Yakushima Cruise Port

Only for a look around the berth. Our shortest timed plan, "Miyanoura on foot: the Village Center, Masaku Shrine and the market", runs ~3.5h door to door, so it needs a 5.5-hour call (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard). On a 2–3 hour call stay within a short walk or taxi of the ship. The timed plans are at port-of-japan.com/yakushima/plans/.

The half-day is "Shiratani Unsuikyo: to the moss forest and back" (~5h door to door), which needs a 7-hour call or longer (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard) — every transit leg counted from the berth, with an escape route if you run late. The timed steps are on the plans page at port-of-japan.com/yakushima/plans/.

Le Soléal, Silver Cloud, National Geographic Resolution, Mitsui Ocean Sakura, Heritage Adventurer, Island Sky are on the cruise lines’ published itineraries for Yakushima, most calls first. Ships with a guide on this site link to it from the schedule, and this page carries plans sized to the hours each ship typically spends here. The full published call list — every ship with counts and seasons — is in the schedule section at port-of-japan.com/yakushima/#schedule.

① Walk from the cruise quay to the 宮之浦 (Miyanoura) stop on the main road: 1.4 km, about 20 min (our estimate; stop position from OpenStreetMap). If you tender, ask where the boat lands; from the ferry terminal use the Miyanoura Port stop ② Bus from 宮之浦 at 8:23, 10:08, 13:13, 15:33 (Miyanoura Port three minutes earlier); arrives at Shiratani Unsuikyo 8:55, 10:40, 13:45, 16:05 ③ Back from Shiratani at 9:00, 10:40, 13:45, 16:10; at 宮之浦 9:27, 11:07, 14:12, 16:37 Fare: ¥530 each way from 宮之浦, ¥560 from Miyanoura Port (Tanegashima-Yakushima Kotsu fare table, March 2024) · forest fee ¥800 at the gate · pay on leaving the bus; take a numbered ticket. Cash, the Iwasaki IC card or Rapica only: Suica and PASMO are not accepted, and ¥2,000, ¥5,000 and ¥10,000 notes cannot be changed on board. A 1-day pass for all Yakushima Kotsu route buses is ¥2,500, sold at offices, not on the bus. For today's exact departure times, open Google Maps transit directions from the pier — local timetables change by day, and the app knows today's.

① From Miyanoura Port at 8:00, 8:40, 10:00, 10:35, 11:15, 12:10, 12:50, 14:20, 15:20 and later ② Airport about 25 min, Anbo Port about 45 min, Onoaida about 65 min. Only the 8:40 and 12:50 run on to Ohko-no-taki (10:22, 14:32) ③ Back from Ohko-no-taki 11:00 or 15:25; from Anbo Port about hourly, 9:03 to 18:28 Fare: Miyanoura Port → Anbo ¥930; → Yakusugi Museum ¥1,020; → Hirauchi Kaichu Onsen ¥1,710; → Ohko-no-taki ¥2,100 (fare table, March 2024). Runs About hourly to Anbo; twice a day to Ohko-no-taki. Yakusugi Land is off this line: change at Gochomae for the 9:20 or 13:30 bus up the mountain, which makes it impractical on a call. No bus runs on the west-coast forest road (Seibu Rindo).

① No cruising taxis: book ahead or ask at the port. Yakushima Kotsu Taxi 0997-42-0611, Matsubanda Kotsu Taxi 0997-43-5555, Anbo Taxi 0997-46-2311 ② From the quay: Shiratani 11.0 km, about 25 min; Yakusugi Museum 23.0 km; Yakusugi Land 35.0 km, about an hour; Kigensugi 40.5 km; Senpiro-no-taki 32.8 km; Ohko-no-taki 43.6 km — our estimates ③ Agree a return time: taxis wait at the ports and the airport, not at the trailheads Fare: Kagoshima-block tariff from 1 Apr 2026: ¥770 for the first 1.3 km, then ¥50 per 145 m · Shiratani about ¥4,200, Yakusugi Land about ¥12,400, Ohko-no-taki about ¥15,400 — our estimates on distance alone. Runs Normal cars seat 5, jumbo taxis 9 (tourism association). Mountain roads are narrow and slow: allow 1.5 to 2 times free-flow driving times. For a group, a jumbo taxi for the day is often cheaper per head than the ship’s tour; ask the company for a time-based price.

Yakushima sits on the Southern Kyushu coast, which averages 3.9 typhoon approaches a year (JMA 1991–2020 normals) — the peak is August to September. Ships reroute rather than sail into a storm; the coast-by-coast picture and the booking-window advice are at port-of-japan.com/journal/typhoon-season-japan-cruise/.

13 cruise calls are on the schedule compiled from cruise lines’ itineraries (Mitsui Ocean Cruises, Silversea, Heritage Expeditions, Noble Caledonia, Lindblad, Ponant) and Okinawa Prefecture’s Motobu berth lists, for 2027 (Calendar 2027 (cruise lines’ own itineraries; no public port list)), 11 by international ships and 2 by Japanese-operated ships. Every ship and its season is listed in the schedule section at port-of-japan.com/yakushima/#schedule.

At Miyanoura Port on the north-east coast. The Japan Tourism Agency lists one cruise berth, the quay of the 火之上山 district, across the river from the town, −7.5 m deep. Kagoshima Prefecture says about 15 cruise ships call a year. Anbo, on the east coast, is a jetfoil port with no cruise calls listed for 2026–27.

For some ships. Mitsui Ocean Sakura says passengers land by tender on 21 April and 1 July 2027, taking 30–60 minutes each way, and that landing can be cancelled in bad weather. Le Soléal, National Geographic Resolution, Heritage Adventurer and Island Sky do not say on their pages, and for Silver Cloud our sources do not say. Lindblad’s own reports from 2023 describe National Geographic Resolution at a dock in Miyanoura. Your daily programme gives the answer.

From the cruise quay, yes, but it is not short: about 20 minutes to the 宮之浦 bus stop on the main road, about 25 minutes to Masaku Shrine and 30 minutes to the Environmental Culture Village Center, by our estimate, across the river bridge. If you tender, the landing place is announced on board.

By bus from the 宮之浦 stop, about 20 minutes on foot from the cruise quay: 8:23, 10:08, 13:13 and 15:33, about 35 minutes, ¥530 (from Miyanoura Port three minutes earlier, ¥560; fare table of March 2024). Back from Shiratani at 9:00, 10:40, 13:45 and 16:10. Or a taxi, about 25 minutes and about ¥4,200 from the quay by our estimate. The forest fee is ¥800 from April 2026.

No. Jomon Sugi is a round trip of about ten hours on foot from the Arakawa trailhead, reached by a mountain bus that changes at the Yakusugi Museum. On a port day, see the Kigensugi cedar, about 3,000 years old, which stands beside a road, or the named cedars of Yakusugi Land.

Yes. Buses take cash, the Iwasaki IC card or Rapica only: Suica and PASMO are not accepted, and drivers cannot change ¥2,000, ¥5,000 or ¥10,000 notes. The forest fees, the museums and taxis are where you spend it. The Yakushima Tourism Center opposite the Miyanoura-ko Iriguchi stop takes cards and has free Wi-Fi.

Very. JMA normals at the coast are 4,652 mm a year, with rain on 11 to 19 days a month; June is the wettest, with 860 mm. The mountains get far more. Take a rain jacket and shoes with grip on every call.