Kirishima-Yaku National Park

Kirishima Kinkowan National Park (霧島錦江湾国立公園 Kirishima-Kinkowan kokuritsu kōen) is in Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, Kyushu.

History

 * 1934: started as Kirishima National Park, as one of the first three national parks.
 * 1964:Yakushima and Kinkowan areas were added and became Kirishima-Yaku National Park.
 * 2012:Yakushima National Park was detached. Aira area added and became Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park.

Landscape
Often likened to the surface of the moon, the Kirishima mountain range has 23 volcanic cones, of which 15 are intact and 10 are filled with water.

Climate
Kirishima literally means "Misty Island", but it's not an island at all: instead, the name is a reference to how often the mountain is wrapped in misty fog, and it's thus not a surprise that it rains more or less all the time here.

Information Site
Ministry of Environment has an official bilingual webpage for the park.

Get in
Kirishima is quite spread out. For the hot springs, the nearest station is Kirishima Jingu (霧島神宮駅) on the JR Nippo Line between Kagoshima (45 min) and Miyazaki (1 hr 20 min), from where buses connect to the hot spring resort of Kirishima Onsen (霧島温泉) in 25 min.

Access to the trailheads at Ebino Kogen (えびの高原) is harder, and your own car will come in handy. For buses, check with the Kirishima Tourism Office (tel. +81 995-57-1588) and Miyazaki Kotsu.

Do
Thanks to heavy volcanic activity, there are countless hot springs in the area, some of which have a recognizable smell or billowing pillars of steam. Several ashiyu (足湯), or "foot baths," in the area are free of charge.

There is also a large and famous shrine in the area worth visiting called Kirishima Jingu (霧島神宮).