If you have not tried this rice-based drink, you should. This was enough time to see the whole town. There are many families with children and plenty to do with them, like owl and goat petting, stores featuring Harry Potter, children's book authors, and Hayao Miyazaki -themed stores (Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, etc) - many of these were in the Yufuin Floral Village)
The local produce features honey (which they say is from a native bee and harvested in the forest), yuzu (which is like lemon) and kabosu (which is like a lime, or kumquat). Compared to other onsen towns we have been to, we found that Yufuin had more to offer than most--more interesting shopping of many sorts, hot springs options both private and public, and good nature to see.
We took a 7:40 am train from Fukuoka, a taxi from the train stop to our ryokan in Yufuin (850 yen), and checked our luggage at the ryokan. We walked the town for several hours, grazing for lunch, then returned to our ryokan to check in (Yufuin Kosumosu; shows as 由布院 草庵秋桜 on Google Maps). We made use of the family bath with local hot springs minerals, and relaxed for an hour before our dinner at the ryokan.
Places to stay in Yufuin:
We enjoyed the ryokan Yufuin Kosumosu ( 由布院 草庵秋桜 on Google Maps), and had a room with private outdoor bath. The meals were excellent, including a huge breakfast. The rooms are 2-story, with 2 beds upstairs and a toilet, and the option for futons downstairs if you have a larger family. There is a toilet, shower, the outdoor bath, sitting room, and main room on the first floor. They also drove us back to the train station.
Other ryokans near the lake area might be considered as well. We had limited options as we booked very late and in the high season. In any case, we recommend lodging near the main shopping and lake (In/around Yunotubo Street), rather than close to the bus/train terminals.
Above are hallways of the ryokan, our private outdoor onsen with the rabbit statue, breakfast and dinner photos, and finally photos from our room
Here is some other info from the tourist association about the area
Beppu
Beppu is another onsen town, right on the ocean, better known and larger than Yufuin, and about an hour from Yufuin by bus. or train.
Ropeway: the gondola ride is stunning, with views of the forest, city, surrounding mountains, and the entire bay. At the top, there are a few paved pathways that lead to more stunning outlooks, a visit to 7 gods, and the summit of this active volcano. We were here in the fall when the colors were particularly stunning, but it's obvious this is a nice nature visit in any season. The bus runs every 30 min between here and Beppu Station. Across from the ropeway is a store boasting a large collection of shochu where we bought some aged sake (kushu)--something very had to find in the US.
As part of a tourism push about 100 years ago, seven of the most popular hot springs were identified and publicized as a group. There are actually hot springs all over town, but they aren't as impressive or accessible as the Seven Hells.
We did all the Hells in 4 hours, including a brief chicken tempura lunch, use of every foot bath available, and light shopping in the Hells that had stores. It takes an additional 30 min each way to Beppu downtown by bus (the 26 bus leaves from Beppu station), and an additional 40-60 min for the Onsen Museum. You should bring a towel to dry your feet, or plan to buy one at the first footbath you visit. A simple one is 330 Yen and those with fancier designs are about 1,400 Yen.
When you buy a ticket passbook for the Seven Hells, you are also given a pamphlet to collect stamps at each location. It's a very Japanese thing to do, so we did.
We managed the bus on our own, but you may also choose a city bus specific to the Hells if you want a cheap local tour.
We started by visiting the two Hells furthest from town (and are close to each other):
Chinoike Jigoku: this red spring has a footbath, brief walking path, and store.
Tatsumaki Jigoku: next door to Chinoike, it has a regular geyser (approx. every 30 minutes), and a small store with interesting ikebana containers. (last photo below)
There is a restaurant next to these two Hells as well, but it has ordinary food like hamburgers and fries, and a long wait.
Then we took the 26 bus to the Kannawa stop which is the jumping off point for the other 5 Hells.
Just as you turn up the hill towards the other Hells, there is a chicken tempura restaurant on the corner. We stopped for 10 pieces for 1000 Yen. It was delicious. Chicken tempura is a regional specialty, different from karaage and worth eating many times.
Shiraike Jigoku: bluish white hot spring, this location uses the warm water to raise tropical fish. You can see a whole lot of giant fish in very small enclosures.
Oniyama Jigoku: this hot springs uses their water to raise crocodiles. You can see a whole lot of crocodiles (about 80) in very small enclosures. There is also a display of dead crocodiles of different sorts.
Outside of the crocodile Jigoku are some stands selling onsen-steamed food and we stopped for a piece of sweet potato.
