Japan · Areas
Kyushu & Okinawa
Japan's southwestern gateway. Beyond Hakata's yatai stalls, Nagasaki's history as an open port, the Sakurajima volcano and Yufuin's hot springs, it reaches south to Yakushima and subtropical Okinawa.
Prefectures · Fukuoka · Saga · Nagasaki · Kumamoto · Oita · Miyazaki · Kagoshima · Okinawa
City guides
Start with a city
Every city guide has a timeline, stories of local figures, must-see sights, festivals and local etiquette.
Places to explore
Kyushu & Okinawa
Beppu, Oita PrefectureBeppu Jigoku Meguri (Hells Tour)Seven geothermal wonders you cannot bathe in, only look at — the cobalt-blue Umi Jigoku and the blood-red Chinoike Jigoku, with spring temperatures mostly above 90°C; here the earth boils right in front of you.
Aso City, Kumamoto PrefectureMount Aso Nakadake CraterStand at the center of a world-class caldera and watch an emerald acidic crater lake churn below your feet — Aso is one of the few volcanoes where you can see an active crater up close.
Ibusuki, Kagoshima PrefectureIbusuki Sand-Bath OnsenPut on a yukata, lie down in black sand heated by geothermal steam, and be buried for 10 minutes until you sweat all over like in a sauna — a rare natural sand bath, run at scale only on this coast.
Kirishima City, Kagoshima PrefectureKirishima ShrineA vermilion shrine hall set into the Kirishima cedar forest, enshrining Ninigi-no-mikoto, protagonist of the descent myth — this is the mountain where the "Tenson kōrin" (descent of the heavenly grandson) myth touches the ground.
Motobu Town, Okinawa Prefecture, inside Ocean Expo ParkOkinawa Churaumi AquariumIn the "Kuroshio Sea" main tank, three whale sharks swim alongside manta rays; its 22.5-meter-wide viewing window was once among the world's largest — Okinawa has moved the whole East China Sea indoors.
Nanjo City, Okinawa PrefectureSefa UtakiThe highest sacred site of the Ryukyu Kingdom; pass through the triangular opening pinched between two great rocks and look out to Kudaka Island — this is still a place of prayer, not a scenic-ized ruin.
Onna Village, Okinawa PrefectureCape ManzamoA raised coral cliff shaped like an elephant's trunk reaching into the East China Sea, with a grassland on top that could seat ten thousand people — a Ryukyu king's exclamation became the place name.
Shuri Castle
The vermilion palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom: the soul of Okinawa reborn from fire
Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine
An approach of mossy stone lanterns: one step into the otherworld of 'Hotarubi no Mori e'
.jpg?width=800)
Kouri Island: Heart Rock
The heart-shaped rock of the 'Island of Love' and Kouri blue
_24_Nov%2C_2012_-_panoramio.jpg?width=800)
Takachiho Gorge
Columnar joints in the land of myth: rowing a boat to gaze up at Manai Falls
Yakushima
The thousand years of the Jōmon Sugi: meeting 'Princess Mononoke' in a moss forest
Kumamoto Castle
One of Japan's three great castles, built by Katō Kiyomasa: the sharp curve of its 'musha-gaeshi' stone walls, and a keep reborn after the earth…
Dazaifu Tenmangū
Where Sugawara no Michizane, god of learning, rests in peace: the legend of the flying plum and 6,000 plum trees weave a thousand years of cultu…
Glover Garden
The former home of the Scottish merchant Glover looks down over Nagasaki harbour, its group of exotic Western houses telling stories of Japan's …
Sakurajima
An island living alongside an active volcano, just 15 minutes by ferry, where volcanic ash nourishes giant Sakurajima daikon weighing up to 45 k…
Yufuin Onsen
A rural hot-spring village at the foot of Mount Yufu, with morning mist on Lake Kinrin and the shops of Yunotsubo Kaidō — the number-one place t…
Hakata Gion Yamakasa
July 1 – 15, 2026
A 'men's festival' with more than 780 years of history: at 4:59 a.m. on 15 July, kakiyama floats weighing about a tonne charge some 5 km to crie…
Yutoku Inari Shrine (Kashima)
At the foot of Mount Ishikabe in Kashima City, Saga Prefecture; one of Japan's Three Great Inari Shrines, alongside Fushimi Inari in Kyoto and K…
Yoshinogari Historical Park
On the Yoshinogari Hills straddling Yoshinogari Town and Kanzaki City, Kanzaki District, Saga Prefecture; Yoshinogari Historical Park, a nationa…
Hakata tonkotsu ramen
Milky pork-bone broth, very thin noodles, and kaedama — a refill of noodles.
.jpg?width=800)
Nakasu yatai, Fukuoka
The last stronghold of Japan's yatai culture: ramen, oden and toasts with strangers by the river at dusk.
Nagasaki Peace Park
11:02 a.m., 9 August 1945: an atomic bomb exploded 500 m above this ground.
Dejima
For two centuries of national seclusion, Japan's only window on the West: a small fan-shaped artificial island.