Category: 旅 / Travel

Due to declaration of emergency in Hokkaido for COVID-19, I had to give up my June visit to Rebun Island. At the time, I thought it was a reasonable decision made. However, I am one of those people who easily get tempted when it comes to travel desires.

I could not give up the beautiful scenery of the remote island, alpine flowers, and Rebun Island specialty, the Bafun sea urchin.

Even though I had visited Kushiro as an alternative to Rebun Island in June, I checked 10-day weather forecast for Rebun Island every day. After the emergency declaration was lifted, there was a series of sunny marks on a weekend in early July.

I had been wished to visit Rebun Island for more than 10 years. Considering the lack of tourists owing COVID-19, this year might be my first and last chance to visit Rebun Island when there might still be some alpine flowers left. After a short deliberation, or I should say without much of thoughts, I decided to make reservations to visit the Island. It was only one week before departure.

I flew from Tokyo Haneda to Wakkanai using All Nippon Airways (ANA) credit points. Due to connection problems, my return route had to be via Wakkanai and Sapporo using JR train. Nevertheless, I was still able to book a discount ticket on the JR limited express from Wakkanai to Sapporo, and I was able to get a frequent flyer award ticket for a flight from Sapporo Shin-Chitose back to Tokyo Haneda. I had just enough time to spare at work and could take 1.5 days off.

The gods of Rebun Island might be telling me to come to the Island.

After all other reservations were completed, the weather forecast turned out to be predominantly cloudy at the last minute. It was not going to rain, so there would be no problem to see the alpine flowers. Bafun sea urchins were in season although they could be affected by the weather.

On the first day, it was cloudy when I arrived Wakkanai. On the bus from the airport to the ferry terminal, an old man sitting next to me was reading a guidebook, which made me a little nervous. I had already planned the routes to/from Rebun Island before June although the trip had to be canceled, but since this July trip was so rushed for all arrangements, I had not made any research on the Island itself.

Fortunately, I was given a booklet made by the ferry company and a handmade guide by students of Funadomari Elementary School on Rebun Island. With these, I should be able to get around the Island.

During the voyage to Rebun Island, Rishiri Fuji on Rishiri Island was visible from the ferry. There were clouds and I could barely see the top of the mountain. This might not be a good start. I arrived at Rebun Island in the cloudy evening.

The sunrise was very early at 3:00 a.m., and I checked the sunrise time. It was cloudy and I felt gloomy. According to the weather forecast at this point, the second day would be cloudy, and the third day would be sunny.

I got up again in time for breakfast, and my stay on Rebun Island practically started. First, I went out to rent a car. The sky was covered with thick clouds.

Putting the beautiful island scenery in the clouds, I headed out to see the alpine flowers. After walking along the trekking trail for a while, the fog started to lift. Behind it, I could see blue sky.

As I waited for a while, it cleared up.

While I was taking pictures of alpine flowers on the trekking trail, I could see the west coast of Rebun Island. It was just spectacular view.

I returned to my car and decided to go around the Island. I already had ideas of where I wished to see, so I decided to skip lunch and drove around the Island before the clouds might come back. Most of the places I wished to visit were on the west side of the Island, and the weather was generally clear. There were still a lot of fresh greenery and flowers even in July. It was wonderful.

On the other hand, the east side of the island had a lot of clouds in the afternoon. There were several places on the east coast where Rishiri Island could be seen over the ocean, but its Rishiri Fuji was in the clouds again on this day.

In the evening, the east coast clouds were finally lifted and I could finally see the Rishiri Fuji. It was beautiful in red sunshine.

There was no end what I wished to see on Rebun Island, but I was very satisfied on the second day alone considering limited time available. Beer tastes good at night like this.

The third day was cloudy in the morning. Cape Sukai (Sukai-misaki) was the most impressive point on the Island to me, I decided to visit there again. It was another sunny day on the west coast, although with more clouds than previous day. I had done enough photography, so I gazed at the scenery.

