Ride Report: Yakushima Island, SW Japan
John Rinker
I am grateful to live, teach and ramble around on my bicycle in Japan. For more than 30 years my career as an International school teacher has landed me in some beautiful, unique places and Japan is certainly high on my list of ‘Favorite Places I Have Pitched My Tent’. Now, Yakushima Island in South-Western Japan is near the top of my list of most beautiful places I’ve ever ridden a bicycle.
In Japan, Yakushima is well known but infrequently visited owing to its remoteness. It boasts the greatest yearly rainfall in the country and is home to some of the oldest living trees on the planet. Yaku-sugi, or the cedars (cryptomeria) of Yakushima stand in ancient rainforests and the oldest, Jomon-sugi, is estimated to be between 2800-7200 years old. Others, Yoyoi-sugi, Bandai-sugi, and Yamato-sugi are 3000 years old. As the typical life expectancy of cedar is as much as 500 years old, even the many 1000-year-old cedars on the island are strange and wonderful anomalies.
In stark contrast to Yakushima Island, a World Natural Heritage site, Japan’s Shinkansen, or high-speed train, is a marvel of modern transportation technology. With my bike in a bag, I would travel the first 1400 kilometers of my journey in about 6 hours so I could spend the next 5 days meandering mountain roads for 160 or so kilometers.
After a couple of nights in the port of Kagoshima and a day cycling around Sakura-Jima, the most active volcano in Japan, I boarded the ferry as a cloud of ash spewed across the bay from one of the volcano’s two vents. Four and a half hours of rough seas later, I rolled off the ferry buffeted by 40km/h winds as the peaks of Yakushima were shrouded in mist above me. A strategic left turn put the winds at my back and me on a clockwise route around the island. Only a few kilometers later I cruised into an empty campsite on a rocky beach and pitched my tent. Across the road, I found a small restaurant the served red-curry ramen with smoked Yakushima venison and a delicious pale ale brewed on the island by Catch Brewery. My plans for the rest of the day were sealed!
The winds abated during the night and the next morning I awoke to a glorious sunrise over the East China Sea. After coffee, I rode up into the mountains towards the Shiratani Unsuikyo to hike the ravine in search of the famed Yaku-sugi. Once off the main trail, the rugged path winds through moss-covered boulders and thick forest where frequent crossings of pristine mountain streams eventually lead to the huge, ancient cedar trees. The first one I came to was Yoyoi-sugi, a 3000-year-old giant perched on a steep slope. Eight meters in girth at chest height, Yoyo-sugi’s upper branches rise out of the forest like a great, skeletal hand clawing for the sky. One after another, the humongous, gnarled trunks of these ancient trees scattered throughout the forest were truly awe-inspiring. These and the forest in which they dwell make it abundantly clear why Hayao Miyazaki’s supreme anime, Princess Mononoke could be set in no place other than in this magical realm.
Back on my bike, the 12 kilometers and 600 meters of elevation were behind me in about 15 minutes and I was back at sea-level and headed toward the onsen town of Onoaida. A mountainous landscape and 10 meters of rainfall a year generate a great deal of water flowing to the sea. I spent much of my time on the island crossing bridges and scrambling over granite boulders to either swim in crystal mountain rivers or to try my hand at tenkara, Japanese-style fly fishing. The result was a slow circumnavigation of the island with plenty of time lounging in beautiful spots next to flowing water and warming myself on slabs of igneous rock.
The western side of the island is considerably drier, more secluded, and covered in a thick tropical forest. Much of it is traversed by a single-lane mountain road that closes between 5 pm and 7 am each day due to the danger of navigating it in the dark. These factors create a quiet environment for the island’s resident macaques and deer. On this side of the island, I often pedaled by troops of macaques lazily grooming each other along the roadside or browsing in trees overhanging the tarmac while nearby the small Yakushima deer grazed with little concern for a guy on a bike.
Yakushima is a small island, only 120 or so kilometers around, and can easily be ridden in a day. But, why one would travel to this stunning island and not stretch a bicycle journey into days (even weeks) is beyond me. I was on the island for only five days and, while this was ample time for me to pedal slowly and swim often, there’s so much I am pining to go back to see. There are plenty of small roads that climb partway into the interior and, of course, there are hiking trails that criss-cross the more remote and higher elevations. As I said, I am grateful to live in Japan. Yakushima calls my name, and I’ll definitely roll through that ancient landscape again.
If you’re interested, here’s a link to my Gaiaps tracks and photos:
Steven Sweedler
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Plymouth, New Hampshire
Jeffrey Arita
David Person
Takashi
John Rinker
sam.per...@gmail.com
On Apr 4, 2021, at 5:36 AM, John Rinker <jwri...@gmail.com> wrote:
Indeed, Takashi, I did come across this quote several times in my reading about the island. I got very lucky with the weather. The week before I arrived it rained every day. Regarding a visit, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The riding is easy and the camping is first-rate with some very beautiful spots. Cheers.
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