Yakushima (屋久島) is an island off Kyushu and famous for its yakusugi trees. Yakusugi trees are cedar trees that are at least 1,000 years old. The most famous yakusugi is the Jomon-sugi which is over 7,000 years old. The island is a mountainous forest circles by one main road. We made good use of our Daihatsu Taft kei-car rental. The lush forest of Yakushima was the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. We split our time in Yakushima between an AirBnB in Hirauchi, near the ocean open air onsen (hot springs) and the Sankara Hotel.