Before the noon, I returned the rental car. The weather on the east side of the Island seemed getting even worse. Finally, at the ferry terminal, I toasted with a bowl of rice topped with Bafun sea urchin and a beer.

The return ferry made a stop at Rishiri Island. I had hoped to see the Rishiri Fuji up close, but it was in the clouds again.

The weather on Rebun Island was not exactly as predicted, but I was able to come to the Island at miraculous timing. It was probably a good thing that I did not give up coming to the Island, looked for an opportunity, and took the next-best chance in July.

The only regret was that I missed eating kelp ice cream that was recommended by the students of Funadomari Elementary School. I bought some kelps picked by Rebun fishermen, so chewing a piece of them while eating an ice cream could a good substitute.

After all, the gods of Rebun Island told me to come to the island.

Except for the previous visit to Kunisaki Peninsula, I have not had an opportunity to visit eastern to southern part of Kyushu Island, but I have wished to visit Takachiho and Kirishima. On the other hand, when I visited the Kunisaki, I went to Usuki in Oita Prefecture to see the stone Buddha. I did not go to Usuki’s town center at that time. A friend of mine had business with a company in Usuki and told me that it was quite a nice town. It sounded attractive including an inn introduced, so I decided to visit Usuki again. Since Kirishima was too far away from Usuki, I planned to visit Takachiho.

Access from Tokyo to Takachiho was a little difficult. I found that Miyazaki Airport or Kumamoto Airport would be the gateway. Since Takachiho was located in Miyazaki Prefecture, I initially thought Miyazaki Airport would be a good choice. However, if I pick Miyazaki Airport, I would have to take JR train to Nobeoka and then change to a local bus. On the other hand, there was a direct bus from Kumamoto Airport, although it made one trip per day. Despite my insomnia, I could get up early in the morning when I travel, I took the first flight to Kumamoto.

It was in late March, but temperature was low because of a cold wave until the day before and the high altitude of the town. I left the luggage at the hotel and started to visit shrines.

Takachiho was a town with many shrines, but I could not read their names in Kanji. I was surprised by my lack of education, but it was too late since I was in Takachiho already. There were boards at the shrines explaining the history or mythology of them, but they were beyond my understanding. I was surprised by my lack of education, but it was too late since I was in Takachiho already. Still, I could read a map, so there was no problem for sightseeing and photography. That was the only hope I had at that time.

After returning to the hotel for checking-in, I went to see Takachiho Gorge in the evening. It was after the boat riding time, there were a few people at the Gorge and it was very mysterious.

A gorge is a deep valley. It was close from the hotel to Takachiho Gorge on the map, but there were tremendous differences in elevation. I was surprised by my inability to read a map, but it was too late since I was at the Gorge already. The uphill on the way back was too tough.

Would there be hope for me?

The next morning, I had booked a boat ride. I went down Takachiho Gorge again and took photos of the Gorge before the boat ride. I could not recall when was the last time I paddled a boat. By and large, the people paddling in Takachiho Gorge were similar, I could see some hopes for me.

I did not have the energy to walk back uphill again, I called for a taxi and headed for Iwato Shrine. This would save the waiting time for the local bus as well.

Iwato Shrine is famous for its Amanoyasukawara. I should have worshiped the shrine first before heading to take photos, but I went straight to Amanoyasukawara before the crowds began to gather. It was already crowded, and although there was a momentary break, I did not have much time to take photos without interruptions. I guess there were still only a few hopes for me.

On the last day of my stay in Takachiho, I woke up before 7:00 a.m. and called a taxi and went to Amanoyasukawara again. I thought it would be less crowded in the morning. Although it was a Saturday morning, there were only a few visitors. I was able to take my time taking photos.

There was full hope at the end.

Last fall, COVID-19 epidemic slowed down and domestic travel demand returned. Tourist spots were crowded again, especially on weekends. As I do not like crowds, I need to travel in search of hidden gems.

