Hello again, it has been a busy year and I have been falling behind on the updates. But don’t worry! They will all make it here eventually!
Firstly, one of the reasons this was a busy (fiscal) year was because of the long awaited Adventure Travel World Summit in Hokkaido that took place in september 2023. And what was even more relevant to us, here on the other side of Japan, was the Pre-Summit Adventures (PSA).
A PSA is a kind of showcase tour that displays different areas of Japan to the participants of the summit. In Kyushu we were allotted two slots out of 33 all around Japan. One took place on Yakushima and one took place in Miyazaki/Kumamoto. The last one was guided by me!
It was an exciting opportunity since the participants are big-shots from the travel industry. In other words, their approval would be a big confidence boost! But their disapproval would result in my impending doom…
With that said! This was a 6-day tour so I will only give you some highlights, but I’ll link an article by the amazing writer Norie Quintos who took part in the tour at the end for anyone who wants to read more.
Firstly, we began by meeting up at Kumamoto Airport. Always a nervous moment but all our participants turned out to be very pleasant people (as they mostly are!).
After that, we headed towards Takachiho in Miyazaki where the tour began for real. We did a quick stop at a lookout point on the way to enjoy the scenery of the Aso volcano. Our final destination of the tour!
On the second day the tour begins for real. By foot we explored the town of Takachiho. This place truly is a mystical one. Many of the Japanese legends and myths take place here and you can really feel the roots of the ancient Shinto religion that still lingers in Japan to this day. For lunch, we visited the old castle grounds, which now remains in the form of a camping site, that offers a great view of Takachiho. Here we cooked traditional food from Takachiho that uses bamboo, which we cut down ourselves! Bamboo is a very invasive species and finding ways to utilise it is always a challenge of life on the Japanese countryside. Using it for food is one great solution!
The third day took us on a completely different adventure. This day we ventured through the misty mountains of Miyazaki, Kiritachi-goe. A mountain trail that was used until 1937 as one of the main routes to travel between Kumamoto and Miyazaki. A fitting activity before we head into Kumamoto for the second half of our tour. Our local guide for this part was mr. Hajime Akimoto (the person to the right in the picture) who fascinated our guests with his youthfulness and energy, even though he has an impressive age of 80 years old. He was raised in this area and exploring the mountains has been a weekly activity for him since he was a child. Many of the native fauna found in the area is even named after him!
After finishing the traverse, we left for Aso!
Day number four was spent in my hometown, Minamioguni. This course is my time to shine since it pretty much is the standard tour that I do most of the time when guiding. It’s an easy downhill cycling course through the grasslands, forests, and small mountain villages of Minamioguni. Along the way, we stop by local farmers to learn of their life. One of the highlights is an interactive farm-to-table experience where we harvest, cook, and eat together with the locals.
The final day of full activity! This day is one of the absolute highlights of the tour. We climbed the volcano, all the way to the crater, using only our own two legs and a set of wheels. Electrically powered wheels… But that is necessary since it’s a pretty massive climb. But thanks to the e-bikes, everyone made it all the way up!
Apart from seeing the volcano up close, this day offers stunning scenery and off-course riding in the grasslands.
At long last, the tour comes to a conclusion, and it is time for everyone to head off to Hokkaido and take part in the big Adventure Travel event. Before that, we enjoyed a nice relaxing brunch at Choyo Station. This is a lovely little unmanned station with a single track that has been around for almost 100 years. The inside has been renovated and is now home to a small cafe. Due to the large earthquake in 2016, the train was being suspended for around 7 years. Now, since July 2023, the entire line is finally back in action, and our guests got to see the train as it passed by them while they were enjoying some tasty cake at the platform.
There you have it, this is really just a sneak peak at all we did and experienced, but I hope this gives you an idea.
And, as mentioned, for anyone who wants to learn more, read this article written by the amazing Norie Quintos:
https://www.adventure.travel/adventure-stories/the-volcano-giveth?fbclid=IwAR2P5CMPuQXeZGjNiW7ApJyAqcpACL8b_D-FReyovXtx966BG_0IAriEt4w
Thank you for reading and see you in Aso!
Max
Satoyama Journey Blog 
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