Bus to Arakawa Trailhead — Local services in Yakushima

You can drive or take a very early bus to arrive here. You pay donation/entrance fee to get to Jomonsugi. This donation is combined with bus ticket that will take you to the beginning of the trail and then will bring you back from trail. The total cost was 2400 or 2700 yen, I don't remember. The cost of donation is higher if you do two-day hike, the person selling tickets will ask you about this. The bus from Museum to trail entrance is not covered by Bus pass, but the bus from shore towns to the Museum is. This bus (and taxi) are the only ways to get to Jomonsugi. Beware that there are multiple buses from trail entrance back to the Museum, but there is only one afternoon bus from Museum back to the shore towns. Please study the timetable, technically there are two but one goes clockwise, second counterclockwise. I heard that people are open to take people back of they themselves came by car. So if you miss the bus or if you complete route really fast, you can save some time by asking someone to take you to the next bus stop, or maybe even back to the town you're based in if you're lucky. However, the number of people really depends on the weather, so I wouldn't consider hitchhiking a realiable way to get back down...

Very well organized -mandatory- system to get to the trailhead for Jomon Sugi, although it's recommended to buy bus tickets the day prior to the hike at one of the selling office (tourist information center in my case) if the goal is to get in the first bus at 5am.

It seems mostly guided groups of Japanese hikers are using that bus, but staff was friendly and able to communicate in English, although Japanese knowledge will obviously facilitate the overall process. Most info were available in...

Always on time. You need to make a reservation in advance. You can buy advance tickets at visitor centers or at the museum. Going to the trail is numbered so buying tickets in advance is highly recommended. It leaves every 30 minutes. Going back to the bus center after hiking jomon sugi, no need to make a...