Month: October 2013

  • Japan on a Budget: Kagoshima and Sakurajima

    If getting from Nagasaki to Kumamoto proved a bit tricky, getting from Kumamoto to Kagoshima is a breeze: jump on the Kyushu Shinkansen and head south – it terminates at Kagoshimachuo station, right in the city (Kagoshima Eki is to the northwest). I arrived in town early in the morning to find shopkeepers still busy…

  • Japan on a Budget: Kumamoto

    If you’re traveling around Kyushu, you’re likely to pass through Kumamoto more than once. Which is fine, as it’s a really pleasant city in which to while away a few hours or days. Transport and Trains Kumamoto is on the Kyushu Shinkansen line, roughly half-way down the island and so between Hakata in the north…

  • Japan on a Budget: Nagasaki and Shimabara

    Everybody knows of Nagasaki for one reason. And, like Hiroshima, it’s the home to both an excellent museum documenting the nuclear attack and some moving memorials to the victims. But, away to the South, there’s much more to see besides – if you’re in Kyushu, it’s a city I wouldn’t want to miss. Transport and…

  • Japan on a Budget: Fukuoka

    A few years back I traveled around the Kansai area, and last year I headed North from Tokyo to visit the Tohoku region. This year, something a bit different – sidestepping Tokyo altogether, I decided to visit the south-western island of Kyushu. In the end I managed to almost entirely circle the island, taking in…