National Parks · Kagoshima

Yakushima National Park

屋久島国立公園やくしまこくりつこうえんYakushima Kokuritsu Kōen

Thousand-year cedars, mountains in the ocean and rain without end

Yakushima National Park protects the mountainous interior and coasts of Yakushima, an island of ancient cedars and extreme rainfall south of Kyushu, together with the volcanic island of Kuchinoerabu-jima. Part of Kirishima-Yaku National Park from 1964, it became a national park in its own right in 2012.

Elevation: 1,936 mArea: 245.66 km²National park · 2012UNESCO World Heritage · 1993Ramsar wetland · 2005

World Heritage: Yakushima

Overview

Yakushima is a nearly round granite island some 60 km south of the tip of the Ōsumi Peninsula, with dozens of peaks above 1,000 m crowded into its centre. Miyanoura-dake (1,936 m) is the highest mountain in Kyushu and its outlying islands, and the island is often called the 'Alps on the sea'. Moist winds from the Kuroshio Current rise against these mountains, giving Yakushima some of the highest rainfall in Japan.

The island's forests of yakusugi, Japanese cedars that grow for well over a thousand years, and its unbroken vertical sequence of vegetation from subtropical coast to subalpine summit led to its inscription, together with Shirakami-Sanchi, as Japan's first natural World Heritage Site in 1993. The national park covers the mountainous core and parts of the coast, including the loggerhead turtle beaches of Nagata, and extends to Kuchinoerabu-jima, an active volcanic island to the west.

Yakushima was added to Kirishima National Park in 1964, forming Kirishima-Yaku National Park. On 16 March 2012 it was separated and designated as Yakushima National Park, with Kuchinoerabu-jima newly included.

Landscape and formation

Yakushima is the top of a granite body that intruded into older sedimentary rocks around 15 million years ago and has since been pushed up rapidly. The granite forms rounded domes, bare slabs and huge boulders on the summits; the surrounding sedimentary rocks remain as a lower rim around the coast. Rivers descend steeply from the central peaks in short, powerful torrents with many waterfalls.

Rain is the island's other sculptor. Annual precipitation reaches around 4,000 mm on the coast and far more in the mountains; the novelist Hayashi Fumiko wrote that it rains 'thirty-five days a month'. Kuchinoerabu-jima, by contrast, is a young volcanic island whose Shindake crater erupted explosively in 2015, forcing the whole population to evacuate for months.

Highlights

Miyanoura-dake
宮之浦岳Miyanoura-dake
The highest peak in Kyushu (1,936 m), a granite summit rising above bamboo-grass meadows.
Jōmon-sugi
縄文杉Jōmon-sugi
The island's largest known cedar, with a trunk girth of about 16 m; estimates of its age range from about 2,000 to over 7,000 years.
Shiratani Unsuikyō
白谷雲水峡Shiratani Unsuikyō
A ravine of moss-covered boulders and cedars, often linked with the forest of the film Princess Mononoke.
Yakusugi Land
ヤクスギランドYakusugi Rando
A forest recreation area with trails of varying length among old cedars.
Ōko-no-taki
大川の滝Ōko no Taki
An 88 m waterfall on the west coast plunging almost directly towards the sea.
Nagata Inakahama
永田いなか浜Nagata Inakahama
A beach that is one of the largest loggerhead turtle nesting sites in the North Pacific; part of a Ramsar wetland.
Kuchinoerabu-jima
口永良部島Kuchinoerabu-jima
An active volcanic island west of Yakushima with hot springs and the crater of Shindake.

Nature

MountainsMiyanoura-dakeMiyanoura-dakeThe roof of Kyūshū, rising from the cedar forests of Yakushima.

Ecology

Few places show vegetation zones so compactly. From banyan trees and subtropical evergreen forest on the coast, the slopes rise through warm-temperate broadleaf forest into the cedar zone, then to a zone of Yakushima rhododendron and bamboo grass on the summits, a sequence that elsewhere spans the length of Japan. About 1,900 plant species and varieties grow on the island, many endemic, and the damp forest is carpeted in hundreds of kinds of moss. The island's deer and macaques are distinct subspecies, smaller than their mainland relatives.

Flora

Yakusugi
屋久杉yakusugi
Japanese cedars of Yakushima over 1,000 years old, slow-growing and resin-rich on the nutrient-poor granite.
Yakushima rhododendron
ヤクシマシャクナゲYakushima shakunage
An endemic rhododendron flowering pink and white on the high ridges in late May and June.
Yakushima bamboo grass
ヤクザサyakuzasa
A dwarf bamboo covering the summit meadows around Miyanoura-dake.
Banyan
ガジュマルgajumaru
A subtropical fig with aerial roots, growing on the island's warm coast.

Fauna

Yakushima sika deer
ヤクシカyakushika
A small subspecies of sika deer, common from the coast to the summits.
Yakushima macaque
ヤクザルyakuzaru
A subspecies of Japanese macaque with darker, shorter fur, often seen along the western coast road.
Loggerhead turtle
アカウミガメakaumigame
Comes ashore at Nagata from May to July to lay eggs.
Erabu flying fox
エラブオオコウモリErabu ōkōmori
A fruit bat of Kuchinoerabu-jima and the northern Tokara Islands, protected as a natural monument.

