Overrated or Just Remote? Japanese Travelers Defend Kyushu's "Most Disappointing" Spots — Takachiho, Yakushima, Beppu

What Japanese visitors said — picked from the top 100 of 728 comments

• Demanding convenient access from Kyushu's sights — places whose whole point is the natural scenery — is the mistake right there.

  そもそも自然の眺望がメインの九州の観光地に交通の便を求めているのが間違い

  — @dtdt1901Most liked707 likes

• I thank God my values are the exact opposite of this video creator's. What I travel for is the historical background and the feel of a place — I have never once chosen an onsen town based on whether it has a convenience store.

  自分の価値観がこの動画制作者の価値観と真逆なのを神に感謝します。 私は求めるのは歴史的背景や情感であり、温泉地を選ぶのにコンビニの有無を意識したことはない。

  — @万国弁当364 likes

• So the reasons for "disappointment" are: inconvenient, not what I imagined, costs money. Most great sights are out in inconvenient countryside — that's exactly what gives them their value. Enjoying the break from the everyday is the whole pleasure of travel.

  がっかりの理由が不便とか想像と違うとかお金がかかるとかなんですね。 観光地なんて殆どが不便な田舎だから価値が有るのだと思うのですけど、非日常を楽しむのが旅の醍醐味だと思う。

  — @user-fjomikoto289 likes

• Has this guy actually been to Takachiho? Just walking there, the scenery is stunning.

  高千穂行ったことあんのかな？ 歩くだけでメッチャ景色いいぞ

  — @2004thankful332 likes

• Beppu's hell circuit is exactly what you know it'll be from the start — what's the point of nitpicking that? Same with Takachiho Gorge: "the access is bad" — is that really a complaint?

  別府の地獄めぐりは最初から解ってる事。そこに難癖付けてどうする？ 高千穂峡しかりアクセスが良くないって理由はいかがなものか。

  — @rino_japanese304 likes

• Takachiho Gorge is a genuinely good place. Kyushu is volcano country at heart — Aso, Sakurajima, Unzen.

  高千穂峡は良いところだと思う。 九州は火山のイメージが強いかなぁ。 阿蘇、桜島、雲仙。

  — @Kシン-p5u100 likes

• Is Yakushima really just about the Jomon Sugi? The scenery of the whole island — open ocean meeting Kyushu's highest mountains — is magnificent. It's known for repeat visitors, and for the number of people who fall in love with it and end up moving there.

  屋久島は縄文杉がメインかというと、外洋に接した海と九州で最高峰の山が織りなす島全体の景色すべてが素晴らしいです。リピーターの人が多いのも特徴で、好きになった人が移住してくる割合が多い場所でもあります。

  — @hshseheG22 likes

• You used to be able to touch the Jomon Sugi. Then some tourists with no manners tried peeling off bark to take home, and as visitor numbers exploded the roots were getting trampled — that's why the fence went up to protect it.

  縄文杉は昔は触る事も出来ました。 一部のマナーの悪い観光客によって樹皮を剥がして持ち帰ろうとした人が居ました。 後、観光客が爆発的に増えたことで根が踏み荒らされてしまい柵をして保護するようになったんです。

  — @NM-cs1uw91 likes

• A secluded onsen with good access isn't a secluded onsen. And the foreign staff are there to serve the foreign tourists — what is this ranking even talking about?

  交通の便がいい秘湯なんて秘湯じゃないし、外国の従業員がいるのは外国人観光客に合わせてだろ何言ってんだこのランキング

  — @zerozero874467 likes

• Fukuoka Tower's admission hasn't changed since 1989 — that in itself is amazing!

  福岡タワーの料金が1989年からずっと変わっていないってのも凄いよね！

  — @宮嵜信隆122 likes

• To be fair, most of it is accurate lol

  でもほとんど合ってると思う(笑)

  — @tikezz862418 likes

• @tikezz8624 Right? The first time I saw Sapporo's Clock Tower I also thought, "that's it?"

  @tikezz8624 ですね。私も札幌の時計台を初めて見たときこんなもんなの？と思いましたもん。

  — @6stars94617 likes

• Takachiho Gorge — the view of that waterfall alone is worth the trip, so unless you're expecting some big activity, please go see it once. In tourist season they run shuttle buses from parking lots outside the center; they keep working on the access.

  高千穂峡は、あの滝の風景を見るだけで感動しますので、よっぽどなアクティビティを求めてなければ、一度訪れてみて下さい 観光シーズンには、郊外の駐車場からシャトルバスを出すなど、アクセスの改善にも工夫してますよ

  — @kitabayan217 likes

• Kitakyushu resident here. Every one of these places is good. The video keeps going "but the access…" — in Kyushu a car is basically mandatory!

  北九州住みです どこもいいところですよ 交通の便が… って所々で言ってるけど 九州は基本的に車必須！

  — @みねやん120922 likes

• If you're a motorcycle rider, though, Kyushu is the best place in Japan.

  バイク乗りとかだったら九州最強なんだけどもね

  — @botpkatsu432033 likes

• SaveTakachiho Gorge↗高千穂峡Takachiho, Miyazaki

  The thread's most-defended entry — "just walking there, the scenery is stunning" (332 likes). Seasonal shuttle buses run from outlying lots in peak season, per the comments (217 likes).

• SaveBeppu Jigoku (hell circuit)↗別府地獄めぐりBeppu, Oita

  "It's exactly what you know it'll be going in — why nitpick that?" (304 likes). Defended as raw volcanic sightseeing that delivers as advertised.

• SaveYakushima↗屋久島Kagoshima Prefecture (island)

  Defended as a whole-island experience beyond the Jomon Sugi — open ocean, Kyushu's highest peaks, and an unusually high repeater rate (22 likes).

• SaveKurokawa Onsen↗黒川温泉Minamioguni, Kumamoto

  "A secluded onsen with good access isn't a secluded onsen" (67 likes). No konbini, but a visitor notes the souvenir shops and sake stalls make the evening stroll — as of the comments.

• SaveFukuoka Tower↗福岡タワーMomochihama, Fukuoka

  Admission unchanged since it opened in 1989 — a point of pride in the comments (122 likes).

Named in the source comments. Where a note gives a price, opening status or rule, we checked it against the linked source on the date shown — everything else is what the comments said. All of it can change; check the map listing before you go.

Is Takachiho Gorge worth visiting?

The comments say emphatically yes — "just walking there, the scenery is stunning" (332 likes), and even a measured defender says the waterfall view alone is worth the trip (217 likes). On the access complaints: per the comments, seasonal shuttle buses now run from outlying parking lots, and the walk in is part of the experience.

Do you need a car to travel around Kyushu?

Effectively yes. "In Kyushu a car is basically mandatory," writes a Kitakyushu resident, and riders call Kyushu Japan's best motorcycle country (33 likes). The region's nature spots were never built around train access, so plan to drive.

Is Beppu's hell circuit (jigoku meguri) worth it?

The thread's take (304 likes): the hells are exactly what you know they'll be going in — a look at raw volcanic ground, not a theme park — so judge them on those terms. Nobody in the comments disputes that Beppu delivers the volcano part; what they reject is expecting anything else.

Is Yakushima worth the effort to get to?

Commenters push back on treating it as a one-tree island: the appeal is the whole island — open ocean meeting Kyushu's highest mountains — with an unusually high share of repeat visitors, some of whom end up moving there (22 likes). The fenced-off Jomon Sugi cedar is explained as protection after bark-peeling and trampled roots (91 likes).