Things YOU need to know before you visit the Kyushu region in Japan. First, Kyushu is a paradise for travelers looking to get off the beaten track and see the unseen Japan. The lush green countryside is home to active volcanoes, waterfalls, natural hot springs, and semi-tropical coastlines. Kyushu is the Southwestern most island with a population of 13 Million. Kyushu literally means Nine Provinces, although it’s only got 7 prefectures now. Kyushu's strategic position near South Korea and China have allowed it to act as a focal point of cultural, religious, and artistic exchanges since the ancient Japanese world. Fukuoka is closer to Seoul than Tokyo. Lot’s of International visitors. Quite mountainous, Japan’s most active Volcano (Mt. Aso) 2. Hot Springs appropriately Kyushu is called "Land of Fire." Kyushu has the largest number of hot spring sources and the largest amount of discharge in Japan. sand-steam baths, where you are buried in warm sand. Lots of good Onsens in a small region. You can Onsen hop to a bunch of different Beppu Yufuin Kurokawa Onsen (Awesome! -- Yamamizuki Best outdoor Onsen) 3. Getting to Kyushu Fukuoka is the main transport hub. Flights to other parts of Kyushu may be inconvienent If you are coming Tokyo or further, Take a flight If you are coming from Osaka Take a Bullet Train A trip by train all the way from Tokyo takes 5:40 by Nozomi and costs ¥22,000 South Korea by Ferry to Busan 4. Transportation in Kyushu It may seem small on the map, but is really quite big If you are mostly in the cities, trains and bus. Shinkansen runs north & south. East / West travel is slow. Hakata to Kagoshima in the south buy Shinkansen takes about 1.5 hours Kyushu Rail Pass: one for the Northern Kyushu Area,, and the full pass which covers the entire island. Northern Kyushu Area 3-day pass ￥8,500 5-day pass ￥10,000 All Kyushu Area 3-day pass ￥15,000 5-day pass ￥18,000 Elsewhere, you’ll need a car. Rent one at Toyota Rent a Car Kyushu Express Way Pass -- unlimited driving for certain number of days Rest stops are really good Rent an ETC card 5. Best Time April to May (Cherry Blossoms) Fall, before Typhoons For a festival Japan’s burning man Although Kyushu is usually warm and comfortable throughout the year, as we found out, it can get quite a bit of snow in the Mt. Aso region and the region can be quite cold in the winter 6. Language Kyushu is home to dialects of Japanese that are almost incomprehensible to speakers of standard Japanese -so much so that it was utilised during World War 2 for preventing interception by the Allies of Japanese communications. Even native speakers of Japanese from Honshu often have problems understanding the conversations of locals. However, all people are able to speak standard Japanese and especially in the cities younger people may also have a limited command of English. 7. What to buy porcelain products (In Arita) Lot of international visitors means lots of designer stores Kumamon souvenirs Food! Seriously -- most “souvenir” stores are just food 8. Food Hakata Ramen White Tonkotsu Soup, thin noodles “Instant” Ramen for later. Gyoza Generally bite sized Mentaiko - Spice Seasons Cod Roe Castella Cake - Nagasaki Milk from Aso Strawberries - super sweet Beef -- it’s what’s for dinner With 4.2 restaurants for every 1,000 people, Fukuoka is second only to Tokyo for the highest concentration of restaurants in Japan. In fact, in those terms it beats Singapore, New York, Hong Kong and most other major cities in the world. TripAdvisor currently lists 9,398 restaurants in Fukuoka — which means that if you dined at a different one every day, it would take you around 25 years to try them all. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/yellowwsub You might enjoy watching some of these other videos: Yellow Productions on social media: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/YellowProductionsTravel INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/yellowwproductions/ TWITTER: ChrisRaney GOOGLE+: https://google.com/+yellowwproductions Check out my blog at: http://yelloww.net Yellow Productions Merchandise: https://www.teepublic.com/user/yellowproductions My video gear: Sony FDR-AX53 4K Handycam: http://amzn.to/2hYePVc Sony ECMW1M Wireless Microphone: http://amzn.to/2gQKDGG Samsung Gear 360 Camera: http://amzn.to/2hKKyGE LensPen Lens Cleaner: http://amzn.to/2hPYui1 Pacsafe LS250 Anti-theft Shoulder Bag: http://amzn.to/2h0YCNt Manfroto Pixi Mini Tripod: http://amzn.to/2ilJms6 Manfrotto Twist Grip Clamp: http://amzn.to/2hYEnyN Music: UPM_MAT180_19_Beach_Boy_Main_Track_JC_Ring_11558 (killertracks.com)