Here's how you get to one of Japan's
　best kept natural secrets.　Fukue Island.

One of my favorite activities in Japan, apart from drinking sake, is cycling and some of my favorite places to ride are the windswept islands located off the coast Kyushu. I made my first trip to Goto Archipelago in 1993 and soon fell in love with the fresh environment, clean ocean and friendly people. Goto is divided into upper and lower sections referred to as Kami and Shimo Goto. This most recent trip in October 2003 was to Shimo Goto's Fukue Island, located 90 minutes by high-speed ferry from Nagasaki in the East China Sea. Here, I enjoyed 5 days of unparalleled cycling and amusement with a beer swilling Canadian ex-pat named Fred.

The ferry from Nagasaki arrives in late afternoon, so there is just enough time to get up to the top of the local volcano, Oni Dake for a sunset dip in the outdoor hot spring. The spa's soothing sulphur smelling waters are brackish but hot and revitalizing...you feel like new after a short soak. Once our batteries were recharged it was time to check out one of Fukue's better dining establishments for some awesome seafood.


From delectable seafood to hand raised Goto Beef, the island's cuisine is renowned...we enjoyed Kawahagi ﾒiki zukuriﾓ a whole Kawahagi fish delicately sliced for dipping in its own liver paste...

The place we chose to sleep for the night couldn't have been more reasonable...Tabi no Yado cost us only ￥2,500 a night (cheap by Japanese standards) for sleeping accommodation. The Mama-san and her Dana (husband) were so friendly we felt like we had been long time friends.


Cycling counterclockwise around the island, our first stop was the incredibly beautiful Dogonzaki Church, built in the 19^th century and a testament to the Christian religious history that is synonymous with Nagasaki and the off shore islands where persecuted Christians fled in the 16^th century to escape the Shogun's infidel slaughter policy.

Further on we discovered one of Fukueﾕs best-kept secrets, the hidden waterfalls known as Don Don Buchi. Neither of us could resist a plunge into this paradisiacal pool of gently flowing crystal clear river water. Low cliffs provided the perfect platform for plunging into the exhilarating pools... we both experienced a trip back in time to youthful dives in Canadian rivers far away.

Beautiful quiet roads, perfect for cycling awaited us as we slowly wound our way around the scenic island. Old farmhouses and old farmers were here and there to be seen working their ancient fields.
Fred waits for me to catch up as we make our way across the "Red Bridge".

Another 20 kms down the road lay Miraku Town and our stop for the second night. Staying at Coast Pension, we had the inn to ourselves as high season for tourists was more than a month over.










We dined on a feast of fresh raw fish, caught that day by the inn's owner. Our guests for diner were 4 members of the local Japanese Self Defense Forces.
They were great people and of course we enjoyed a great drinking party... and learned a lot about life on the island.

Up before dawn we were able to catch a spectacular sunrise, the perfect beginning to another day of cycling fun.
By afternoon we were 30 kilometers further down the coast and swimming in pristine ocean waters at Takahama Beach...not a soul in sight and the bluest waters imaginable. It was an afternoon of unbelievable serenity and peacefulness.

Staying at a 100-year-old inn in the tiny fishing hamlet of Arakawa, we had a long soak in the local hot spa then went down to the town dock to see what the locals were catching.... Seems like just about anything was being hooked...from Puffer fish to Red Manta (apparently delicious if boiled and eaten with soy sauce).




Along the northern edge of the island we came across numerous Christian cemeteries I couldn't imagine a more idyllic place to spend eternity.

Fred and I spoke to this old gent, 75 years old and still heading out to fish the waters off Fukue, which are apparently not as teeming with sea life as they used to be. Gradually warming oceans, declining fish populations and the long economic slump, which has gripped Japan since the early ‘90s, has hit the local fishing industry in hard way.

The journey around the southern coast was marked by steep climbs and fast descents..we strayed off the main road and checked out the farmers harvesting and drying rice in the Autumn sun. It seemed almost like we were slipping back into the past, watching farming methods which have changed very little over the centuries.




A remote rocky beach provided a great spot to have lunch, relax and then engage in a hearty game of stone chucking. Millions of perfectly smooth stones, tossed for eternity on Fukue's shores gave us plenty of ammo to have a lengthy contest.

Another 50km down the winding coast road and we were back where we started 5 days earlier...
It was somewhat saddening to finally depart from Goto watching it shrink in the distance as we ferried back to Nagasaki. Returning to the concrete colossus of Tokyo was inevitable but we know that we'll be back for more fun in the not so distant future.