Southern Japan

Volcanic onsen, port cities shaped by foreign trade, and the best pork in Japan. Kyushu and Shikoku.

The Second Trip

Where to Stay in the South

Fly to Fukuoka from Tokyo (90 min) or Shinkansen from Osaka (2.5 hrs). Fukuoka is your hub. The Northern Kyushu Rail Pass (¥11,000/5 days) covers the trains to every destination on this page. Budget 5-7 days for the region, or 3-4 if you're picking one or two side trips. Business hotels near Hakata Station run around ¥8,000/night.

Kyushu runs on volcanic heat and pork. The onsen are fed by active geology, the port cities were built by centuries of foreign trade, and the regional food is tonkotsu, kurobuta, and mentaiko from one end of the island to the other. Matsuyama and Naoshima are technically Shikoku, reachable from Hiroshima by ferry. They don't fit into a Kyushu loop, so plan extra days if you're adding them.

Stay Overnight

Featured Destinations

Fukuoka as your hub, plus volcanic onsen, port cities, art islands, and Japan's oldest bathhouse across Kyushu and Shikoku.

90 min flight from Tokyo

Fukuoka

Your Kyushu Hub

Kyushu's largest city and the best street food in Japan. The yatai stalls along the river serve hakata ramen, yakitori, and gyoza from open-air counters every evening. Hakata Station connects to everything on this page via the Northern Kyushu Rail Pass (¥11,000/5 days). Business hotels near the station run around ¥8,000/night.

Your base for this region
1h 20m from Fukuoka

Kagoshima

Living with a Volcano

Sakurajima volcano is 15 minutes by ferry from downtown, and it erupts regularly. The food is among Kyushu's best: kurobuta pork tonkatsu, sweet potato shochu, and Satsuma cuisine. Ash dusts the streets sometimes; the locals barely notice.

2 nights recommended
70 min ferry from Hiroshima

Matsuyama & Dogo Onsen

Shikoku's Spirited Away

Dogo Onsen Honkan is 3,000 years old and the bathhouse that inspired Spirited Away. It just finished a full restoration. The castle town around it has streetcar-accessible shopping arcades and Matsuyama Castle on the hill above. 70 minutes by ferry from Hiroshima, or JR from Okayama.

1–2 nights recommended
2 hrs from Fukuoka

Beppu

Japan's Onsen Capital

More hot spring water than anywhere else in Japan. The Jigoku (Hells) are boiling pools of blue, red, and mud that you walk past, not soak in. The actual bathing happens at hundreds of public onsen across eight distinct hot spring districts. Sand baths at Beppu Beach bury you in naturally heated volcanic sand. The Sonic express train from Hakata runs along the coast.

1–2 nights recommended
2 hrs from Fukuoka

Nagasaki

Port City Where East Met West

Four centuries of Dutch, Portuguese, and Chinese trade left Nagasaki with a food culture unlike anywhere else in Japan. Champon noodles, castella cake, and shippoku ryori (banquet cuisine mixing Japanese, Chinese, and European dishes) are all Nagasaki originals. The Atomic Bomb Museum is sobering and essential. The hillside city views at night rival Hakodate.

2 nights recommended
1 hr ferry from Okayama

Naoshima

Art Island in the Inland Sea

Yayoi Kusama's yellow pumpkin on the pier is the icon, but the island goes deeper: Tadao Ando's concrete museums built into hillsides, an entire village converted into art installations, and a James Turrell piece inside a converted shrine. Rent a bike at the port and cover the island in a day. Ferry from Uno Port (Okayama side) or Takamatsu.

1 night or day trip

Keep Exploring

If You Like This Region

Beyond Kyoto & Osaka

Loved Onomichi's temple walks? Koyasan and the Kumano Kodo offer similarly meditative experiences in the mountains above Osaka and Kyoto.

Northern Japan

If Beppu's onsen scale impressed you, Noboribetsu's Hell Valley and Nyuto's forest baths bring a completely different volcanic bathing experience in Hokkaido and Akita.

The Japanese Alps

Enjoyed Matsuyama's castle town? Matsumoto offers Japan's other great original castle, plus alpine scenery and a gateway to Kamikochi's wilderness valleys.