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Yakushima Images 7 images Created 4 Jun 2018

Yakushima is best known for its mossy forests and ancient Japanese cedars that live longer, grow larger than those in mainland Japan. The terrain here is hilly and the weather is perpetually damp. Locals say 'it rains 35 days a month here'. After the crest of every hill comes a valley, and in every valley there is the play of shadows, damp air, and the trickle of water that nourishes this moss covered haven. Moss forms thick spongy spaces covering rocks, fallen logs and living trees while hanging mosses festoon the branches overhead. This world is green and full of life.
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  • Yakushima is a subtropical island south of Kyushu covered by huge cedar forests that contains some of Japan's oldest living trees some of which are thousands of years old.  Today the forests have recovered past logging days and now enjoys the protection of being  a national park, while other areas are World Heritage Sites.  Most visitors come here to hike through the forests and see the ancient cedar trees.  As a subtropical island Yakushima attracts a lot of rainfall around the year with some rain almost daily especially in the mountainous interior.
    yakushima-3.jpg
  • As the main attractions of Yakushima Island are its nature trails, ancient cedar and strangler fig trees, most visitors don't take the time to tour the island.  However, there are some discoveries that await the traveler willing to go off the tourist track.  Yakushima Lighthouse, one of the best preserved of Japanese lighthouses, overlooks the western end of the island, which is treacherous after the sandy beaches and gentle coast of the northern parts of the island where green sea turtles lay their eggs.
    yakushima-lighthouse-1.jpg
  • The Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine is a lush nature park containing many of Yakushima island's ancient cedars.  The park offers a network of hiking trails that run along the ravine varying in length from one to five hours long, though many prefer to choose their own routes among the paths. The trails vary in difficulty from basic footpaths to developed paved paths using stone and wood.  One of the main attractions of Shiratani Unsuikyo is a part of the forest that served as the inspiration for the Studio Ghibli animated film Princess Mononoke. Oga Kazuo, the lead artist for the film, spent lots of time here working on sketches for the movie's forests.  Besides the ancient cedar trees, some of them thousands of years old, the continually wet microclimate protects the cedars by enabling them to produce more than usual resin,  It also is an ideal climate for moss, which grows everywhere here.
    shiretani-unsui-gorge-33.jpg
  • Clearly Yakushima is best known for its ancient cedar trees and the lush forests and dramatic ravines where they grow.  This is not all the island has to offer as there are other forests to explore such as the Gajumaru Banyan Garden where it is difficult to tell which are the original trees and which are the supporting roots. The canopy blocks out much of the light as well as the roots hanging down over the paths.  The Gajumaru Banyan is related to the tropical fig tree and is an indigenous plant whose aerial roots sprout in all directions from the trunk. The roots of the Gajumaru stretch in all directions as the trees share their existence with other plants. Some of these gigantic figs are more than 500 years old of varying size.  The trees have spread from one tree to another by attaching and intertwining with other trees so that the aerial roots intertwine. The powerful scenery of dense tropical Japanese sea fig can also be seen here.
    gajumaru-banyan-08.jpg
  • Yakusugiland - although it may sound like a tacky theme park devoted to trees, it is really more of a nature hiking park.  There are short trails that have wooden steps and you don't have to go far before you're surrounded by the quiet cedar forest and enjoy the tranquility of nature left mostly undisturbed. On the longer trail routes, the forest becomes denser, leaving civilization far behind. Some of these trees are thousands of years old so you feel like an explorer. Everywhere there are fallen trees and stumps, exposed roots, trees overgrown with moss and lichens, ferns sprouting from the sides of trees and from overhanging branches, growth upon growth.
    yakusugiland-15.jpg
  • Hikers at Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine is a lush nature park containing many of Yakushima island's ancient cedars.  The park offers a network of hiking trails that run along the ravine varying in length from one to five hours long, though many prefer to choose their own routes among the paths. The trails vary in difficulty from basic footpaths to developed paved paths using stone and wood.  One of the main attractions of Shiratani Unsuikyo is a part of the forest that served as the inspiration for the Studio Ghibli animated film Princess Mononoke. Oga Kazuo, the lead artist for the film, spent lots of time here working on sketches for the movie's forests.  Besides the ancient cedar trees, some of them thousands of years old, the continually wet microclimate protects the cedars by enabling them to produce more than usual resin,  It also is an ideal climate for moss, which grows everywhere here.
    shiretani-unsui-gorge-36.jpg
  • Yaku Monkeys on Yakushima -  This particular species of macacque monkeys is known as a Yaku Monkey, that is found only on Yakushima Island south of Kagoshima.  Their natural habitat is found in the hills near UNESCO World Heritage protected lands.  Yakushima is a subtropical island south of Kyushu covered by huge cedar forests that contains some of Japan's oldest living trees some of which are thousands of years old.  Today the forests have recovered past logging days and now enjoys the protection of being  a national park, while other areas are World Heritage Sites.  Most visitors come here to hike through the forests and see the ancient cedar trees.
    yakushima-monkeys-1.jpg