Go past the highlights into Kurokawa, Ibusuki, Yakushima, Nagasaki and three craft towns.

Kyushu is the part of Japan where the ground itself is the attraction, and the smaller towns reward people who arrive knowing what they are looking at.

By the end

You will be able to plan a five-day Kyushu trip that mixes a buried sand bath, a live volcano, a cedar forest and a working pottery village — and know what each one actually costs and asks of you.

Who this is for

Travellers who already know Kyushu's basics and want the second layer: specific towns, specific geology, specific kilns.