28 Apr 2025

Surrounded by ancient forest in Yakushima

Yakushima Island is the wettest part of Japan, so it was not a surprise to look out the window as we reached the port. Still, you can’t have rainforests without rain, and we were here for the rainforest.

We gathered our wet-weather gear and umbrellas and boarded the coaches. The drive was first along the rugged coast and through small villages and towns before we turned toward the misty mountains and entered the UNESCO World Heritage area. The road quickly became narrow and twisty, climbing steeply with many one-lane sections. We arrived at Yakusugi Land in the same steady rain, which continued through most of the morning, before breaking into sunshine at the end of our time in this idyllic forest.

Undeterred, we set off on the circuits of various lengths we had selected. Either way, we were up and down the sides of valleys and crossing the flowing streams. At the stream crossings, and on the mountain tops (when they appeared) we could see the tough granite rock that characterizes the island – so different than the normal Japanese volcanic landscape. The forest was composed of many different species of trees, undergrowth, and mosses, but the ‘sugi’ were the stars. Sometimes incorrectly called Japanese Cedar, Cryptomeria japonica formed the bulk of the tree cover. It was heavily logged for hundreds of years both for shingles and for lumber, but some ancient specimens survived. The oldest ‘Yakusugi’ are estimated to be 5000+ years old, and we saw several over 1200 years old.

Some of us stopped at the Yakusugi Museum where we learned about the natural and human history of the area and could see the beauty of the timber from which the museum was built.

Then, in clearing weather, it was back to Heritage Adventurer for a well-earned lunch before heading along the coast in the other direction. Our destination was Inakahama Beach, Japan’s largest turtle nesting site. The beach was being prepared with restricted areas as the Loggerhead Turtles were due in May. They are only seen at night, but the information from our guides, combined with the wild and gorgeous sand, surf and rocks made for an excellent afternoon out.

After an exciting day, we retired to the lounge for refreshments, recap and briefing before treating our tastebuds to another excellent dinner.

Images © S. Bradley