Transportation on Yakushima
Yakushima has a public bus service, but be prepared to have a limited experience if you rely solely on the public bus. The public bus does not go all around the island and it does not access the west side of the island. For those that are determined to use the public bus service then please check the bus timetable.
Car rental is an option for guests staying out of the two main villages (Miyanoura and Anbo). Most international visitors require an international driving permit, although there are a few nationalities that require an official JAF translation of the driving license.
Scooter rental and bicycle rental are also available, but are less popular modes of transport as it rains frequently on Yakushima!
Finally, none of the above can be considered a better option then booking a YES tour which includes transportation and a day packed with local knowledge and insights.
If you carry an international driver’s license then you can also rent a scooter up to 50cc. Driving a scooter is safe as the speed limit on the island is only 50km/h. However, do be careful at night as there is very little street lighting and there are often wildlife on the roads at night. The other precaution is that in rain the scooter is not the safest of vehicles. A 50cc is too small to carry a pillion passenger (illegal), but it will be able to handle the mountain roads leading up to the hiking trails and it is safe to leave it parked for the day while out walking. YES can arrange scooter rental for guests staying in the Miyanoura area or arriving to / departing from the Miyanoura Port.
There are a few outlets that rent bicycles (usually mountain bikes). Most bike rental shops are in either Miyanoura or Anbo. Cycling around the towns and villages is a fine exercise, but don`t think of a bike as a substitute mode of transport to get you up into the mountains (unless you train regularly in Switzerland!). Cycling around the island is possible to do in a day, but questions arise of the value to do so as you would be left with so little time to visit places along the way. Over the years, we have witnessed many visitors clearly regretting their decision to go on extended bicycle journeys on this island that has no short cuts and is very steep. We see them at dusk miles from their destination suffering to get back to the hotel before nightfall!
For cyclists going through the western coastal road (Seibu Rindo) then you are likely to encounter the monkeys and deer. Please keep a safe distance of at least 10 metres and don’t be tempted to go too close to them. They are wild animals and therefore unpredictable. More importantly than your own safety is that over-familiarity with humans is not good for the animals in the long term as they gain confidence to venture into the human areas of the island and end up being caught in traps or shot. So do the animals and residents a favor by keeping your distance. The animals are permanent residents and you are a visitor, so respect their territory.
Buses run from Nagata in the north-west to Ohko Waterfall in the south west. They do not run the full circular route as the road that runs through the World Heritage area is too narrow. Yakushima Kotsu (a local bus company) publishes an English timetable twice a year.
The downside to the buses is that the service is infrequent and very limited to the places you can go. Guests wishing not to spend all day waiting for buses should consider a YES Island Tour which travels to all the major sites along the coastal region of the island and goes to a lot more places than you’d not be able to access using the bus service. There is also the added advantage of the YES guide offering explanations of the island`s history and ecology all day.