Kyushu 2015 Autumn Self Drive Trip - Day 6

Day 5 : Kumamoto to Izumi  ( Kagoshima ) Via Gokanosyo

Today is gonna be a very long drive from Kumamoto to Izumi in Kagoshima , direct route will takes about 2hr + but cos we will be driving to Gokanosyo ( 五家莊 ）based on google map will take almost 5 hrs , about 180 km , but actual drive is actually longer due to it all mountain roads. Why we decided to visit here is due to an article we found online , claiming this place is the "last secret place in Kumamoto " the article link is here but it's in chinese. In short , this place is actually a hiding place for one of the Japanese clan called the Heike , there are supposed to be a very powerful clan long ago but lost in war and end up hiding to prevent wipeout by their enemies. the clan actually "hid" in a few areas all over Japan, this part is just one of those. What make it so secretive about this area is that it is high in the mountain and very secluded and the story was that the clan actually hid there for generations but no one found out about them , but there was once some robbers happen to rob there then got caught but was let go by the villagers and thus the news of this clan was exposed. This is what i read somewhere online so how true is it , i am not sure. But this place is actually a autumn colour spot nowadays and can get very crowded then. Link here for a brief history of this place in english and the official website in japanese. 

Before we left Kumamoto , we actually detour to try this famous ramen 黑亭拉麵 ，it is popular of the garlic added into the soup and adding of raw egg yolk. The place is always very crowded from what i read online and it fills up very fast when we were there, taste wise i would said not bad if you like the garlic taste and also a special way of eating is to eat one of the yolk raw then the other put in the spoon then dip the noodle and eat. Egg yolks had to be very fresh in order for you to eat it raw though.

This is the start of the road to the mountain, as you can see it quite narrow and though this is for 2 way traffic , so have to be very careful at bends. This is also during the peak season , they will restrict on certain days it only one way drive. We missed the peak period by about a week cos at first we thought it will still be ok cos autumn colour will not fade so fast like Sakura seasons but we were wrong. Cos apparently due to a big typhoon in Aug , apparently a lot of trees were affected , thus this year the autumn colour is not as fantastic cos most of the branch/leaves were damaged.





It was a slow and long drive up before we reach the first viewing point , but it gets very misty suddenly and we cannot see much view ( we should have waited a while )
Cos look at the 2 pictures above ( this is a few min drive away from the first observation deck ) , when we reach it was very misty , but less then a minute ( cos we went to to toilet and came out ) the whole place is super clear , then we realised that , it's not the mist but actually clouds like the one we experienced at Mt. Unzen.

the higher of the twin bridge

first bridge to the first fall

the fall behind the shop houses

first water fall

There are many suspension bridges , waterfalls and small villages , the bridges are the only way of getting form one side of the mountain to the other side , cos when driving we can see that we are making big "U" shaped to get to the other side. As you can see from the pictures , just one week away from the peak of their autumn colour season , almost all the leaves are gone and the trees are quite bare. Weather on top is very cold so need to take note  ( think about 1-2 deg or more lesser then Kumamoto city area ). Also need to note is there the waterfalls all need a bit of walking + climbing up and down on paths so be prepare.
The pictures above are taken from the Heike village , think entrance fee is about 300 yen / pax ( or 600 yen ? )  Finally we saw some red leaves here , there is also a small restaurant , which is in one of those house in the 2nd picture. the last picture is their "stage" where performance will take place during the autumn seasons or special events. See the amount of autumn leaves in the pond ? think till be very nice if to visit during the peak but then think will be very crowded and also think traffic will be even slower.
There is a museum in the Village and ( think there is a deer feeding area from the map i saw but did not check in out ) . Inside the museum , there are a lot of displays regarding the Heike Clan , but all in japanese , there is a guide also but also in japanese ( not sure if they have other languages ) as we are rushing for time as daylight is short in winter , so we just had a quick look around then we moved on.

catchment of the first fall

some shop houses

twin suspension bridges

view from nearby the village entrance

There are some shops near one of the waterfall after the village but think it's only opened during the red koyo season ( or it might had close cos when we reach there is ard 4pm+ which is getting dark already ), so it looks like a dead town when we were there. There is a path to a very high waterfall but I did not go all the way down but only walk about 20 min and take a look ( it's the 3rd picture next to the suspension bridge on top )
Before I forgot , thanks to a fellow TA's member that give me very detail direction for this route , below is the guide for those who wanted to visit Gokanosyo in a day self drive trip to experience the peacefulness and remote of the area and how the Heike clan managed to "hide" from the world.
" You can get through the area down to Izumi in a day, but just a couple of hours won't do it. To save some really narrow roads you could just see Nihonsugi, Uminokidokoro Falls, Momigi Heike no Sato, and turn right to check out Sendantodoro Falls, exiting at Miyahara on Route 3 where you could drive south to the next expressway entrance to go south until the expressway runs out and back onto Route 3 to Izumi in Kagoshima. For a 1 day tour through Gokanosho from Kumamoto, I would use this route: 

1) 445 and 443 from the south part of Kumamoto City (Mifune) to the cross island route 218. Alternatively, you could take Route 3 South to Matsubase (Uki) to pick up 218. 

2) East on 218 to Misato Town. 

3) Turn south on 445 to begin the hill climb into Gokanosho. Lots and lots of turns 

4) At the top, there is an overlook you walk to and you can get some views from behind the small restaurant on the right at the corner. Don't turn right here though. The road to the right will take you back to the coast. 

5) Continue south on 445 toward Itsuki and on your right and left will be small parking lots for the long and high concrete hanging bridge which you can see off to the right. A 15-20 minute hike leads you to the waterfall on the other side of the valley that you walk above. There used to be a pipe sticking out of the mountainside on the left parking lot with water coming out. By the right parking lot is a small shop and some rest rooms. The restaurant must only be open during koyo as it's never been open when I go by in the summer. 

6) Further south, there will be a small group of buildings and an intersection sign to turn left for Heike no Sato and Momigi. This road with some ups and downs and a lot of turns leads to the old exhibit and small museum of the Heike who hid out in this valley after the battle of Dan-no-ura. The museum is up to the left. If it's crowded, you have to use the lower parking lots and hike up a lot of steps. If it's not crowded, you can drive up the small road to the left where there is a small parking lot across from the ticket building. 

7) Continue further past Heike no Sato through the small hamlet of Momigi. There are some minshuku here and an elementary school with about 7 kids. A short ways beyond that is a super tight turn to the right that leads down to a parking lot to the 2 hanging bridges over the Kawabe River. There is a thatched rest building, some rest rooms, and a small restaurant below the parking lot. These bridges were the only ways around until the road was built. 

8) If you continue farther, there is a museum of Gokanosho that mainly has photos, and beyond that a campground. The road circles back on the other side of the valley or you can turn around to get back to 445. 

9) Further south, over some new road sections and through some tunnels (look for the old road along the mountainsides to get an idea of how remote this area used to be), you get to another small group of buildings in a place called Miyahara. Here there's a sign over the road pointing west (right) to Sendantodoro Falls. Turn right. If you see the sign below, you've missed the turn to the right. Link

10) You will pass a thatched roof house and signs for some ryokan and minshuku before you catch sight of the falls from the road. Stop at a wide area if you want but you continue on until you get to a large parking area on the right and a small group of shops on the left. On the right side of the shops is the top of the trail that leads down to the falls. There's some good wading spots and if you explore more, a couple of good swimming holes down farther where the rivers join. There's a shelter at the bottom of the falls that's starting to fall apart. 

11) Continue up the mountain over the pass and you will go back down a narrow winding road for the coast. About half way down is a small turnout on the right which gives good views over the mountain hamlet of Iwaoku. Link

12) Follow Route 52 all the say down past the reservoir on your left which is behind the Hikawa dam. When you see it, there will be a stop sign at a "T" intersection. Turn left on 443 to get to Route 3 to head south to Miyahara Town. If you turn right here, there's a restaurant and craft shop at the top of the hill on your right (Furiai Center Izumi). They have varying amounts of pottery, tea, and wood products from the surrounding area. Sometimes there's a special exhibit. A bit further on if you turn to the right you will come to 3333 steps. It takes a while to get to the top but it's kind of fun. There will be roadside markers of steps as you get closer. There are pay parking lots and some small restaurants around the bottom of the steps. Link This Izumi is not the Kagoshima Izumi. 

13) In Miyahara by Route 3, the left turn to go south is sometimes pretty busy. I just follow the road straight when the main road goes to the right to a stop light and wait a while. The next highway entrance is in Yatsushiro. 

 The distances are further than you think and the driving speed is slow, so you can't do this quickly. Be sure to use the convex corner mirrors on the winding roads so you can see around the corners. It takes some practice but you soon realize how convenient they are. "

After a long drive , we finally reach Izumi, Kagoshima around 8 pm ( we left Kumamoto around 12 pm ) so except for some stop to take photos and walk to the waterfalls , we spend the rest of time driving in the mountain ( from the last POI in the mountain , it tools use about 3 hours to reach Izumi ).

Izumi is quite a small town ( from what we see at night ) cos we stayed near the train station but around there , it doesn't seems to have big malls etc. Along the way , further away from the train station ( about +/- 30 min drive ) does have quite a lot of big shops and eatery. We did not bother to explore cos our main reason for staying here is to visit the Crane Observation Centre tomorrow morning.  *Note : most bigger stores like supermarket , Daiso , H&M , etc , will have outlets a bit further from the main town , guess maybe rental is cheaper and they can have it bigger also , so they all clustered together. It's the same in many other parts of Japan.

Kyushu 2015 Autumn Self Drive Trip - Day 1

Day 1 - Singapore to Kyushu ( Fukuoka ) , Stay Saga

Day 1 Itinerary

Display at airport that most tourists will take photo with

From Fukuoka International Airport to City area ( Hakata / Tenjin ) , there are few options

1) By Subway - Take the free shuttle bus to Domestic Terminal 2 then from there take a subway to Hakata ( 2 stations away about 5 min ) /Tenjin ( 5 stations about 11 min ) , making it the most convenient and accessible airport in Japan
2) By Bus - From International Airport , takes about 15 min to reach Hakata ( this saves the trouble of taking your luggages up and down the shuttle bus and then to transfer the subway. If i am not wrong should be Bus 11. Anyway if you plan on taking buses in Fukuoka area , do download this App : NNR-BusNavi for buses. NRR- BusNavi for iOS  , NRR-BuaNavi for Android

3) By Cab - Takes about 15 min , cost about 1300yen to Hakata and about 1800yen to Tenjin ( we took from hotel at Hakata cost use 1320yen , and a fellow fren took from hotel at Tenjin , cost her 1860yen )

As mentioned , for SQ flight to Fukouka , will reach in the morning around 8.20 am ( Japan time ).  In order to save time , we decided to pick up the car and wifi router on the same day and drive out of Fukuoka. The reason is that , Fukuoka will be our last station as will be flying back from here , and this will also be where the Last minute shopping will be ( ** big mistake here  , will mentioned later ), that's why instead of spending the night here , we will move off to Saga to save 1 day.
From International Airport , we took the free shuttle bus and alight at Domestic Terminal 2 ( T2 and T3 is connected ) , we walk to T3 Post office to collect our WiFi Router. ( you can have it send to the hotel if you wish but as we will be travelling to the hotel and check in late like evening , so we decided to pick it up first so we can use along the way ). From there , cross the underpass to the other side of the road where most of the car rental companies are at. Ours is Budget Car Rental , which is just 1-2 minutes walk from the underpass exit.

After collecting the car , we drove to Ichiran Odo for brunch.  Reason for coming to this outlet is that cos our next destination is Mariano City for shopping. Also as this outlet is out of the busy area of Tenjin/Hakata , parking will not be an issue so they have their own parking lots. Also to note that , this outlet served a slightly different noodles from the main outlet , it serve Wheat noodle , Ouote from the site  ""Special Ra-mugi Noodles from this local special wheat. These noodles contain the flavor of Fukuoka’s pure nature with characteristic strong consistency."

For those new to Ichiran , below is the ordering form for the type of noodle/Soup/Condiments you like , there are forms in different languages , just ask from the staffs. Also you will notice that toilets in Ichiran will have many toilet rolls like the picture above , this is like how they let you choose your style of Ramen , you get to choose from different toilet rolls ( I am not sure if the quality/texture of the rolls defer cos I never use. )

Form for selecting your own "customise" bowl of noodle 

After the Ramen @ Ichiran Odo , we drove to Marinoa City Outlet for a quick shopping. Online we found out that Mont-bell had a outlet here which sell past season at discounted price.

Marinoa City Outlet @ Fukuoka

A BIG mistake , as there is no Tex-Free here at this outlet , We only found out on our last day at Canal City Mont-bell shop that , not only there is a Outlet corner there , it also offer Tax-Free !! based on our spending , we could have save almost 8000yen ! almost SGD $90. *So for those who indent to get items from Mont-bell , go to Canal City Shop instead. Lesson learnt is , if there is specific brands that you are into , do a google online to see which are the outlets for the brand that had Tax-Free , can save a bit as japan tax is 8%.

Can look kinda of scary

Long road of Pines at both sides of road

This is the view if you go up Kagamiyama

After spending few hours shopping , we decided to drive to Nijinomatsubara （虹之松原）is a 360-year-old pine forest in Karatsu, Saga. It has a width of 400 - 700 metres, a length of about 4 km, and a total area of 240 hectares. ( from Wikipedia ). Along they way we decided to stop by Itoshima area for BBQ Oyster.  this is the Oyster Huts Guide for 2015 , basically cos from November to March is Oysters Season , so along the coastline will have "Oyster Huts " that sells oysters and other seafoods for BBQ. 1 basket of oysters cost around 1000yen ( about $12 ) then other seafoods price varies , then they will charge you about 300yen for the "Service Fee " be it charcoals/gas stove. The one we went though charged us 300yen for service fee but we get to choose 2 drinks ( based on convenience store prices , 1 soft drink will cost about 100yen so meaning we only paid 100yen for the "Service Fee". The owner also throw in a few piece of oyster as "service" - meaning Freebie.

The Oysters was very fresh & delicious , of cos we ordered Scallops as well ( my fav ) they usually give you butter for that. If you are not sure how to BBQ like us , the staff will try their best to show you , even if you do not know Japanese, body languages will be used. Lucky for us the lady owner of the store we went knows some english , so there was not big issue. *Note : to bbq the oyster , you need to put it on the flat side first , after few minutes , then you flip to the other side. think one of the reason is to drain out some of the seawater , else read online that the water will "spray out" if you put it on the uneven side at first. Also do not stay too close to the "fire" as some oyster shell might burst due to the heat, not sure why though , some does and most does not. After it's cooked then pry open the shell and then add some soy suace , lemon juice , etc to it. I preferred it without anything on it.  The freshness and the saltiness from the seawater is good enough for me.

The Karatsu Burger Van

I ordered the Special

Karatsu Burger

After Oysters , we drove on to Nijinomatsubara for Karatsu Burger. It taste a bit like Malaysia's Ramy Burger , but they bun they toasted/fried ? so overall taste quite good. Quite hard to imagine the business was not bad though it was like a food truck in the middle of nowhere. Cos when we was there, cars keep coming in to buy , mostly look locals rather then tourists like us.


Did not went up Kagamiyama as planned cos the sky are getting bit dark. Days in Winter are short , though we had planned for Autumn trip but as it was very late in Autumn , it's almost like winter. about 5 pm and the sky is all DARK like 7-8pm in SG.  So if you ever planned trip in late Autumn or in Winter, do take note of the short daytime.

After having the karatsu burger, we drive to Kyotoya our hotel in Takeo Onsen area.  After a quick check-in , we drove again to Ogi , Saga. From 15th Nov - 23rd Nov each year , there is a Bamboos light up in Ogi. Though only i read that the bus timing aboved , but think there are more buses then the only 5 mentioned. As with many tourist attractions in Japan, if the places of interests is seasonal and parking is limited , they will usually provide free shuttle buses at some temporary carparks to cater to the visiting crowds.
After Visiting the 清水竹灯り aka the Bamboo lights Festival in Ogi, we drove back to Takeo and park our car at the hotel then walk about 10 min to 佐が家 for dinner.

Part of the Beef Menu

Highlight for the night is A5 Saga Beef ! ( a lot of people just know Wagyu beef , which only means only Japanese Beef.) There are a lot of classification of Wagyu , A5 ( i think ) is the highest grade and then it also will have to depends where the beef is from , like Kobe Beef , Matsuzaka Beef , Miyazaki Beef , Etc. One thing I found our very different this trip is that , in Kyushu ( maybe other places , i am not sure ) that they like Oysters Grilled , and the Beef grilled as well rather then we like Oyster Raw in SG and Beef steak pan-fried , maybe is just the shop i went. The beef is REALLY YUMMY ! but some might feel it a bit too oily due to the fats but i like it anyway , we did order the Steak , which is a better mix of fats and meat , it taste super good too !

Kyotoya's Room

As for our hotel Kyotoya , Room wise was ok , quite spacious , parking is just next to the hotel. When we checked in , was given a information slip , and it stated the outdoor onsen only opens from 3pm - 10pm , most of the other Ryokans we stayed before , usually onsen is 24 hours for in-house guest. But we still saw some guests went outside and we thought that was the Sauna , but when we went again the next morning then realised that that was the outdoor onsen , it shared the same door entrance with the sauna and on the door for the sauna then got a plate that states 3 pm to 10 pm. So I think maybe the information slip then the hotel gave was wrong in translation ? anyway we went outside the next morning since the door was not lock.

*Note : if when check in to any hotel in Japan and the staffs cannot find your name , try to ask them to check for your first name instead of the usual last name , this is the problem we had with hotel that we book from booking.com.
Eg . your name is Tan Ah Beng , usually Last name = Tan , First name = Ah Beng , by right it should stated on their record your name is Tan Ah Beng , so the will start to look for Tan , but then they can never find cos on their records it will show Ah Beng Tan instead. So don't freak out if they can't find your booking if you are sure you booked correctly , just point to them to search for you First name instead of "Tan San" ( San = さん in japanese means sort of like Mr. )