Walking Among Old Trees on Yakushima

Yakushima is a round island south of Kagoshima, about two hours by fast ferry. It is small — you can drive around it in half a day — but the mountains in the middle rise to almost 2,000 metres, and they catch an enormous amount of rain.

People say it rains 35 days a month here. That is a joke, but not much of one. It rained on both of my days.

The old cedars

The island's cedar trees are called yakusugi. Because the soil is poor and thin, they grow extremely slowly, and slow growth makes dense wood that resists rot. So they live a very long time. The oldest, Jomon Sugi, is at least 2,000 years old and possibly much older.

Reaching Jomon Sugi is a serious walk: 10 hours there and back, starting before sunrise, much of it along an old railway line. I did not have the time or, honestly, the fitness. I will go back for it.

Shiratani Unsuikyo

Instead I walked in Shiratani Unsuikyo, and I do not feel that I missed out.

This is the forest that inspired the setting of the film Princess Mononoke. Everything is covered in moss — the ground, the rocks, the fallen trees, the standing trees. The rain makes the green so strong it does not look natural. Water runs everywhere, in dozens of small streams, and the sound never stops.

There are three marked routes. I took the middle one, about three hours, which goes up to a viewpoint called Taiko-iwa where the cloud opens and closes over the valley below. Entry to the area is 1,000 yen.

What to bring

• Proper rain gear. Not an umbrella. A jacket, and trousers too.
• Shoes with grip. Wet moss on rock is exactly as slippery as it sounds. I fell once.
• A dry bag for your phone and camera.
• Cash. There are very few ATMs on the island.

Deer and monkeys

There are more deer and more monkeys on Yakushima than there are people. I met both on the path. The deer let me walk past at two metres and did not move. The monkeys sat in the road and made the bus wait.

Getting there

Fast ferry from Kagoshima port, about two hours, around 9,000 yen each way. There are also short flights. Book accommodation before you go — the island is small and fills up.