Kamado Jigoku: this hot springs is next door to Oniyama, continuing up the hill. There is a very large parking lot for tour buses here, and Kamado was the busiest of all the Hells. In fact, it was packed. Not only do they have ample parking, but they have they most activities: a store, large footbath area, food for sale (onsen eggs, sodas), several pools to look at, onsen hot water to drink (10 yen for a paper cup), onsen steam to smell (helps with illness), and employees "demonstrating" the mysteries of the spring. "Look, I blow incense on the hotspring and it makes smoke, but if I use my lighter, nothing happens!" The tone here is heavy on the "mysteries" of onsen, rather than the science.
Umi Jigoku: up the hill about 5 min more, this onsen is at the back of a large parking lot. It has a very large garden featuring lily pads and water lilies, a large store, a temple, several large hot spring pools, a rose garden (May-June is best), good foliage for fall colors, a greenhouse with tropical plants, eggs cooking in the main hot spring, and a foot bath.
Just above Umi Jigoku, and sharing their parking lot, is Oniishi Bozu Jigoku. The emphasis here is on gardens and flowers, each surrounding a hot springs pool.
Finally, we visited the Onsen Museum. They have tried very hard to make this an interactive exhibit and it's actually pretty fun. They have a hot spring to view in the courtyard as well, plus a small shop and cafe.
When we exited the museum it was dark and the steam rising from the street grates was ethereal. Walking on top of the water drainage passageways gives you nice warmth up the pant legs!
Other food in Beppu
Engawa 縁がわ: 1-chōme-11-12 Daimyō, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka, 810-0041
This izakaya was great. They specialize in robata, and it was really neat to watch the chef grill with big chunks of charcoal, but their non-grilled stuff was equally as good.
We arrived at opening and sat in front of the grill. Some standouts were:
Grilled fish — especially the maguro “rib”. If you usually avoid whole fish because of the bones you will love this
Tofu — was indeed creamy and melt-in- mouth
Fried ginkgo nuts and fried pistachios!
Especially good lotus tempura
Horse mackerel tempura was raw in the middle — best of tempura and sashimi
Great sakes
Friendly patient service
The appetizer was 5 small dishes of various fish, including smoked salmon and tiny sardines.
Where to stay:
We stayed at the New Tsuruta Hotel. We booked a standard Japanese room (on floors 5 and 6) which was a bit worn. Our room was directly across from 2 elevators and the hotel onsen so it was pretty noisy. We asked for a room change and they upgraded us to the Premium Modern Japanese room on the 7th floor. This room was much nicer, having recently been remodeled, with loads of space and a view of the harbor. Breakfast at the New Tsuruta was fine; we were able to find plenty to eat but some of the dishes were only ok.
Other hotel options directly facing the bay are available, and likely more expensive. There were two very new hotels quite close to the New Tsuruta - Oedoonsen Monogata Beppuseifu and the Hoshino Resorts KAI Beppu.
Takachiho (Gorge) and Mt. Aso
Though you can see the gorge in half a day, we also used this as a launch point to visit Mt. Aso and so stayed for 2 days and 2 nights in Takachiho.
The gorge itself is incredible. You can see it from several vantage points but the best way to see it is on a rowboat ride. You need to reserve the boat 2 weeks in advance - during peak season, boats get booked within a few hours after the date is released for reservation. The actual reservation page is in Japanese so use Google translate to enter your information and pay for the ride.
The 30 minute rowboat ride is plenty of time to see several waterfalls, sheer rock faces, and various rock formations.
Getting to Takachiho - public transit does go to Takachiho but it can be a long trip depending where you start from. Various tour companies (see Viator for example) offer 1-day trips from Fukuoka and Kumamoto. We rented a car in Beppu and drove to Takachiho (2.5 hours); this allowed us to visit Mt. Aso at our leisure, and to drive down the south east coast of Kyushu where there isn't much public transit.
Where to stay: We stayed at the Solest Takachiho. It was a beautiful hotel with modern Japanese rooms within walking distance of all the sites in Takachiho. Our room also had a patio. We booked with Booking.com as it was slightly cheaper than the hotel website. One thing to note about Takachiho is that there are not a lot of eating options; there are maybe 6-8 izakayas nearby but they all seemed full and we were only able to get into one when our hotel called for us. Most hotels provide breakfast, and many offer dinner (most ryokans offer breakfast and dinner - aka half board). Check your hotel (or ryokan) for options.
