Kumamoto and Oita: Volcanoes and ecology, castle towns and rural life is a fully guided trip suitable for anyone who can walk for more than three hours in comfort. In general, the walk is gently undulating but also includes some short, steep climbs.
A 7 day, 6 night tour starting and finishing in Fukuoka. Walk Japan welcomes student groups of any size and age, and tailors trips accordingly. For example, we have accommodated groups that vary in size from 8 to 60 participants and aged from middle school to post-graduate university students.
The Kumamoto and Oita: Volcanoes and ecology, castle towns and rural life visits Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures in Kyushu, the most westerly of Japan’s four main islands. Our trip together begins in Aso, one of the largest calderas in the world within the Aso-Kuju National Park. At the caldera’s centre is an active volcano. Steam and sulphur spume from its craters set in a rugged moonscape. Here we see first hand the power of tectonic forces percolating below our feet. From locals we learn about their life in the shadow of the volcano and how it has formed the local ecology.
A short journey by road through spectacular mountain scenery brings us to Taketa, a delightful rural town. Above the town we find a park which was once the grounds of Oka-jo, a samurai hilltop castle. Only the castle’s stone ramparts remain but provide us with a good idea of how important a strategic site it once was. It also provides grandstand views over the surrounding countryside. Nearby, we walk to a towering relief carving of a Buddhist deity.
Beyond is Saiki on Oita’s intricate coastline. We visit a charming island here to experience local life and also sample sushi, which the area is particularly famed for. Further along the coast is Usuki, where William Adams first arrived in April 1600. The first Englishman to visit Japan, his extraordinary life story is the basis of Shogun, the James Clavell novel and Hollywood TV series. Here, we spend time with local residents to experience their lives and culture before spending our last night in Fukuoka, a vibrant and popular city.
A 7 day, 6 night tour starting and finishing in Fukuoka. Walk Japan welcomes student groups of any size and age, and tailors trips accordingly. For example, we have accommodated groups that vary in size from 8 to 60 participants and aged from middle school to post-graduate university students.
The Kumamoto and Oita: Volcanoes and ecology, castle towns and rural life visits Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures in Kyushu, the most westerly of Japan’s four main islands. Our trip together begins in Aso, one of the largest calderas in the world within the Aso-Kuju National Park. At the caldera’s centre is an active volcano. Steam and sulphur spume from its craters set in a rugged moonscape. Here we see first hand the power of tectonic forces percolating below our feet. From locals we learn about their life in the shadow of the volcano and how it has formed the local ecology.
A short journey by road through spectacular mountain scenery brings us to Taketa, a delightful rural town. Above the town we find a park which was once the grounds of Oka-jo, a samurai hilltop castle. Only the castle’s stone ramparts remain but provide us with a good idea of how important a strategic site it once was. It also provides grandstand views over the surrounding countryside. Nearby, we walk to a towering relief carving of a Buddhist deity.
Beyond is Saiki on Oita’s intricate coastline. We visit a charming island here to experience local life and also sample sushi, which the area is particularly famed for. Further along the coast is Usuki, where William Adams first arrived in April 1600. The first Englishman to visit Japan, his extraordinary life story is the basis of Shogun, the James Clavell novel and Hollywood TV series. Here, we spend time with local residents to experience their lives and culture before spending our last night in Fukuoka, a vibrant and popular city.
Day 1 Kumamoto Airport - Aso
Your Walk Japan Tour Leader welcomes you at Kumamoto Airport. From here it is a short journey by private-hire vehicle to our hotel for the evening. En route, we visit the Seta Shrine, one of 58 locations around Kumamoto that commemorate the 2016 earthquake that literally shook the whole of the prefecture to its core. From here on a clear weather day we can see active Mt. Aso, an active volcano, punctuating the horizon and sometimes emitting plumes of steam and smoke. This is where we begin to understand Japan’s febrile landscape wrought by volcanic and tectonic activity. The Tour Leader provides a program briefing over dinner in a local restaurant before checking into our nearby hotel.
Accommodation: Western-style hotel
Meals: Dinner provided.
Total walking: N/A.
Day 2 Aso - Taketa
After breakfast, a quick transfer by vehicle brings us to the Aso region, one of the world’s greatest volcanic calderas that stretches 25km north to south and 18km east to west. The Aso Volcano Museum provides us with fascinating insights into how the caldera was formed by an explosive super volcano and Aso-san, the volcano composed of five peaks that we see today. Weather and volcanic activity conditions permitting, we visit the crater of one of these peaks, Naka-dake, where steam curls up from a turquoise-coloured lagoon deep within. Before enjoying lunch at a popular local restaurant, we work up our appetite with a gentle stroll and exploration of a nearby vast grassy plain.
In 1934, the Aso region was designated as a National Park, one of Japan’s first. In more recent years it has also been recognised by Unesco as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (Giahs) and Global Geo Park. We meet local representatives caring for this unique region to discuss how Aso’s ecosystem came to be, its historical importance to the local community, and their efforts in sustaining it in the modern age.
