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Kirishima
Kirishima is a range of volcanic mountains and onsen villages in the north of Kagoshima Prefecture, in the southern Kyushu region, about forty minutes from Kagoshima Airport, where myth places the descent of the gods to Japan.
- Prefecture
- Kagoshima
- Region
- Kyushu
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
Mountains of the gods, cedar forest, and springs in every valley.
The Kirishima range is a cluster of more than twenty volcanoes on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki, the highest Mount Karakuni at 1,700 metres. In 1934 it became one of the three first national parks of Japan, and the onsen villages scattered across its slopes and valleys, Kirishima Onsen, Maruo, Hayashida, Myoken and others, draw on water of every kind, from milky sulphur springs high on the mountain to clear waters beside the rivers below.
Kirishima is also sacred ground. According to the Kojiki, the god Ninigi, grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, came down from heaven onto the summit of Takachiho-no-mine, carrying the rice that would feed Japan, and an ancient bronze spear still stands on the peak to mark the place. Kirishima Jingu, the great shrine of the mountains, is dedicated to him.
History of a more human kind came here in 1866, when Sakamoto Ryoma, the samurai who helped bring about the Meiji Restoration, travelled to the onsen of Kirishima with his wife Oryo to recover from a sword wound. The journey is remembered as the first honeymoon in Japan, and Ryoma described it in a letter to his sister, with a drawing of the mountain. Today Kirishima is the most refined onsen country in southern Kyushu, with ryokan of real distinction in its valleys, and an easy reach from Kagoshima and its airport.
see and do
What to see in Kirishima
Kirishima Jingu
The shrine of the god Ninigi, set on the slopes of the mountains in a forest of great cedars. Its vermilion and gold halls were built in 1715 by the Shimazu lords of Satsuma and were named a National Treasure in 2022; the sacred cedar beside them is some eight hundred years old.
Takachiho-no-mine
The peak of 1,574 metres where, in the myth, Ninigi descended to earth. The bronze Ama-no-Sakahoko spear stands at its summit, and the mountain's clean cone is seen from across the range.
The Ebino Plateau
A highland at about 1,200 metres, across the border in Miyazaki, of red pines, pampas grass and crater lakes, among them Byakushi-ike and Rokukannon-miike, whose water is a startling blue. Level paths circle the lakes.
Myoken Onsen
A valley of onsen along the Amori River, lower and warmer than the mountain springs, with ryokan set beside the water among bamboo and trees.
Kirishima Onsen
The onsen village high on the mountain, around Maruo and Hayashida, where steam rises from the hillsides and the water is milky with sulphur.
Shiohitashi Onsen
The riverside spring where Sakamoto Ryoma and Oryo stayed in 1866, now marked by a small park and a statue of the couple.
The black vinegar fields of Fukuyama
On the shore of Kagoshima Bay below Kirishima, thousands of ceramic jars stand in open fields, fermenting kurozu, a black rice vinegar made this way for some two hundred years.
Kirishima Open-Air Museum
A sculpture park in the highlands at Yusui, with works by Japanese and international artists, among them Yayoi Kusama, placed across a hillside facing the mountains.
Kirishima tea
Kagoshima is now the largest tea-growing prefecture in Japan, and the slopes of Kirishima grow some of its best green tea, in fields laid out like combed velvet below the mountains.
experiences
The best of Kirishima
A villa with its own onsen
Nights at one of the great onsen ryokan of Kirishima, in a villa set apart on its hillside or a thatched villa by the river, with an open-air onsen of your own and dinner of Kagoshima black wagyu and kurobuta pork.
Kirishima Jingu in the forest
A visit to the shrine with a guide who can tell the myth of Ninigi and the story of the Shimazu lords who built it, walking up through the cedars to the halls.
The crater lakes
A gentle walk around the lakes of the Ebino Plateau, through red pine and grass, the cone of Mount Karakuni above.
Tea in the fields
A morning with a Kirishima tea grower, tasting the season's leaf in a field hut among the rows, and learning how sencha is steamed and rolled.
plan your visit
Kirishima on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights in Kirishima lets you give one whole day to its ryokan and another to the shrine and the highlands; many guests add a night in Kagoshima or Ibusuki.
- Getting there
- Kagoshima Airport, about an hour and fifty minutes by air from Tokyo Haneda, lies within Kirishima city, and the onsen villages are twenty to forty minutes away by private car. From Kagoshima-Chuo Station, the Kirishima limited express reaches Kirishima-Jingu Station in about fifty minutes, and a private car takes about an hour.
where to stay
Luxury hotels and ryokan in Kirishima
Kirishima has some of the most accomplished onsen ryokan in Japan: a handful of villas spread across a whole hillside above the Myoken valley, each with its own open-air onsen turned to the mountains and a kitchen fed by its own fields, and, in Myoken Onsen below, a group of thatched farmhouses beside the river among old trees, every room with an onsen of its own.
Higher on the mountain, the ryokan of Kirishima Onsen and Hayashida draw milky sulphur water and look out over the range, while the riverside inns of Myoken are lower, greener and quieter.
journeys
Kirishima on a private journey
We bring guests to Kirishima on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Kirishima: questions answered
Where is Kirishima?
Kirishima is in the north of Kagoshima Prefecture, in southern Kyushu, about an hour from the city of Kagoshima. Kagoshima Airport lies within Kirishima city.
What is Kirishima known for?
Its onsen, its volcanic mountains and Kirishima Jingu, the shrine of the god Ninigi, who in myth descended from heaven onto the peak of Takachiho-no-mine.
How do you get to Kirishima from Kagoshima?
By private car in about an hour, or by the Kirishima limited express from Kagoshima-Chuo Station to Kirishima-Jingu Station in about fifty minutes.
What is the best onsen area in Kirishima?
Myoken Onsen, along the Amori River, for the most refined ryokan beside the water; Kirishima Onsen, high on the mountain, for milky sulphur springs and wide views.
Is Kirishima Jingu worth visiting?
Yes. It is one of the great shrines of Kyushu, its halls of 1715 a National Treasure, set in a forest of cedars on the slopes of the mountains.
How many nights do you need in Kirishima?
Two nights at an onsen ryokan suits most journeys, with a day for the shrine and the crater lakes of the Ebino Plateau.
Can Kirishima be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Kirishima included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Kirishima, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Kirishima, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.