Hidden gems were likely found in Hokkaido and Tohoku, but November was too early for snowy landscapes. So, I needed to find hidden gems in another areas.

Theoretically, a hidden gem is a place that I know but is not generally known to the public. If I do not know the area, I cannot distinguish whether it is hidden gem or not. I only can assume that a place where I do not know is also not known to the public, or I focus on finding less crowded places and perceive the entire area as a hidden gem.

For me, western Japan along the Sea of Japan coast is not familiar at all. I have not visited west of Hyogo on that side of Japan. Therefore I thought the San’in region as a whole could be considered as a hidden gem.

I decided to take this opportunity to visit the San’in region. Perhaps my idea was not too bad because it was relatively easy to get a seat on frequent flyer award ticket to Izumo on Japan Airlines.

The return trip was a bit trickier. Yonago Airport was too close to Izumo City, and Hagi-Iwami Airport seemed too inconvenient. I decided to go to the Pacific Ocean side and use Ube Airport, even though it is out of the San’in region. From Ube, All Nippon Airways (operated by Star Flyer) had an award seat available. Then the trip was rather long from Shimane to Yamaguchi.

The most famous hot spring in the San’in region is probably Tamatsukuri Onsen. No matter how much I consider the whole San’in region to be a hidden gem, it would be unreasonable to call Tamatsukuri Onsen as a hidden gem hot spring resort. After searching for a while, I found Yunotsu Onsen at the west of Izumo City and Yuya Bay Onsen at the west of Nagato City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. These might be called hidden gems as I did not know these places.

Between Yunotsu Onsen and Yuya Bay Onsen, I traveled on the San’in Main Line. I thought it would be easy just sitting on the train, but the travel time was long. There were limited express trains on the San’in Main Line, but they did not fit to my schedule. I had to take local trains, and the journey took about five hours. As I was already a middle-aged man, I wondered if my back would be all right.

On the first day, I took Japan Airlines early morning flight to Izumo City. From Izumo Airport, I took a direct bus to Izumo-Taisha Shrine where was famous for god of marriage. It may sound too urgent or even ghastly that a single middle-aged man heading for Izumo-Taisha Shrine without a second glance. However, that was not the case. Izumo-Taisha is a major tourist attraction in the San’in region. The bus was packed with people of all ages and genders. On the other hand, Izumo-Taisha Shrine might not be called a hidden gem though it was not as crowded as I imagined.

The reason I headed to Izumo-Taisha early was that I wanted to take another bus from the Izumo-Taisha Bus Terminal to the Hinomisaki-jinja Shrine. This is a hidden-gem shrine with only a few bus services available per day. The shrine is said to be the place of god where the sun sets. I thought this god or the shrine somehow fit me well.

The second day was almost lost by train ride. I headed west, taking it easy and enjoying the view of the Sea of Japan. There were two train transfers along the way, which made the train rides easier than I had expected. They were not crowded, thus the San’in region must be a hidden gem.

On the last day, I spent the day in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The most famous sightseeing spot on the Sea of Japan coast was probably Hagi, although it was back east from Nagato City. Alternatively, I could head further west on the San’in Main Line via Shimonoseki and go all the way to Ube.

Since the weather was fine, I decided to visit Akiyoshidai and Shuhodo Cave. Akiyoshidai was a famous tourist attraction, but I decided to go there because it was in autumn leaves season.

I intended to take a short walk in Akiyoshidai, but it turned out to be quite a trekking. In the end, I was able to spend a beautiful autumn day. Because it was Monday, there were not many people in Akiyoshidai, so I was able to take enough time to take photos.

Although I passed on Tamatsukuri Onsen, I did not miss the famous tourist attractions such as Izumo-Taisha Shrine, Akiyoshidai, and Shuhodo Cave. Yet, I was able to avoid the crowds and take my time on the entire itinerary.

Indeed the San’in region was a hidden gem.