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For a 7-hour call · YakushimaShiratani 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. Timed from the gangway and back.
- Best for
- 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
- Room to spare
- 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.
- What it costs
- 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.
Checked · Researched, not yet visited · times from official timetables and our estimates · Takumi Yamada
Open in Google Maps, in 2 parts
Google Maps on a phone takes three stops between start and end, and none on a train or bus route, so the day opens in parts. Each step below also has its own directions.
How the day runs
Times are from the moment you step off, not from the scheduled arrival. Everything shifts if your ship is late; the order does not.
- +0:00Walk 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
- +0:28Bus to Shiratani Unsuikyo at 10:08, arriving 10:40, ¥530
Pay on leaving; drivers cannot change notes of ¥2,000 and over
- +1:00Pay the ¥800 forest fee and take the English map
Administration building 8:30–16:30
- +1:05Walk 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
Directions from the ship (train or bus)Full guide: Shiratani UnsuikyoPhoto: KimonBerlin / CC BY-SA 2.0 - +4:05Bus 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
- +4:35Walk back to the quay, about 20 min, our estimate
- +4:55Back at the gangway
Photo: Raita Futo / CC BY 2.0
The other routes in Yakushima
Miyanoura on foot: the Village Center, Masaku Shrine and the marketNeeds a 5.5-hour call · ~3.5hAny 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
The cedars: Yakusugi Museum, Yakusugi Land and Kigensugi by taxiNeeds an 8.5-hour call · ~6.5hCalls 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
A wet day: the Village Center, then the Yakusugi MuseumA wet day · ~5hHeavy 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