How long are you ashore in Yakushima?

For a 5.5-hour call or longer · 3 hr 30 min door to door

Miyanoura on foot: the Village Center, Masaku Shrine and the market

Any call, and short or late-arriving ones. The Village Center opens at 9:00 and closes on Mondays, or the Tuesday after a holiday Monday, but not in Golden Week or from 20 July to 31 August (open Mon 11 Oct 2027, closed Mon 8 May 2028); the Furusato Ichiba restaurant opens at 11:00, so on an early call do the shrine and the market shop first. If you tender, start from the landing point

Fits a 5.5-hour stop with nothing to add (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard). A longer call gives you the extra time; on this one, do not add a stop.

1. +0:00
   Walk from the cruise quay over the river bridge to Masaku Shrine (1.7 km, about 25 min, our estimate)

   If you tender, the landing place is in the daily programme

2. +0:40
   Walk on to the Environmental Culture Village Center at the port entrance (about 10 min)

   9:00–17:00, ¥530 with the large-screen film

3. +0:50
   Exhibition hall, sea to summit, then the film

   “Symphony of Forest and Water”, about 25 min, at 9:20, 11:20, 13:20, 15:20; “Four Seasons”, about 20 min, at 10:20, 12:20, 14:20, 16:20

4. +2:00
   Yakushima Furusato Ichiba: flying-fish lunch and the market

   Restaurant 11:00–15:00 (last order 14:30); shop 9:00–18:00, to 17:00 in winter

5. +2:50
   Marutaka Suisan for kubiore-saba and mackerel flakes, or Araki Shoten for island shochu

   Both close on Sundays

6. +3:00
   Walk back to the quay (about 30 min, our estimate)

   Or call a taxi: Yakushima Kotsu Taxi 0997-42-0611

7. +3:30
   Back at the gangway

Running late? Raining hard? The Village Center and the Tourism Center are both indoors and next to each other; take a taxi back rather than walking.

No transport needed from the quay. Village Center ¥530; lunch at the Furusato Ichiba. Full route, map and photos

For a 7-hour call or longer · 5 hr door to door

Shiratani Unsuikyo: to the moss forest and back

Calls of 7 hours or more with the ship in by 09:00: out on the 10:08 bus, back on the 13:45. The 8:23 bus also works but leaves you waiting for the 13:45. A ship that tenders loses 30–60 min each way: on Mitsui Ocean Sakura’s 21 April 2027 call the 10:08 cannot be caught, so take a taxi both ways; on its 1 July 2027 call (08:00–17:00) take the 10:08 out but a taxi booked for 13:45 back from Shiratani (about 25 min, about ¥4,200, our estimate), because the 13:45 bus and the walk reach the quay at about 14:32, after the 14:30 an hour’s tender run needs. Not after heavy rain, when the streams rise

Needs the ship in by 09:00

Fits a 7-hour stop with nothing to add (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard). A longer call gives you the extra time; on this one, do not add a stop.

1. +0:00
   Walk to the 宮之浦 (Miyanoura) bus stop on the main road (1.4 km, about 20 min, our estimate), or take a taxi from the quay (about 25 min)

   Bus to Shiratani from this stop at 8:23, 10:08, 13:13, 15:33, three minutes after Miyanoura Port; cash, Iwasaki IC or Rapica only. Stop position from OpenStreetMap, not checked on the ground

2. +0:28
   Bus to Shiratani Unsuikyo at 10:08, arriving 10:40, ¥530

   Pay on leaving; drivers cannot change notes of ¥2,000 and over

3. +1:00
   Pay the ¥800 forest fee and take the English map

   Administration building 8:30–16:30

4. +1:05
   Walk the Taikoiwa route to the moss forest and back, about 2 h 30 min

   Steep, wet and rooty in places. Parts of the Yayoisugi course are closed after Typhoon No. 24; the Taikoiwa route reopened 18 Oct 2026. The toilet at Shiratani Hut is closed

5. +4:05
   Bus back at 13:45 (also 9:00, 10:40, 16:10); get off at 宮之浦, 14:12

   Or call a taxi from the entrance; none waits there

6. +4:35
   Walk back to the quay, about 20 min, our estimate
7. +4:55
   Back at the gangway

Running late? Short of time? Turn back before the moss forest: the first stretch of the route, along the river, already shows the forest. Or swap the bus for a taxi both ways and save about an hour.

