Southern Kyushu

In the last couple of days I have stayed in the south of Kyushu - the fourth big island Japan 🇯🇵 is comprised of (with Hokkaido, Honshu and Shikoku being the other three).

I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) for a last time from Fukuoka to Kagoshima city as my JR Rail Pass 🪪 was expiring now after 3 weeks.
When I arrived at lunchtime in Kagoshima city, I dropped off my luggage 🧳 at my hotel (as I usually did in the past) but I spent the afternoon mostly with organising my ferry trip to the Amami islands 🏝️. The Kagoshima harbour is very big and I was in a complete wrong part of it. Lucky, a friendly local who was working there drove me the long way (almost 10 min.) with his car 🚗 to the right terminal. I was really impressed by his kindness and felt bad that I could not offer more than a genuine „thank you“ in return.
However, I was not able to make a reservation at the ferry terminal ⛴️ I could only buy tickets for the same day. Reservations per phone call 📞 were possible but only in Japanese. I was told to simply come back on the day I wanted to depart and get the ticket then. So, I went back to the hotel without any reservation. 🤨
The ferry services in Kagoshima city do not seem to be geared towards international tourists. I get it - there is also the possibility to take a flight ✈️ which can be cheaper, is definitely faster and probably even more reliable (since weather conditions can make the departure by ferry impossible sometimes). But if I had booked a flight, I would have had a predetermined date 📅 and location 📍where I had to be. I wanted to be as flexible as possible with my travels - therefore I decided to take the ferry. Also, it feels a little bit more adventurous 😊

On the next morning I asked the receptionist if she could help me with making the reservation for me. After 20 minutes of clarifying the details, I had a reservation number and everything was good. 😊 I would take the ferry on the 30th at 6 pm. Then it’s a 11 hour drive over night to Naze Port on Amami Oshima where I would land at 5 am on the next morning. To her surprise, I gave the hotel receptionist and her colleagues some pralines from Lindt 🍬 as a thank you, on the next day during checkout.
After the ferry reservation was sorted out, I went to Ibusuki. The 29th of November was the last day where I could use my JR Rail Pass and I picked Ibusuki as a location for my day trip because it was easily reachable by local train 🚂 and offered two promising attractions: the Chiringashima Island and a Sandbath. 🧐
Chiringashima Island is a small island that is connected to mainland Kyushu by a sandbank during low and half tide. When I arrived at the crossing to the island - a one hour walk from the train station in Ibusuki - it was vaguely visible because the tide 🌊 was either already too high or not low enough yet. It was still a nice walk to the shore.
The sandbath was a relaxing and interesting experience. Like the locals, I changed into a Yukata robe 👘 (a much simpler form of a kimono) and laid down on the beach 🏖️ Then the staff of the sandbath began to shove the hot sand on me until only my head was peeking out of the sand. For obvious reasons, nobody was allowed to take photos but this website illustrates quite well what that must have looked like: https://www.ana.co.jp/en/tw/japan-travel-planne… 😏
I just laid there for 15 minutes and enjoyed the warmth of the sand and calming sounds of the waves. Then I got up, took a shower and freed myself from the sand before I went to the onsen (hot spring) and the sauna 🧖‍♂️ (which belonged to the sand bath) to complete the relaxing treatment for the day.
Then I went back to the train station but missed the express train 🚊 back to Kagoshima city by 10 minutes. Luckily, there was an outdoor foot bath directly at the station that was free to use. That shortened the wait time until the next train. 😊

On my last day in Kagoshima city and on Kyushu in general, I went to „The Museum birthplace of the Meiji Restoration“ 🏫 As the name suggests, it was about the beginnings of the Meiji Restoration. The samurai clans in the Kagoshima region were among the first ones to recognised the need for Japan to open up to the world 🌍 and sent students to Great Britain and Europe in the 19th century to study western technology and gain the knowledge to modernise Japan. The still ruling Edo Shugunate was against cooperation with foreigners and even forbid traveling overseas by law. These clashing paradigms eventually resulted in a civil war 💥 that brought an end to the Edo Shogunate and the feudal system in Japan.
It met for lunch with Anna-Maria which I got to know earlier in Kyoto and who was also going to board the ferry ⛴️ to the Amami islands that evening. In the afternoon, I did not do much besides going to the ferry terminal and waiting for the ferry to depart. I will update you on that part of my journeyRead more