Six months
of departures,
by hand.
Yakushima SP is not a booking engine. Every departure is shaped by an island-born guide, capped at six trekkers, and opened only after a written conversation. Below is what is open from this season — and what we have deliberately chosen not to run.
- 98.2%Jomonsugi summit completion, last five seasons
- 6 maxTrekkers per guide — smallest cap on the island
- 41,200Yakusugi cedars planted via the Yakushima Forest Trust
What is open this season.
Four hand-built departures across the next six months. Each row lists route, days on the mountain, group size, and the lead guide already assigned. We add new months only when the previous one is fully spoken for.
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01 October 2025 Autumn cedar · Yakushika rutRequest →
Jomonsugi — the 7-day old-growth traverse
Miyanoura→Jomonsugi→Wilson Stump→Yakusugi Land→Anbo. The only operator permitted to lead the full seven-day old-growth line.
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02 November 2025 Late autumn · first snow on the peakRequest →
Yakusugi Land & Shiratani Unsuikyo — the 4-day cedar primer
The lighter half of the season. Built for first-time visitors and returning trekkers who want mist and moss rather than altitude.
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03 March 2026 Pre-sakura · Wilson’s Stork windowRequest →
Wildlife route — 5-day Yakushika & Stork observation
The only Yakushima departure permitted by Yakushima Town to lead the four-season Yakushika and Wilson’s Stork observation line, paired with a Jomonsugi summit on day four.
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04 May 2026 Spring rhododendron · clearest skiesRequest →
Jomonsugi & South Coast — the 9-day full-island traverse
Our flagship. Miyanoura cedar-house to Anbo via the south-coast hot springs, Jomonsugi summit at dawn, and a rest day at the Onoaida onsen.
Months not listed above are either already full, intentionally closed (peak sakura & October public-holiday weeks), or have not yet been opened. If your travel window falls between months, write to us anyway.
What’s included, what isn’t, and why our group cap is six.
We publish the inclusions list in full because the questions we get most often are not about the trail — they are about the bill. Every line below is the same answer we give by email.
Included on every departure
- One island-born senior guide (JMGA-certified, average tenure 9 years)
- Carbon-neutral transfers in 100% biofuel minivans — Miyanoura port to trailhead and back
- All park-entrance and Yakusugi Land conservation fees
- Two nights pre- and post-trek at the 1932 Miyanoura cedar house (our HQ)
- All mountain meals — Japanese onsen-style dinners, trail lunches, hot breakfasts
- Plant-to-tracker carbon offset, measured and reported for every guest
- Planting of three Yakusugi cedars per guest via the Yakushima Forest Trust
- Pre-trip consultation on gear, fitness, and weather window with your lead guide
Not included — by intention
- Flights to Kagoshima and ferry or fast-boat to Miyanoura
- Travel insurance — mandatory; we will recommend a provider
- Alcoholic drinks at the cedar house
- Personal trekking gear — we send a kit list and rent what we can locally
- Tips for guides (always optional, never expected)
- Anything we have not written above
On the group cap of six
The local industry average is fourteen trekkers per guide. We cap at six because every additional person past five measurably slows a rope team on the wet-root sections above 1,100 m, and because six is the largest party we can still feed at the cedar house the night before departure. This is not marketing; it is a kitchen-and-safety number.
The operational answers every serious trekker asks first.
We have moved 12,400+ guests across 3,800+ treks in 18 seasons, which means we have heard the same six logistics questions roughly that many times. The answers below are the ones we give.
- Arrival
- Fly into Kagoshima Airport (KOJ), then a 1h 40m fast-ferry or 4h car-ferry to Miyanoura. We will collect you at the port and walk you the 200 m to the cedar house.
- On-island transfers
- 100% biofuel minivans introduced in 2022. Drivers are part of our team, not a subcontractor. We do not use shared buses or taxis.
- Weather windows
- May–June is statistically the clearest window; October–November the most atmospheric. We do not operate the Jomonsugi summit day in forecast winds over 40 km/h — the route is rescheduled or the summit is substituted with the Wilson Stump lookout at 1,050 m.
- Fitness
- Expect 5–8 hours of ascent per day on the Jomonsugi routes, with up to 1,300 m of elevation gain. We recommend a season of regular hill-walking before arrival. The 4-day cedar-primer route is suitable for first-time multi-day trekkers.
- Pre- and post-trek lodging
- Two nights at the restored 1932 cedar lumber house in Miyanoura port (our HQ) are included on either side of every trek. Private rooms, shared bathrooms, onsen-style baths, and the office where every booking is hand-checked before departure.
Six questions we would rather answer here than over email.
If you have read this far, you are the kind of guest we built this page for. The questions below are the ones that, in 18 seasons, come up before almost every booking.
- Is the Jomonsugi summit guaranteed?
- No — and we will not pretend otherwise. Weather on a 1,300 m peak is uncontrolled. Our published 98.2% completion rate over the last five seasons reflects what happens when we are free to reschedule the summit day inside the same departure, which we do whenever the morning forecast allows.
- I am travelling solo. Is that a problem?
- About 38% of our guests book alone. We pair solo trekkers carefully — by pace, by route preference, and by stated comfort on a rope team — and we never charge a single-supplement premium on a departure that is already open to pairings.
- What fitness level do I actually need?
- For the Jomonsugi routes, the honest answer is: you should be able to walk uphill for five hours, two days in a row, on uneven and wet roots. If that is uncertain for you, the 4-day Yakusugi Land & Shiratani primer is the right route to start with.
- What is the cancellation and payment policy?
- A 20% deposit confirms your place, non-refundable from our side and refundable on your side if your travel insurance covers it. Balance is due 60 days before departure. We refund in full if a departure is closed for safety reasons (weather, landslide, park closure).
- Do you run custom or private dates?
- Yes, on any closed month for parties of four or more, and on any open date for parties of five or six. Custom dates include the same inclusions, the same cap, and the same planting commitment.
- Do you promise wildlife sightings?
- No. We observe, we do not stage. The Yakushika and Wilson’s Stork routes are observation-only and run only when guides expect reasonable odds; we will tell you plainly when the window is poor and let you choose to come anyway.
Write to an island-born guide. We reply within one business day.
Every departure request is read by a guide — not a chatbot, not a coordinator. We reply with the departures still open, the ones already full, and any honest reason a route may not suit your week. We then hold a place for 72 hours while you decide.
- Yakushima Sustainable Tourism CouncilGold certification 2019–2024 inclusive
- Plant-to-trackerCarbon-neutral standard since 2018
- Founded 2007Miyanoura, by mountain guide Hirohide Arima
Or write directly:
[email protected]
+81 99-472-0118
Kumage-gun, Kagoshima 891-4201, Japan