Yakushima and Tanegashima

I just returned to Kobe after a wonderful trip to Yaku Island and Tanega Island, two islands which are part of Kyushuu and located an hour south of Kyushu's southern-most tip. Today is the last day of Golden Week, an annual five-day long holiday which occurs every year at the beginning of May. Roads, buses, and hotels were crowded because everyone has time off during Golden Week, and most people decided to travel. Some people, my host family for example, decided to avoid the crowds and stay in their hometowns during Golden Week, but my host family also said they noticed an increase in traffic and people in Kobe due to everyone taking vacations.

Yakushima and Tanegashima are very different from Kobe in terms of climate, especially because they are further south. Yakushima has a lot of very tall, forested mountains, and it receives a lot of rain. Yakushima is famous for its giant cedar trees, some of which are thousands of years old. I went hiking in the mountains and saw a good number of them. I also saw wild deer and monkeys during my stay on the island.

Since Yakushima was very crowded and it was hard to find a place to stay, I cut my visit there short and made my way over to Tanegashima, which is one hour away by hydrofoil boat. Tanegashima was much less crowded, and it was very beautiful as well. It has a lot of tropical-looking plants, and it has two claims to fame. It has Japan's space center from which Japan launches rockets and space crafts, and Tanegashima was the place where weapons were introduced to Japan when the Portuguese arrived at the southern tip of the island in 1543. I went down to the southern tip of the island to see the point where the Portuguese landed, and I also went swimming at a beautiful beach near the space center. The following day, I went up to the northern part of Tanegashima to Urata beach, and I went on my first scuba dive!!! It was challenging, but I had so much fun, and I saw some incredible fish. The instructor stayed by me the entire time, guiding me, telling me when to remove the air from my ears, and changing the air pressure in my vest. I received the entire explanation of how to scuba dive in Japanese, so I'm really proud of my progress in being able to understand the explanation, follow the rules, and have a successful dive.

This morning I arrived in Kobe, and since I have Japanese language final exams during the next two days, it's back to work!