Kirishima-Yaku National Park

The Kirishima-Yaku National Park in southern Kyushu takes in the Kirishima mountain range, the island of Yakushima off the coast to the south, part of the Kagoshima Bay including the Sakurajima Volcano, and the southern coasts of the Satsuma and Osumi peninsulas, at the southern-most tip of Kyushu. The predominant features of the National Park - the various parts of which are separate from one another - are chains of volcanic mountains with lave fields and beautiful crater lakes, extensive beaches and hot springs, most of them at busy health resorts.

The countryside is at its most beautiful during the summer flowering season and in the fall when the foliage takes on its vivid coloring.

The most northerly part of the National Park consists of the Kirishima Range, on the borders of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures. The highest peaks are Karakuni in the north and Takachiho in the south. Among the most beautiful of the ten or so crater lakes in this area are Lake Onami, Fudo, Byakushi and Miike, with water of varying hues.

There is rich vegetation, with dense primeval forests at lower altitudes, silver fir and red spruce at intermediate levels and an upper zone of scrub and deciduous forest. Many areas are renowned for the beauty of their vegetation, such as Lake Onami with its maples and firs and Mount Shimmoe with its great expanses of azaleas.