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NEWSLETTER Issue #6JUNE 2009
HERE COMES THERAIN AGAIN!
Like the rest of Japan, June isthe month with the heaviestrain on Yakushima. While it'sstill perfectly fine to visit, thiscan cause problems on thetrails and if you are visitingthis month, be cautiousespecially after heavy rain showers.
Golden Week and theportable toilet trials
As expected, Golden Week saw a hugenumber of visitors to Yakushima with the trailto Jomon Sugi jam packed with over 3700hikers in just 4 days. The picture above showsthe bizarre sight of tourists queuing up to take photos in front of the tree.The strain of so many visitors is taking its tollon the forest with many of the wild flowersthat used to line the trail to Jomon Sugi nowgone for good. In 2000 there were around45,000 mountain hikers but in 2008 this hadrisen to 109,000 a year. I talk a little aboutthis problem in the guide book and the lack of action to stem the flow of brightly colouredtourists.The strain is acutely felt in the mountaintoilets which are quite literally overflowingand leaving traces of E-coli in the surroundingareas.To try to combat this toilet disaster over Golden Week the local government trialed theuse of portable toilets which were put on saleat the entrance to the Arakawa trail. Of the861 'sets' available, 23% were sold and 83%of the people who used it gave a positiveresponse.So for a mere¥500 you couldcarry your veryown lined-bagtoilet experience.Below is a photoof a few of the 11toilet tents whereyou do your  business alongthe trail and thedelightful part isthat you then
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In this Issue
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Hiking news
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Rainy Season
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Campsite reopens
•
Shiratani roadrepairs continue
•
Turtle nesting
 
carry around thecontents until you candispose of it back atthe entrance. Yey!Count me in!The trial has been sosuccessful that it willreturn in the summer and may be a permanent feature of the trail!
OceanviewCampsitereopens
Oceanview campsiteclosed last year butre-opened in May inMiyanoura.They instead provide permanent tents in aforest setting whichhouse 3 people for ¥4,000 or 5 peoplefor ¥5,000 (in a tworoomed tent).It is open all year.Check-in is between2pm to 7pm andCheck-out before12pm.If you would like to book – go to or callYakushima TourismCentre in Miyanoura(Tel: 0997-420091,www.yksm.com).
Turtle egglaying season
Yakushima is a placeof internationalimportance when itcomes to turtles. Lastyear the beaches in Nagata saw around5,700 turtles landings,3,000 of which laideggs.As many as 11,200visitors come to Nagata to see theturtles every year andif you wish to see thespectacular sight of aturtle laying its eggs,the YakushimaUmigame Center runsa nightly program of lecture/video/viewing(in Japanese) atInagahama beach in Nagata. This gets very busy so it is nownecessary to pre-book at the touristinformation office or via your accommodation.A new rule book has just been publishedwith the Ministry of the Environmentlaying out whatvisitors can andcannot do whenlooking at the turtles.Unfortunately manytourists leave their  brains at home and Ihave seen the mostidiotic things donearound the turtles.The new rule book contains revolutionaryideas like – don'ttouch the turtles, don'tshine a light or takeflash photography andlisten to the lectures beforehand.There are more detailsabout the whole turtlevisit experience in theguide book.Along with these newrules are restrictednight-time access tosome beaches and anote of caution whenwalking on beaches soas not to trample theeggs under the sand. If you go to any beach inYakushima keep asclose as possible to thesea.
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