Transport spend: bus ¥530 each way from the 宮之浦 stop (fare table of March 2024), or a taxi about ¥4,200 each way from the quay, our estimate. Forest fee ¥800. Full route, map and photos

For an 8.5-hour call or longer · 6 hr 30 min door to door

The cedars: Yakusugi Museum, Yakusugi Land and Kigensugi by taxi

Calls of 8 hours or more. Book the taxi before the call; none waits at the trailheads. The museum closes on the first Tuesday of the month and 29 Dec–1 Jan

Fits an 8.5-hour stop with nothing to add (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard). A longer call gives you the extra time; on this one, do not add a stop.

1. +0:00
   Taxi to the Yakusugi Museum in Anbo (23 km, about 30–35 min, our estimate)

   Yakushima Kotsu Taxi 0997-42-0611 · Matsubanda Kotsu Taxi 0997-43-5555 · Anbo Taxi 0997-46-2311

2. +0:35
   Yakusugi Museum, 50–60 min

   9:00–17:00, ¥600

3. +1:35
   Up the mountain road to Yakusugi Land (12.5 km, about 25 min)
4. +2:00
   Yakusugi Land, about 1 h 30 min on a course past Buddhasugi and Hahakosugi

   Forest fee ¥800. Use the temporary exit near Kugurisugi: the exit bridge is out

5. +3:30
   Kigensugi, 5.7 km and about 20 min further up

   A roadside cedar of about 3,000 years. No restaurant on this road is listed: bring food from the ship

6. +4:10
   Down to Miyanoura, about 1 h 10 min
7. +5:20
   Furusato Ichiba if the restaurant is still serving (last order 14:30), then to the quay
8. +6:30
   Back at the gangway

Running late? Skip the museum and go straight up: Yakusugi Land and Kigensugi alone take about 4 h 30 min door to door.

Transport spend: taxi about ¥12,400 out to Yakusugi Land and about ¥14,300 back from Kigensugi, our estimates; a day rate or a jumbo taxi for four can cost less per head. Museum ¥600, forest fee ¥800. Full route, map and photos

Rainy day · 5 hr door to door

A wet day: the Village Center, then the Yakusugi Museum

Heavy rain, when forest streams rise. Both are indoors. The Village Center opens at 9:00 and closes on Mondays (the Tuesday after a holiday Monday); the museum on the first Tuesday of the month

Fits a 7-hour stop with nothing to add (off the ship 30 minutes after arrival, back at the gangway an hour before all-aboard). A longer call gives you the extra time; on this one, do not add a stop.

1. +0:00
   Taxi or walk to the Environmental Culture Village Center (about 30 min on foot from the quay, our estimate)

   9:00–17:00

2. +0:30
   Exhibition hall and the large-screen film

   ¥530; films at 9:20, 11:20, 13:20, 15:20 (25 min) and 10:20, 12:20, 14:20, 16:20 (20 min)

3. +1:45
   Lunch at the Furusato Ichiba, next door

   Restaurant 11:00–15:00 (last order 14:30)

4. +2:30
   Taxi to the Yakusugi Museum in Anbo (about 30–35 min)

   Ask the market or the Tourism Center to call one

5. +3:05
   Yakusugi Museum

   9:00–17:00, last entry 16:30, ¥600

6. +4:10
   Taxi back to the quay (about 30–35 min)
7. +4:50
   Back at the gangway

Running late? If the tender is cancelled for weather, there is no day ashore; Mitsui Ocean Cruises warns this can happen.

Transport spend: taxi from Miyanoura to the Yakusugi Museum and back, about ¥8,300 each way, our estimate. Village Center ¥530, museum ¥600. Full route, map and photos