Yakushima Newsletter May 2009

www.yakumonkey.com NEWSLETTER Issue #5

THE BUSY SEASON BEGINS! Golden week is about to bring a bumper load of visitors to Yakushima and hails the start of hiking season proper on the island. This month there are therefore lots of events to cover but there are also a number of access problems to consider if you are visiting in May:

Arakawa Trail Entrance Travel Restrictions

The stretch of road between Arakawa junction and the Arakawa Trail Entrance is closed to traffic and walkers between May 2th and 5th for a total of 4 days. The only way you can get to the Trail entrance is by shuttle bus, organised coach or taxi. By taxi: Taxis need a special 'ticket' which costs 250 yen and without it will not be

MAY 2009

allowed up. By bus: A shuttle bus will run from Yakusugi museum to Arakawa Trail Entrance and will cost (one way) ¥1000 for adults and ¥500 for (Elementary School) children. If you intend on returning on the bus you must purchase two one-way tickets prior to travelling. Both of the above tickets for the taxi and bus can only be bought the day before at the following places: • Airport Tourist Information Centre [Tel: 49-4010] Open 8.30am - 6pm • Miyanoura Tourist Information Centre [Tel: 42-1019] Open 8.30am - 5pm • Anbo Tourist Information Centre [Tel: 46-2333] Open 8.30am - 5pm • Yakusugi Museum [Tel: 46-3113] Open 9am - 6pm • Yakushima Environmental Culture Village Centre [Tel: 42-2900] Open 9am - 6pm If you don't use the ticket, you can get a refund. One half of the ticket is retained and is a coupon for use in Yakushima (so don't throw it away!)

In this Issue •

Arakawa Trail Entrance restrictions

•

Shiratani road repairs

•

Turtle nesting season begins

•

The 2 Day march

•

Shakunage Tozan

•

New documentaries

The Shuttle bus Timetable: From Yakusugi museum car park: 6 buses - 4.45am, 5am, 5.15am, 5.30am (connects with the Matsubanda bus), 5.45 am (connects with the Yakushima Kotsu bus), 6am. From Arakawa Trail Entrance: 13 buses 1.30pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, 3.30pm, 3.45pm, 4pm, 4.15pm, 4.30pm (connects with the Matsubanda bus), 4.45pm, 5pm (connects with the Yakushima Kotsu bus), 5.15pm, 5.30pm and 6pm.

Shiratani Unsuikyo road repairs The road up to Shiratani Unsuikyo has been worked on for the past few years almost constantly. It has always been dangerous with tight bends and narrow lanes but the widening work has improved safety a lot. There has however been landslides over the winter damaging the road and access is

Yakushima Shakunage

now restricted. The road is only open to traffic between 8 am and 5 pm until July 31st. After this time the repairs are expected to be completed. But also note that if there is heavy rainfall (continuous rainfall of 100 mm or more) the road will be closed. So be prepared with a plan B should the access be restricted. One way would be to climb up the Kusugawa trail to Shiratani and avoid the road altogether.

Shakunage Tozan Yakushima is famous for its Rhododendrons and the Shakunage Tozan is an organized hike up into the

mountains in groups accompanied by guides. It takes place on Sat May 30th and goes to Miyanoura dake, Kuroimi dake, Nageishi daira and Hana-no-eigo marsh.

On May 16th and 17th the annual 2 day march is held. Day 1 is based around Shiratani and Miyanoura and has a variety of organized courses. Day 2 is based around waterfalls and National Heritage. If you are visiting at this time, this would explain why groups of people are hiking along the road. If you are interested in joining in the march, information is on the website.

Festivals

Should you wish to join the hike you need to apply before May 14th and it costs ¥6,000 for adults. More details in the website.

On Mon May 4th Shitogo Gajyumaru is holding their annual festival at the Gajymaru park in Shitogo, just north of Miyanoura.

Yakushima 2 Day March

On Tues May 5th there is the Kusugawa jyo festival in Kusugawa, just south of Miyanoura.

Turtle egg laying season begins!

is a documentary on the working life of master woodsman, Takada Hisao, and

guide book will be on yakumonkey.com website at 'the guide book page' link. At the moment the only changes are to parts of the Matsubanda bus timetable which was revised after the guide book was published.

but in the meantime if you are in North America, lulu.com still have the lowest price at $15.38.

Frid May 15th sees the official start of the turtle season at Inakahama beach in Nagata. The Yakushima Umigame Center runs a nightly program of viewing nesting turtles but this gets very busy so prebook at the tourist information office or via your accommodation. There are more details about this in the guide book.

Yakushima documentaries I have uploaded two documentaries on Yakushima in the past few weeks: *'Yakushima no Yamashi mori ni ikiru'

shows how he and his team extract Yakusugi stumps from deep in the forests of Yakushima. * 'Tanken Roman World Heritage' is a documentary/TV show on Yakushima showing much of the island and the trail to Jomon Sugi.

Yakushima: A Yakumonkey Guide The guide book is much more available now and can be bought online from a number of sources in many countries. There is still a problem with the US price listing which I am trying to sort out

In Japan, amazon.co.jp is now selling the book at around ¥1,799. It will be available on Yakushima in the near future but not just yet. Should you have any difficulty locating a copy of the guide let me know and I will see if I can help. Updates on the information in the

Should you come across any changes to details in the guide book, please let me know at yakumonkey.com, and I can then inform everyone else.

Copyright © Clive Witham 2009