Western Kyushu (Saga → Nagasaki → Kumamoto → Oita) — 7 days, car

Fukuoka to Beppu through western Kyushu: Arita’s porcelain towns and Takeo Onsen, Nagasaki’s sights and night view, Kurokawa Onsen, Yabakei Gorge, and Beppu’s Hells and Yufuin.

Don't miss

champon at Nagasaki’s Shikairo, where it was invented.

• Day 1 — Fukuoka → Saga: Arita (porcelain — Arita Porcelain Park, Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Tozan Shrine) → Takeo Onsen (Takeo Shrine, giant camphor tree) (drive ~2h). Stay Takeo (tattoos: ⚠️ cover-up / private bath). — Route map
• Day 2 — Takeo → Nagasaki: Unzen (Nita Pass foliage) → Todoroki Valley → Nagasaki afternoon: Glover Garden + Oura Cathedral (same hillside, walkable), Nagasaki champon (drive ~3h). Stay Nagasaki. — Route map
• Day 3 — Nagasaki full day: Dejima + Peace Park + museums (morning) → Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) boat tour (afternoon, ~2.5h) → Mt. Inasa night view (top-3 in Japan) (drive ~0.5h). Stay Nagasaki. — Route map
• Day 4 — Nagasaki → Shimabara (castle, lunch) → ferry to Kumamoto (30 min) → Kurokawa Onsen (riverside baths, yumeguri pass) (drive ~3.5h + ferry). Stay Kurokawa (tattoos: ✅ 6 ryokan accept). — Route map
• Day 5 — Kurokawa → Oita: Yabakei (gorge foliage, boat) → Beppu (the Hells of Beppu / Jigoku — Umi Jigoku, Chinoike Jigoku) (drive ~2.5h). Stay Beppu (tattoos: ✅ friendly (city map)). — Route map
• Day 6 — Beppu → Yufuin (Kinrin Lake, Yunotsubo street, onsen) → Kokonoe Bridge (suspension bridge over the gorge) (drive ~2h). Stay Yufuin (tattoos: ✅ friendly options). — Route map
• Day 7 — Yufuin morning (Kinrin Lake, onsen) → return Fukuoka → evening shinkansen (drive ~2h) (tattoos: ✅ friendly options). — Route map

Highlights

🏙️ Mt. Inasa night view — top-3 city panorama over Nagasaki's harbour

🌊 Gunkanjima — abandoned "Battleship Island" viewed from the boat

🌿 Glover Garden — hillside Western-style mansions and gardens

🌉 Kokonoe Yume Bridge — Japan's highest pedestrian suspension bridge

🏛️ Arita Porcelain Park — porcelain museum in a baroque-style park

🏔️ Nita Pass (Unzen) — ridge road with Mt. Unzen and autumn foliage

🏛️ Dejima — the fan-shaped Dutch trading post island

⛪ Oura Cathedral — Japan's oldest standing church, a hidden-Christian site

🕊️ Nagasaki Peace Park — the towering Statue of Peace

♨️ Kurokawa Onsen — riverside open-air baths in a forested onsen town

🌫️ Yufuin Kinrin Lake — misty spring-fed lake at the foot of Mt. Yufu

Local food & drink

• Nagasaki champon — pork-chicken broth noodles stuffed with seafood
• Sara udon — crispy noodles under seafood ankake
• Kakuni manju — braised pork belly in a steamed bun
• Yobuko squid — Saga’s ikizukuri live squid
• Saga beef — A5 wagyu from Arita/Takeo
• Toriten — Oita/Beppu garlic-salted chicken tempura
• Ureshino green tea — Saga’s famed tea
• Kyushu imo shochu — sweet-potato shochu, the regional pour Don’t miss: champon at Nagasaki’s Shikairo, where it was invented.

Local culture

• Arita porcelain — the town’s ceramics trace back to Korean potters brought over in the 17th century, and the kilns still fire the famous blue-and-white ware
• Nagasaki’s hidden Christians — Oura Cathedral and the surrounding sites preserve the story of the Kakure Kirishitan, who kept their faith in secret for centuries
• Dejima — the fan-shaped island was Japan’s only window to the West for over 200 years, where Dutch traders were confined
• Nagasaki Peace Park — the Statue of Peace and the memorials carry the city’s postwar identity as a voice for nuclear abolition
• Mt. Inasa night view — the ropeway up the mountain is a nightly ritual, ranked among Japan’s top three city night views
• Gunkanjima — the abandoned “Battleship Island” is a monument to the coal-mining boom that once packed 5,000 people onto one rock
• Kurokawa yumeguri — the onsen-hopping pass with its wooden tegata stamps is the town’s signature bathing ritual
• Yufuin’s Yunotsubo street — the old shopping street gathers the town’s craft and café culture at the foot of Mt. Yufu