Also in Takachiho is the local Shinto shrine (aka Takachiho Shrine). It has a beautiful main building and nice assortment of souvenirs (prayers, zodiac statues and the like which are at most shrines and make great gifts!) What was really special about this shrine was its setting amidst very mature trees of several kinds. They also have a nightly musical event. Make reservations in advance up to 24 hours before. Same day tickets are sold starting at 7pm for an 8pm performance. It is a one hour performance.
A third highlight of Takachiho is the Amanoiwato shrine and Amanoyasukawara (shrine inside a cave) adjacent to it. We parked at Amanoiwato. The complex is larger than we expected and has resident chickens and rabbits, and chicken-themed items to purchase at the temple store. At the end, there’s a parade of visitors down the street to the clearly marked entrance of the cave shrine. This was a spectacular walk along the river to a cave that is important in local lore. It’s a very easy walk— a total of 43 steps in all and those steps are small ( a few inches in height) and the whole way is paved. In November the fall colors were spectacular.
There is a block of shops near the temple. We visited early in the morning so stores were not open yet.
Said to be the most active volcano in the world, it's a fun half-day trip from Takachiho. The driving route to the volcano takes you through very rural parts of Kyushu (be careful of groups of cars/people; particularly anywhere there are cows or horses - everyone was taking pictures of the animals...).
If you target the Aso Sanjo bus terminal (in your navigation), you'll get to the spot where people get dropped off by a shuttle bus. There is a large parking lot there, and you can choose to either walk about 20-25 minutes to the volcano itself, or continue driving past the terminal through a toll gate (1000 yen per car) and up the hill. Then you can park right next to several viewing spots. It was approx. 35 degrees Fahrenheit when we went (late November 2025) so we opted to drive as close as possible.
The volcano itself is spectacular. There is a lot of steam and sulfur dioxide, but you can see the main crater (the day we went, it was an eggshell blue lake) and subsidiary craters from the main viewing points. It's also interesting to see the volcano emergency huts, made of cement and presumably able to protect occupants from lava and falling rocks.
On our way back from Mt. Aso, we stopped at a wonderful tofu restaurant that we found randomly. Lantern, located in Aso town, serves all kinds of tofu from Kimura Tofu Shop (located across the street from the cafe) in addition to vegetarian items (e.g., mushroom curry). We both had a tofu set lunch that included 6 different tofu dishes plus various other side dishes (1200 yen; US$8) and then finished off with an amazingly tasty vanilla tofu creme brulee (500 yen). We also sampled several tofus from Kimura - yuzu-infused, shiso-infused and soybean tofu. All three were delicious and you could taste the flavor strongly.
After lunch, we walked over to Kimura Tofu and tried their tofu cheesecake; again, wonderful and actually tasted like a dairy cheesecake. Kimura also sells a variety of plain and fried tofus, tofu salads (including one that tastes like egg salad with sweet pickle relish) and other tofu-inclusive items.
There are several other ways you can go to or explore Mt. Aso. Basically, you can rent a car and drive there (what we did), take public transit (do-able but doubles or even triples the time vs. car), or take a one-day (or in some cases, two-day) tour from Beppu/Oita, Kumamoto or Fukuoka (look on Viator or ask your hotel in those cities for recommendations).
On our drive from Takachiho to Nichinan Castle town (near Miyazagi), we stopped at Udo Jingu shrine. This shrine, perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, was founded to honor the father of the first emperor of Japan. It’s a beautiful series of buildings and shrines culminating in a shallow cave with a temple built inside. All along the route to the cave you can see various massive rocks formations in the water as well as cliffs on the land side. At the first building on the left (just after the orange gate), look for a flight of steep stairs to the right of the building. These lead to two smaller shrines deep within the forest with about a 10-15 walk.
Obi Nichinan Castle Town
To break up the drive from Takachiho to Kagoshima, we spent a night in Nichinan. There is about 1 day’s worth of sight seeing here, including wandering the streets of the old samurai area and appreciating the architecture and small town vibe. If you like trees, you will love the castle ruins area. The 3rd week in October they have a town festival. Regardless of the time you visit, we recommend booking ahead for dinner (for example, using Tabelog) as there are only a few Izakayas and 2 Kaiseki restaurants in town.
We stayed at the very lovely Nazuna Obi Onsen resort (a ryokan), in a room that would be FANTASTIC for a family— kids can stay in an upstairs loft, plenty of space and onsen water pumped into the outdoor bath.
Again, we booked late and during high season so had little choice, but there are other ryokans in town and you should either book dinner with them or book ahead with one of the few restaurants in town (unless you want takoyaki or the grocery store take out for dinner).
Below is Nazuna Ryokan and their Moss room, breakfast, map of ryokan, front of ryokan, and welcome tea in main ryokan room
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