I have just returned from my voyage to Kyushu Island. My friend Tara and I decided that we wanted to explore as much of the Island as we could. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Kyushu is the westernmost Island of Japan. Well, that is if you aren’t counting Okinawa. Kyushu is famous for many things, including having been the center of trade between Japan and Western countries. It also served as a cultural bridge between China and Japan from ancient times. There is so much to mention about Kyushu that I could write a book on it. However, I’ll try to keep it brief for you. So, let’s start at the beginning.
So how does one get to Kyushuu? Well, if you are living in the Tokyo area, you have many options at your disposal. The fastest and most expensive option would be air travel. The trip takes about one hour but will empty your wallet. Depending on the season you are looking at around forty thousand yen for a round trip flight. You might also consider the bullet train. It’s takes around five hours and costs about the same as a plane trip. Being the stingy bastard that I am, I chose the longest and cheapest route. I took the ferry. Why did I do this? I had many reasons, but the one that stuck out the most was that I had never been a sea voyage. And I’ve also want to sail on the ocean. I asked Tara if she was game she thought it was a good idea. Therefore, we booked our ferry tickets. You may think we must have suffered brain damage to consider such a journey. But the money we saved was worth it. But just how much cheaper is the ferry? Well, It’s only cost us thirteen thousand yen one way. Yes, that is about half the price of the other options. How long does it take. Well, you see, this is where the brain damage part comes in. It takes around 35 hours. So if you want to try this method, you’d better have some time on your hands and a lot of patience.
We boarded the ferry on Saturday night at around seven. You need to reserve tickets in advance, however I guarantee that you should have no problems as the ferry is usually pretty empty. The cheapest ticket is usually the general one. This gives you some space in a hall on the top deck. If you don’t mind sleeping with about twenty other people then you’ll love it. If privacy is a concern, or sex on the high seas is something you are into, then I would suggest getting a private room. I warn you now though that a private room cancels out the cheapness of this voyage. We decided to distract oursevles with media. Tara brought along some Japanese dramas and her laptop so we decided to make a video marathon out of it. We ended up watching every episode of Hana Yori Dango. There wasn’t much else to do on the boat except sleeping, bathing and eating. Oh, and there was plenty of rocking, and not in the Keith Richards nor the Ron Jeremy sense. If you aren’t used to a rocking boat, you might be a little queasy at first. We had some choppy water in the evening; which left us feeling quite sick.
At noon the following day the ferry made a stop in Shikoku. We weren’t allowed to get off the boat, but we took some time to go outside and enjoy the nice weather. At this point a bunch of people got off and we snagged a better sleeping area. One that had a power outlet. We also had lunch in the ferry restaurant. The food was pretty good, but the constant rocking made eating a little less enjoyable. We decided to call it an early night since the ferry was to arrive in Kita-Kyushu at around five in the morning.
All in all the ferry voyage was quite enjoyable. If you bring some movies to watch or some books to read, you’ll have a blast. And you can smirk about all the money that you saved. So if you really want to spice up your journey, then I recommend a ferry cruise. You might also consider getting off in shikoku. It take less time and costs less overall. It really depends on what your travel plans are.
Anyways, we arrived in Kyushuu at 5:10am on March 20th. And there was a Taxi waiting at the port to come and take us to the station. Be sure to ask the people on the boat about your taxi reservation ahead of time. Thus, our Kyushu journey was about to begin. But that is all for today. My next story will focus on our time in Fukuoka.
Trip Summary
Pros: Fun ride in a big boat. Excellent price. Time to relax and plan more of your trip. Adventure!
Cons: Trip takes 35 hours. Sleep in the same room as many other people. Boat can make you throw up. Can’t get off at all during the voyage.
Jasometer: 7 out of 10 Jaso’s.
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