Ibusuki
The southern most tip of Kyshu (sorta)
We
arrived in Ibusuki shortly before dinner - we had already spent a long
day traveling from the mountains. We were a little unsure where
our hotel was, but just as we were getting close I saw a field of
yellow lupin glowing in the sunset. I had no idea how the hotel
thing was going to work out, but I needed to take that photo.
Turns out the hotel was just next door - The
National
Park Resort Village. This is part of a chain of hotels that
were built to encourage the Japanese to explore the national parks in
their countries - similar to Canada's CP Hotels now owned by the
Fairmont hotel chain - some of the most exclusive hotels in
Canada. Our hotel was showed it's age, but was still a high
quality place to stay and the price was very accommodating.
Four Views of Kaimon-dake
There are
a number of smaller
attractions in the Ibuski area and we were glad to have a car to help
explore them all. I had no idea our day would be dominated by a
single piece of geography - Kaimon-dake - a volcanic cone that
dominates the landscape. Our first view was at the lakeside of
Ikeda-ko
This volcanic lake is vast, deep and apparently populated with giant
eels. Were weren't about to go swimming to find out, but the road
side stores had large aquariums showing off the eels. There
impressive size was matched only by the lack of clarity of the tank
glass. The lake does have a nice view, but unless you
particularly like roadside shopping, it will be a short stop.
This area is a productive source of tea and there are fields at the
bottom of Kaimon-dake. I misread the map - I
thought you could actually drive up to the top of Kaimon-dake and take
in the sights, but it turns out that is a 2 hour hike, not road.
At the trail head we found a ski hill (I can't see this place getting
more than a few days a year of snow) and a tea field.
Not being able to climb the mountain, we decided to try and
circumnavigate it. The car computer listed a road so we struck
off. We though we saw a beach access when we happened upon a
Monument to Dead and Missing in the Philippines.
We
checked our guidebooks and nothing was mentioned. While the area
is very well maintained, there is no store selling things or even a
shrine. The large bell sounds out in memory.
The
area was quite sombre but beautiful. There is a beach access
with an pretty much real beach - real sand, real volcanic rocks and
(other than the retaining wall) no concrete. There were a few
families on the grass having lunch and taking in the view.
We
continued out circle route and found our way to Nagasaki-bana - the
southern most tip of this side of Kyushu (the eastern side is actually
a little further south). There is a small electronic light house
here and a number of stores selling things including lacquered sea
turtles (we were not impressed). We wanted to buy an ice creme
(this was the hottest time of the day), but couldn't support any store
selling these grotesque wall hangings - we wound up finding a little
store that sold fresh local fruit (again, surprisingly cheap) and ice
creme from a freezer. A first time ever for me - the woman
couldn't break a 5000 yen note.
The Sand Baths at Ibuski
Surigahama beach has one of the few natural sand baths in Japan.
This sand bath is designed to handle a lot of people, but because it
was fairly early in the season the staff were pretty calm with us
foreigners. As far as I can tell, the sand has been blocked into
large bed fitting 16 people. The beds are washed with hot water
(spring water) and probably sit for a while before we got into them.
Tags: Japan(18), hot spring(6), mountain(4), beach(3), field(3), Do Not Tag(2)
People: Eric(4), Mark(3), Gabi(2), John(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > Trips out of the Country > A Third Trip to Japan > Ibusuki
Hello everyone,
Interesting area and nice website, thanks for sharing. How much is rent in town and is it easy to rent over there? I would want to look around and work until I come up with some idea to start a business. My underlying reason to come to Japan (first time) is to research the carbon fiber industry as I see interesting uses for it in the future in Europe and elsewhere.
Matthew Wilhelm Piekutowski
Matthew Piekutowski
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 14:08:18
wow..what a wonderful picture
it makes me miss japan so much...
ibusuki, a place that i will never forget in my life..
wish that i could be there again someday....
farida
Friday, December 12th, 2008 at 19:31:28
Hello, beautiful pictures. What month of the year did you visit Ibusuki, please?
Many thanks, Hugh.
Hugh
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 14:06:59
Wonderful photos and description. I love yellow lupines. Here in Nova Scotia, ours are white, pink, violet, and blue. I have not seen yellow ones before.
maryann
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010 at 06:45:02
Hello John,
I'm planning to visit Ibusuki/sakurajima with my family and I found your page by chance.
Wonderful photos! I'm a Japanese live in Europe and I was searching what my husband and child
would be interested. Your pictures and descriptions helped me a lot, thank you so much :)
Eri
Sunday, October 2nd, 2011 at 11:29:58
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