Back on our private-hire vehicle, our onward journey takes us through spectacular and varied countryside. We climb, on a switchback road, the caldera’s towering rock wall; pass over a rolling grassland plateau, skirt the towering Kuju Renzan mountain range. The 360 degree views are expansive and include some of the best over the caldera and to Aso-san. Our destination is Taketa, a charming historic castle town, where we find our hotel in its quiet centre.
Accommodation: Western-style hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.
Total walking: 5km (3.1 miles).
Day 3 Taketa - Asaji - Okajo - Saiki
After breakfast, we ride a local train one stop to a rural station. From here we begin our walk through beautiful rural countryside following a 12km trail back to Taketa over mostly gently undulating terrain. However, we do have to negotiate two steeper sections, but neither of these are long and can be taken at a leisurely pace.
Our stroll takes us through a delightful wooded park, past rice paddies and arable fields, and aside farmhouses with their well-tended gardens and water courses that disappear and reappear through tunnels carved into rocky hillsides. At Fuko-ji, a hidden gem of a temple, the scenery suddenly opens up to a giant Fudo-Myo, a fearsome Buddhist deity, that was carved into a cliff face here a millennia ago.
Beyond, we climb up to the remains of Oka-jo, a hilltop castle that gave raison d'etre to Taketa. Only the ramparts and towering stone walls remain, but their scale and impressiveness allude to the power that this citadel once had. Now, the grounds are a well-kept park from where the views across verdant countryside to the Kuju mountains are no less spectacular than yesterday’s.
A short walk beyond and we are back in central Taketa, where we enjoy a late lunch of mouth watering toriten and karaage fried chicken, both Oita specialties. After exploring the town, we transfer from the mountains to the coast. Our destination is Saiki, which is famed for the seafood harvested from the surrounding azure seas. Not surprisingly fish is a major feature of our dinner, which we eat at a kaitenzushi restaurant. A uniquely Japanese way of dining, here our sushi dishes arrive at our tables on a conveyor belt.
Accommodation: Western-style hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.
Total walking: 12km (7.5 miles).
Day 4 Saiki - Onyujima - Usuki
Saiki is known for its coastline of intricate web of peninsulas and bays sheltering calmer seas dotted by numerous picturesque islands including Onyujima, which we visit today. A ferry ride across a narrow sea channel quickly brings us to this quiet verdant, almost sanctuary-like island. In the 1960s, it had a thriving community of over 3,000 inhabitants, but today this has dwindled to just over 500. Onyujima’s main claim to fame these days is its vibrant oyster fishery.
Depending on the ambitions of the group, we explore the island either on foot or by bicycle. Our lunch, which we enjoy in one of the island’s only two restaurants, is composed of locally sourced ingredients, especially from the sea. Satiated, we join some residents for a lively introduction to yamamomo red bayberry dyeing, a local art.
After returning to the mainland, we retrieve our main luggage and board a local train for a journey north along the coast to Usuki, another charming seaside town. Leaving our luggage at our accommodation, we stroll into town for dinner at a local restaurant.
Accommodation:Western-style Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.
Total walking: 10.5km (6.5 miles).
Day 5 Usuki - Notsu
After breakfast, we visit Usuki’s famed Sekibutsu, a large group of Buddhist statues spread out over an extensive area. They are thought to have been carved over 1,000 years old, but the rock they were carved from was consolidated between 270,000 and 90,000 years ago in pyroclastic flows that originated from Aso, which is over 75km away.
Usuki is another lovely historic town and while we stroll around we learn of its ruling samurai lord Otomo Sorin, who became a Christian, and the Portuguese missionaries and traders who came here in the mid-16th Century. We also uncover the story of the de Liefde, a Dutch East Indies ship that arrived here in 1600. It brought the first ever Dutch people and an Englishman, William Adams, to visit Japanese shores. Adam’s extraordinary life story is the inspiration for Shogun, the smash hit novel and TV show.
After lunch, we divide into small groups to be paired with local farming families from Notsu, a short journey from central Usuki. They kindly host us in their own homes for the night and provide us with a wonderful opportunity to share time with locals, and appreciate first hand their way of life and culture.
Accommodation: Farm stay (Western-style hotel for the teachers and Tour Leaders)
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.
Total walking: 3km (2.8 miles).
Day 6 Usuki - Fukuoka
Enjoying breakfast and a relaxed morning with our families, we again gather in town for a bittersweet farewell ceremony, thanking them for their hospitality. Waving farewell from our private vehicle, we depart back for Fukuoka on a journey of about two and a half hours. After a stop for lunch along the way, we arrive at our hotel in central Fukuoka and head to Hakata Station for some final exploration and souvenir shopping, followed by dinner on bustling Ramen Street. Karaoke, a Japanese favorite, then marks a celebratory end to our journey together.
Accommodation:Western-style hotel
Meals:Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.
Total walking: 3km (1.8 miles).
Day 7 Fukuoka - Fukuoka Airport
After an early morning breakfast, we transfer to Fukuoka Airport, where your Walk Japan Tour Leader waves you off on your journey home.
Accommodation: N/A
Meals: Breakfast provided.
Total walking: N/A.