Culture

Islanders long regarded the high mountains as the dwelling of gods and avoided felling the great cedars. The custom of take-mairi, in which representatives of each village climb to the peaks to pray and bring back offerings, continues today. In the Edo period the Satsuma domain turned the cedars into a resource: yakusugi was split into roof shingles and paid as tax, and the stumps of trees felled centuries ago still stand in the forest, overgrown by new cedars.

Large-scale logging continued into the 20th century, served by forest railways; the former logging settlement of Kosugidani and the Anbō forest railway line, now the start of the Jōmon-sugi trail, bear witness to this era. The growing movement to protect the remaining old-growth forest culminated in World Heritage inscription.

Wilson's Stump
ウィルソン株Wiruson-kabu
The hollow stump of a giant cedar felled centuries ago, named after the botanist Ernest Wilson, who introduced it to the West after surveying it in 1914.
Take-mairi
岳参りtake-mairi
A mountain pilgrimage in which villagers climb to the peaks to worship the mountain deities.
Anbō forest railway
安房森林軌道Anbō Shinrin Kidō
A logging railway whose tracks form the long approach to the Jōmon-sugi.
Yakushima Environmental Culture Village Centre
屋久島環境文化村センターYakushima Kankyō Bunkamura Sentā
An exhibition centre at Miyanoura introducing the island's nature and way of life.

History

c. 15 million years ago
Granite magma intrudes beneath the future island; later uplift raises it into mountains.
1603–1868
The Satsuma domain organises the felling of yakusugi for roof shingles paid as tax.
1914
Ernest Wilson surveys the great stump later named after him.
1964
Yakushima becomes part of Kirishima-Yaku National Park.
1966
The Jōmon-sugi becomes widely known after its discovery is reported.
1993
Yakushima is inscribed on the World Heritage List, with Shirakami-Sanchi one of Japan's first natural sites.
2005
Nagata Inakahama is listed as a Ramsar wetland.
2012
Yakushima National Park is designated on 16 March, including Kuchinoerabu-jima.
2015
An explosive eruption of Shindake forces the evacuation of Kuchinoerabu-jima.

Through the seasons

Spring

Mild on the coast, still snowy on the summits into March; the rainy spells begin, and waterfalls run high.

Summer

Yakushima rhododendrons bloom on the ridges from late May, followed by the rainy season; July and August are hot and the Jōmon-sugi trail is at its busiest. Turtles nest at Nagata.

Autumn

Typhoons pass in late summer and early autumn; later, clearer weather makes it a good season for summit hikes.

Winter

The coast stays mild, but the high mountains receive snow and ice; summit routes require winter equipment and experience.

Routes and trails

Jōmon-sugi trail
From the Arakawa trailhead along the forest railway and up through cedar forest to the Jōmon-sugi, a round trip of around ten hours.
Miyanoura-dake from Yodogawa
The shortest route to the island's summit, a long day's hike across high moors and granite ridges.
Island traverse
A two-day crossing from Yodogawa via Miyanoura-dake to the Jōmon-sugi and Shiratani or Arakawa, with nights in unstaffed huts.
Shiratani Unsuikyō trails
Several loops of different lengths through the moss forest, the longest reaching the Taiko-iwa rock viewpoint.

Practical notes

High-speed boats and ferries run from Kagoshima to Miyanoura and Anbō; flights connect Yakushima Airport with Kagoshima and other cities.
Private cars are restricted on the road to the Arakawa trailhead in the main season; shuttle buses operate. Check Yakushima town and the Ministry of the Environment for current rules.
A mountain conservation contribution is requested from hikers entering the mountain area; huts are unstaffed and there are few toilets, so carry portable toilet kits.
Weather is extremely changeable; heavy rain can flood streams and close trails within hours.

Frequently asked questions

When did Yakushima become a national park?

It was part of Kirishima-Yaku National Park from 1964 and became Yakushima National Park on 16 March 2012, when Kuchinoerabu-jima was also added.

How old is the Jōmon-sugi?

Estimates vary widely, from around 2,000 to over 7,000 years, because the core is hollow and cannot be dated directly.

How long does it take to hike to the Jōmon-sugi?

The round trip from the Arakawa trailhead takes around ten hours; most hikers start before dawn.

Does it really rain that much on Yakushima?

Yes. The coast receives around 4,000 mm a year and the mountains considerably more, among the highest totals in Japan.

What is the highest mountain in Kyushu?

Miyanoura-dake on Yakushima, 1,936 m.

Sources

1.環境省_屋久島国立公園 (opens in a new tab) — 環境省 (Ministry of the Environment)
2.環境省_国立公園_国立公園一覧 (opens in a new tab) — 環境省 (Ministry of the Environment)
3.Yakushima (opens in a new tab) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre
4.National Parks of Japan (opens in a new tab) — Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan