Takachiho Gorge
A beautiful place I couldn’t enjoy
Takachiho Gorge is located deep in the mountains of Kyushu island. It isn’t the easiest place to get to, but it still receives its fair share of domestic and international tourists.
When we first started travel-planning for Japan, we got as far as Kagoshima and Miyazaki (where we visited Aoshima Island). Originally we were planning on taking a train up to Usuki or Oita, then taking a ferry to Ehime (on Shikoku island) to eventually end up in Osaka, thus making a complete loop of southern Japan. However, this plan was foiled by Golden Week.
Golden Week may be the biggest holiday in Japan, as it is when many workers get a week off at the end of April and beginning of May. There is cluster of national holidays during this time. April 29th is Showa Day, May 3rd is Constitution Memorial Day, May 5th is Children’s Day; and since May 4th is between two holidays, it became another National Holiday: Green Day.
We knew that Golden Week was coming but didn’t get our accommodations booked soon enough. By the time we set out to plan Ehime, all the accommodations were booked up and so we decided not to go. Instead, we diverted our plans to stop in Nobeoka to see Takachiho Gorge and then head back to Fukuoka to see some places we missed earlier in our trip.
Takachiho Gorge is about a 2 hour bus ride from Nobeoka (and 5 hours from Fukuoka). We were based in Nobeoka and went to the gorge from there. On a later day, we took a bus from Nobeoka to Fukuoka and saw some European tourists get on at Takachiho Gorge along the way, having taken a (very long) day trip from Fukuoka.
Takachiho Gorge attracts many visitors because it is considered one of the most beautiful scenic spots in Kyushu and Japan. The gorge consists of volcanic basalt columns formed from lava flow from the nearby Mount Aso.
It is popular for tourists to rent rowboats (2,000 yen for half an hour) and see the gorge from the water. When we arrived, just after noon, it was already sold out for the day.
The gorge was beautiful but I also had a lot of hayfever that day, so I didn’t really enjoy it very much. There is a bridge over the gorge and a walking trail along one side, offering several viewing points of the gorge and waterfall.
Although we got one-day bus passes (1,500 yen for foreigners and 1,800 yen for the Japanese) that were cheaper than a regular bus ticket (1,790 yen each way), we still didn’t feel like it was really worthwhile. Perhaps under better circumstances we would have enjoyed ourselves more and gone to the other nearby shrines… but with allergies, it just makes the day a slog.
We were therefore happy to retreat to our comfortable hotel room to rest and spend the rest of our time in Nobeoka at the newly revamped train station. The new station building had just opened and combines a Starbucks and a bookstore in a single space so that the seating is among the books. As well, there is a children’s play area and several study spots. We joined the students who were studying and used the super fast WiFi.
It was great to find an indoor space where we could relax and where I did not have hayfever. The study space was probably the best quiet area we’ve ever been in, and the building itself is really fascinating. It is quite transparent, letting in lots of natural light. It shows that with the right culture, it’s possible to have nice things that won’t get ruined. In Canada, we’re always designing for the hooligans and teenagers that will spray graffiti on the walls and spill coffee on the chairs… so everything is cheap and dull. In Japan, there’s a respect for public spaces and people are responsible so they’re able to have really nice places.
