NEWSLETTER Issue #25 MAY 2010

WELCOME TO THE START OF THE BUSY

SEASON!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 now permanently closed to private traffic up until November 30th 2010.

This means that you will not be able to drive a hired car up to the Trail Entrance. There is a barrier after the car park in front of Yakusugi Museum a few kilometres up the mountain road from Anbo. The parking here is free should you have your own transport but the only way you can get to the Trail entrance from here is by shuttle bus, organised coach or taxi.

Please note that this does not affect traffic going up to Yakusugiland or the Yodogawa Trail Entrance – only the spur road that leads off to Arakawa Trail Entrance.

Why you may ask have the authorities gone to

such lengths to disturb your travel plans. Well the answer is simple...

People.

Far too many people.

In 2000 there were 29,700 hikers on the trail to Jomon Sugi. In 2006, this rose to 63,200 and in 2008 a massive increase brought the number to 92,600.

If any of you have ever been to the Arakawa Trail Entrance, you would know that it has a tiny car park and just can't cope with the recent numbers of visitors.

Inconvenient as it may be, this system is therefore a necessity for the very survival of the island.

So here are the details of what you need to do to get to the Arakawa Trail

www.yakumonkey.com

In this Issue

• Arakawa Trail Entrance restrictions

• Turtle nesting season begins

• The 2 Day march

• Shakunage Tozan

Entrance:

By taxi: Taxis can be arranged beforehand but they need a special one way 'ticket' which costs ¥200 per adult and without which they will not be allowed up.

The name of the ticket is the 'Jomonsugi – Arakawa sen riyo ticket'. You must purchase this ticket(s) no later than the day before your trip and they cannot be bought outside of the island.

The taxi companies themselves are now authorised to sell these tickets.

By bus: A shuttle bus called the 'Arakawa Tozan bus' runs from Yakusugi museum to Arakawa Trail

Entrance and costs ¥870 one way and ¥1700 return for adults and ¥340 one way and ¥650 return for children. The journey time is 40 minutes.

The bus ticket can only be bought no later than the day before your trip and cannot be bought outside the island.

Tickets for both taxis and the bus can be found at the following places on Yakushima:

Airport Tourist Information Centre [Tel: 49-4010] 8.30am – 6pm

Miyanoura Tourist Information Centre [Tel: 42-1019] 8.30am – 5pm

Anbo Tourist Information Centre [Tel: 46-2333] 8.30am – 5pm

Yakusugi Museum, Anbo [Tel: 46-3113] 9am – 6pm

Yakushima Environmental Culture Village Centre, Miyanoura [Tel: 42-2900] 9am – 6pm

Nakagawa Sports, Miyanoura [Tel: 42-0341] 9am – 7pm

Mori-no-hidamari, Anbo [Tel: 49-7101] 7.30am - 7pm

JR Hotel, Onoaida [Tel: 47-2011] 7am – 10pm

Yakushima Youth Hostel, Hirauchi [Tel: 47-3751] 7am - 9pm

You can also try any convenience store.

If you don't use the ticket, you can get a refund from the Tourist Information Centres before 10th

Dec 2010.

Here's the Shuttle bus Timetable:

From Yakusugi museum car park: 6 buses a day at these

times - 4.40am, 5am, 5.20am, 5.40am (connects with the Matsubanda bus), 6.00 am (connects with the Yakushima Kotsu bus), 12.30pm.

From Arakawa Trail Entrance: 11 buses a day at these times - 7am, 1.30pm, 2.30pm (connects with the Yakushima Kotsu bus), 3pm, 3.30pm,

The Arakawa access restrictions (The red part is closed)

4pm, 4.20pm (connects with the Matsubanda bus), 4.40pm , 5pm (connects with the Yakushima Kotsu bus), 5.30pm and 6pm

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 29th and goes to Miyanoura dake, Kuroimi dake, Nageishi daira and Hana-no-eigo marsh.

Should you wish to join the hike you need to apply before May 13th and it costs ¥6,000 for adults. More details in the website.

Yakushima 2 Day MarchOn May 15th and 16th

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.

It's turtle season!Sat 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 pre-book at the tourist information office or via your accommodation. There are more details about this in the guide book.

Yakushima: A Yakumonkey Guide

The guide book contains a whole wealth of information on Yakushima and is available online from a wide range of sellers in many countries.

It's also available on Yakushima in Yakusugiland and Kashima Kougei in Anbo.

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 guide book will be on yakumonkey.com website at 'the guide book page' link.

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

Copyright © Clive Witham 2010