KYUSHU
 Guide
to Kyushu Japan. Kyūshū (九州) is the southernmost of the 4 main islands of Japan.
The
climate is slightly warmer and more tropical than Honshu, and the southern
and eastern coasts are regularly battered by typhoons each year. The terrain
is generally mountainous with very fertile valleys much like the rest of
Japan, except for the wide plain area at the top of the island - the
location of the largest city area of Fukuoka and
Kitakyushu.
Kyushu Regions
There are 7 prefectures on Kyushu, plus nearby Okinawa:
Fukuoka -- Home of Fukuoka city, the "Capital" of
Kyushu
Saga -- Small and rustic, famous for pottery and pre-historic village ruins
Nagasaki -- Hilly city with more than it's fair share of history - major
"foreigners port" during the closed-Japan period, and victim of the 2nd US
atomic weapon attack during World War II
Oita -- Rural area well known for abundant onsen hot springs especially
Beppu
Kumamoto -- Center of the isle of Kyushu, location of the Aso caldera,
largest in the world, and the beautiful Amakusa chain of islands
Miyazaki -- The surfers' destination of Japan - big beaches, big waves
Kagoshima -- Dominated by the Sakurajima volcano, hot enough to grow
sugarcane, get buried on hot-sands beaches, two famous islands of Yakushima
and Tanegashima
Okinawa -- corals and fish! about 1 hour flight from main land Kyushu. Once
an independent Kingdom leading the South-Asian sea-trade. Once governed by
US. the island has a mixed culture between the West, Japan and Okinawa. Very
different from the rest of the country. One of the most popular destinations
for summer vacation in Japan.
(Article
based on
Wikitravel article
Richard Petersen, Colin Jensen, Ted O'Neill and Evan Prodromou and
Wikitravel user(s) Jpatokal, Nzpcmad and Dirty Dingus. and Anonymous user(s) of
Wikitravel. Article used under
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.) |
