Sightseeing in Kyushu

Kyushu is Japan's southwestern island. It consists of eight prefectures: Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, and Okinawa. Each prefecture has its own attractions. In this essay, I will introduce Oita, Nagasaki, and Okinawa.

Nagasaki is located in the north-west of Kyushu. It is famous for its trade with Portugal in the 16th century. Nagasaki is the biggest city in Nagasaki. It has a nice Chinatown and Oura Church. Sasebo has a naval base, Huis Ten Bosch (a famous theme park), and Sasebo Burgers! Shimabara is a castle town and the site of a Christian rebellion in 1637.

Oita Prefecture

Oita is in the north-eastern part of Kyushu. It has many mountains and forests. Mount Yufu and Mount Kuju are very famous mountains in Oita. Probably the best place to visit is Yufu, especially the part known as Yufuin. Both Yufuin and Beppu have famous hot springs.

Okinawa is the most southern of the prefectures of Kyushu, and the culture and atmosphere is very different. The four Okinawa islands are Ie-jima, Kume-jima, Okinawa Island, and Kerama Island. The people on Okinawa Island are the longest-lived in the world. The cliffs at Manzamo and the Gusuku Wall are well worth a visit. But above all, just walk around and enjoy the nice atmosphere and lovely views!

Any visit to Japan is incomplete without a visit to Kyushu. You may not have time to visit every prefecture, but try to make time to visit at least one or two, and notice how different things are from Honshu. Of course, a visit to Hokkaido would also be fun, but that is outside the scope of this essay!

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Sightseeing in Kumamoto

Kumamoto Prefecture has many places worth visiting. The prefecture can be divided into several regions: Kumamoto City and environs, Amakusa, Aso, Hitoyoshi, Minamata, Yatsushiro, Kikuchi, and Yabe. I would like to focus on Amakusa, Aso, and Kumamoto City.

Amakusa is an archipelago of about 100 islands off the west coast of Kumamoto, joined to the mainland by a series of five bridges. It is also very close to Nagasaki to the north, and there are several ferries to various points in Nagasaki Prefecture.

Amakusa as a whole is picturesque, with the coast never too far away. Probably the most notable places are Oe Catholic Church and Sakitsu Catholic Church, both quite close to each other on the west coast of the lower island in the Kawaura area; Juusanbutsu Park, a little further up the west coast; and Ryuugatake, a mountain on the upper island.


 There are no trains to Amakusa, so travel by car or bus is necessary, although there is a train to Misumi, the town on the mainland nearest to Amakusa.

Before moving away from Amakusa, let's take a look at Gosoku no Kutsu, a nice walking course (with an expensive ryokan nearby) also on the west coast.

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Food in Kyushu (essay)

Kyushu, Japan's south-western island, consists of eight prefectures, including Kumamoto and Fukuoka. Each prefecture has its own special foods and drinks. In addition, Kyushu food as a whole has special characteristics: the food tends to have a comparatively rich taste, and to emphasize sweetness over saltiness.

The first food I'd like to focus on is karashi-renkon, one of the most famous dishes in Kumamoto Prefecture. It is made by stuffing a paste containing mustard into a lotus root and then deep frying the root after coating it in a batter.

The next food I'd like to mention is yaki-ramen. Probably every prefecture in Japan has its own twist on ramen, noodles in a big bowl of soup. The ramen in Kyushu tends to have a rich, oily taste, being based on boiled pork bones. Yaki-ramen has almost no soup, and has an especially rich, buttery taste.

Finally, let's consider beer in Kyushu. While beer is generally best in the north of Japan, Miyazaki and Kagoshima both have very good micro-breweries. Those in Kagoshima tend to feature a kind of purple sweet potato, while those in Miyazaki are sometimes lambics featuring hyuuga-natsu or other local citrus fruits.

The above are just a few of the foods and drinks that you can find in Kyushu. As mentioned earlier, each prefecture has its own specialities, and a tour of Kyushu will yield many unexpected delights.

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