Yakushima Environmental and Cultural Village Center

On my third day in Yakushima, I visited the Environmental and Cultural Village Center.  The admission fee was 520 yen and it was totally English friendly - from the staff to the audio guide to written materials. There was also a movie in Japanese, with English subtitles.  The museum layout was great and had different areas for Yakushima - Water Island, The World of People - the Ocean, The World of People - the Village, The World of Trees, and The World Inhabited by Gods.

Yakushima - Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine

My second day in Yakushima I planned to go hiking. There were only a few buses a day going to and from Shiratani, so I had to be careful about the time. I was able to catch the bus around 8:30 am.  The cost was 550 yen each way and it took about 30 minutes.   

I had read about this area before the trip and was pretty excited about it.  The Shriatani Unsuikyo Ravine is a nature park situated at a height of 600 to 1200 meters and full of the ancient yakusugi (cedar) trees.  

I had also read about the wild deer and monkeys on the island, but I didn't expect to see them.  As the bus was driving up the mountain, I was watching out the window and I saw some monkeys on the side of the road! 

It was a narrow road that I wouldn't like to be driving on, but there were some nice views.  It started raining about half way to the trail, which I expected.  

There is a 500 yen fee to enter the park which has several marked trails. I saw some families with children at the beginning, which was the flatter part, but fewer people after that.  The entrance to the park is 600 meters (almost 2000 feet) and the highest point I hiked during the day was Taikoiwa Rock at 1050 meters (about 3400 feet), but there was a lot of up and down.

I walked the green trail out and turned left on the orange trail on the way back.

After coming down from Taikowa Rock, I sat down near this famous old tree to eat my lunch. 

I was very surprised to hear a loud screeching and see a monkey running across a fallen tree!  I didn't have time to get out my camera before it was gone, but I was excited that I got to see it.  A few minutes later another monkey ran out and stopped on a branch, so I did get my camera out.  A small monkey followed the big monkey.  At one point the big monkey came running toward me and I dropped my bag and started to run away.  It went back to the small monkey, so I came back to my bag and lunch.  I watched the big monkey picking bugs or something off the small monkey and I took more pictures. When I go to the zoo, the monkeys are probably my least favorite animal, but to see wild monkeys in the forest was cool.

I was careful to get back to the bus stop by the time the last bus of the day left at 5:20 pm! What a great day in the woods!