㉑Ukiha Bekkan Shinshiyo
This nature-filled property is located on an elevated site overlooking Amagase, with a great view. The grounds are planted with 2,000 hydrangeas, making it a favorite among guests as a “hydrangea inn”. There are more than 100 hydrangea paintings in the hotel, and all of the decorations, including dishes and interior items, have hydrangea motifs, making the hotel’s name “Shinshiyo（New hydrangea）” fitting.
▶357 Sakuratake Takinoshita, Amagase-cho, Hita City, Oita Prefecture
㉒Oita Marine Palace Aquarium “Umitamago”
Oita Marine Palace Aquarium “Umitamago” is an open-air facility surrounded by the nature of the monkey mountain Takasaki and Beppu Bay. Under the slogan of “an aquarium where you can get along with animals,” the aquarium incorporates many innovations to help visitors feel closer to the creatures. In the “Umitama Performance,” a variety of animals, including walruses, sea lions, and pelicans, appear in the plaza, which is usually used as a viewing corridor, and give lively performances. Other attractions include a dolphin performance, popular for its powerful jumps, and a feeding commentary in the large migration tank. Also, at “Asobiuchi,” visitors can observe dolphins up close by entering a pool with a sandy beach barefoot.
▶大分県大分市高崎山下海岸水族館「うみたまご」TakasakiYamashitaKaigan Aquarium “Umitamago”, Oita City, Oita Prefecture
㉓Kumagawakudari(Rafting the Kuma River)
Kumagawa River cruise ” is a relaxing and nature-enhancing ride down the Kuma River.
The Kuma River is one of the three most rapid rivers in Japan along with the Mogami River and the Fuji River, but this clear stream course takes about 50 minutes along a relatively calm section of the river. This course is for adults who want to enjoy nature while riding in a wooden boat and listening to the seasonal scenery and birds chirping while enjoying the guidance of a skilled boatman.
The Kumagawa River cruise starting near the ruins of Hitoyoshi Castle, the site of their castle, has been a favorite of visitors to the area for over 100 years, and is said to have been enjoyed.
▶333-1 Shimoshinmachi, Hitoyoshi-shi, Kumamoto Prefecture
㉔Aso Cuddly Dominion
Aso Cuddly Dominion is a zoo with the theme of “interaction” with animals. 400 animals of 70 species, including baby bears, alpacas, capybaras, and guinea pigs, await your visit. Shows by the animals are also held daily at two venues. The shows are comical, so please enjoy them without losing track of time.
Visitors can also enjoy helicopter sightseeing flights that offer a panoramic view of the magnificent scenery of Aso.
▶2163 Kurokawa, Aso City, Kumamoto Prefecture
㉕Aso Monkey Showman Theater
Smiles abound as people enjoy the performance of these cute monkeys. The monkeys’ gestures make you laugh, and their realistic performances make your hands sweat. This is the world of monkey twirling, an art form that not only children, but also adults, can enjoy. This is a rare theater that seeks to inherit and develop the tradition of “monkey spinning,” which has a thousand-year history as Japan’s oldest folk art. Come see the monkeys perform up close and take home laughter, emotion, and dreams.
▶793 Shimono, Minami-aso Village, Aso-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture
㉖Miyazaki City Phoenix Zoo
Various events are held at the zoo, including “Let’s Ride the Elephant” and “Elephant Walk” (both limited to weekends and holidays), a graceful “Flamingo Show” featuring about 70 flamingos, and a “Goat March” and many more. Located on a 140,000-square-meter hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the zoo features 1,200 animals of about 90 species from around the world, including lions, Masai giraffes, Sumatran tigers, red pandas, capybaras, and Eurasian otters. There is also an amusement park, and in summer, for a limited time only, visitors can play in a “flowing pool” that also includes a water slide.
▶3083-42 Shioji-Hamayama, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki Prefecture
㉗Florante Miyazaki
Florenté Miyazaki” is an urban park where visitors can enjoy life with flowers from season to season as a “base for the promotion of flower city development.
Visitors can spend a relaxing time surrounded by flowers and greenery, including a lawn area with beautiful greenery all year round and a cityscape sample garden planted with different themes. In spring, the park hosts the “Spring Floral Festival” with tulips, ranunculus, and other spring flowers, the “Miyazaki Gourmet and Lantern Night” in summer, the “Autumn Floral Festival” featuring salvia and marigolds in fall, and the “Illumination Flower Garden” in winter. In addition, the “Florentine Doll Festival” is held in early spring, attracting visitors from young children to the elderly throughout the year.
▶414-16 Hamayama, Yamazaki-cho, Miyazaki-shi, Miyazaki Prefecture
㉘Amami no sato
“Amami no Sato” is a place where visitors can experience the nature, culture, and lifestyle of Amami, from the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture. In the outer garden, the majestic Japanese garden “”Michi no Shima Teien””, which symbolizes “”Michi no Shima Amami””, and the tropical “”Amami-style garden”” with bougainvillea and cycad invites visitors to the southern island. Inside the museum, you may view all of the authentic Oshima tsumugi silk, which has become synonymous with Amami culture, on display, the museum of Tokiemon Fuji, who devoted his life to Oshima tsumugi and created the “”Tokiemon”” brand, as well as the actual manufacturing process of Oshima tsumugi. The smell of flowers and grasses, the sound of weaving, the breeze on your cheek. Here, the same time as on Amami Oshima is flowing.
▶1-8 Nansakae, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture
㉙Sengan-en & Shoko Shuseikan
Sengan-en Garden is unlike other daimyo’s gardens, Senganen Garden does not have a large pond or artificial hill; instead, it is a large scale garden with the Kinko Bay as a pond and the majestic Sakurajima as an artificial hill, as a “borrowed landscape. (In 2015, the entire garden was registered as a World Heritage Site as a component of the “Industrial Revolutionary Heritage of Meiji Japan.)
In the garden, visitors can try their hand at painting Satsuma-yaki porcelain, shooting an arrow, or donning authentic armor and transforming into a samurai in body and soul! You can also try cutting Satsuma faceted glass under the guidance of a craftsman of Satsuma faceted glass, a glass craft.
▶9700-1 Yoshino-cho, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture
