Aso County

《Regarding the Tour Guide and Service Experience》 Our tour guide for this trip, Eiichi, was incredibly thoughtful and kind. Although he is a local Japanese, he was able and willing to explain things in both English and Chinese, accommodating travelers with different language backgrounds. He also reminded us about the route and safety precautions. Before the trip, he even sent a written itinerary explanation and food recommendations. Compared to other experiences where I've often taken elderly family members on similar tours, sometimes the Chinese explanations were skipped, leading to them not understanding, or the tour simply went through each spot without detailed historical explanations or important notes. This experience, however, was excellent. 《Regarding the Itinerary》 Our visit was in May and June, which coincided with Japan's rainy season. Although I checked the weather beforehand, the mountain weather is indeed unpredictable, with rain stopping and starting. Here are some tips for travelers planning this itinerary during this period: 1. Raincoats are more practical than umbrellas: This tour involves continuous walking. If you want to take good photos and move around easily, choosing a stylish raincoat or a clear umbrella would be more convenient. 2. You might not need to book the Takachiho boat ride: As shown in the photos, if it rains, the water level rises, and there's a high probability that the boat service will be suspended. The platform initially stated that if suspended, a refund of 2,000 JPY would be issued. However, the original cost of booking the boat ride was actually close to 4,000 JPY. Therefore, if there's a risk of rain, I recommend not even considering the boat ride. 3. Lunch arrangements: Lunch is at the scenic restaurant in Kusasenri, where you can enjoy Kumamoto beef from Kyushu. However, because time is quite tight, if you want to take good photos and climb to spots with good views, you might not have time for lunch. You could buy food at a convenience store along the way in the morning to maximize your photo-taking time.

Today's itinerary was packed, and it felt wonderful. First, there was the mini-train, which the kids are sure to love; the driver even blows bubbles at the end! Then, the canyon was beautiful and very photogenic; I really enjoyed the scenery as we strolled along. My personal favorite was the Kumano Shrine; it had a very, very serene atmosphere, with ancient moss-covered lanterns and towering old trees looking down on everything. It started raining at our last stop, so we ate Kuroge Wagyu barbecue on the second floor of Kusasenri, looking out at the lush green landscape. All my senses were delighted. Many thanks to our guide today, Mr. Miyamoto, who was very attentive and thoughtful. Not only did he give us a perfect day, but he also gave us posters on the way back, and I got my favorite, "Spirited Away"! I'm so happy.

great tour with an amazing guide Sun-san who is well versed with the history and information of all the attractions, his candid and lively explanation is a great highlight of the trip, and it's so refreshing to have a tour guide that shares what are not just the must tries and also what to avoid as well (souvenirs and snacks). the pace of the trip is great as well, and I appreciate that Sun-san was flexible to shuffle the sequence of attractions to visit to avoid the weekend crowd, that's really thoughtful! and not forgetting the main highlight of the trip visiting the beautiful Mt Aso (we didnt get to go there due to the recent accident), shrines and gorge! well planned and well paced - was an amazing trip in all and would highly recommend it!

We visited a lot of places during the tour and was able to have time to browse lots of souvenirs and food throughout. Mount Aso crater was unfortunately closed but we were still able to enjoy and take in the amazing views. Our guides especially Sun was so accommodating even when we me and my friend were the only 2 English speaking people in the trip. They were both really jolly and would give good infos about the places and also gave tips on food and where else to visit around Fukuoka. So thank you so much to them :)

this tour was really good if you love animals and want to see them up close. I enjoyed the guide Zhu Zhu was so sweet and even she spoke little English she was so great and made sure I was able to follow along with rest of the group. She was so delightful and kindhearted, helped me order all the foods form all the shops and stores and offered me her umbrella and even the sweet apples. I highly recommend this route you get to see lots in one day!

We really like our guide Carson!! He asked about our preferred language when we first met, since my Chinese speaking skills are pretty bad lol so we were gonna talk to him in English but surprisingly he could speak Cantonese as well! during the intros he would speak in Chinese and English (we could understand both) and if we had any questions we could use Cantonese which was just perfect. I really liked the mountains and had time to do some shopping and take photos. I personally don’t really enjoy onsens but I was happy to see a chubby cat there and those unique buildings. Carson also reminded us about snakes because it was the first sunny day after days of raining. Carson was very helpful and full of information, we really liked him as our guide which was one of the main reasons we trusted this company and went on another trip.

We met at 7:50 AM. Our guide for the day was Xiao Chen, and we're very grateful to him for giving us a wonderful day trip experience. Xiao Chen's explanations were very professional and clear, and he also recommended delicious food. This tour involved a lot of driving and did not include meals, but Xiao Chen arranged rest stops along the way for everyone to take a break and grab some snacks. The first leg of the journey was from Hakata to Takachiho (2.5 hours); the second leg was from Takachiho to Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine (50 minutes). The Aso Red Beef Rice Burger at the shrine's parking lot was about 200 NTD and was absolutely delicious. The third leg was from the shrine to Kusasenri (1 hour). Unfortunately, due to an incident in January, we couldn't go to the crater, so we went to Kusasenri instead, where we stayed for about 30 minutes, which felt a bit rushed. This tour involves a lot of walking, so be sure to consider your physical stamina!

Although the guide primarily provides information in Chinese, if you can speak a little Japanese or English, there won't be any issues with the itinerary. They even used a translator and made a tremendous effort to communicate. We were very grateful. I tried to close the air conditioning vent on the bus, but one side of the plastic was broken, so it couldn't be fully closed. While this was a minor inconvenience, I don't think it's significant enough to negatively impact the overall rating. It seems that the parking lot at Kusasenri, or whatever that rest stop is called, gets quite congested if you drive there, as there are often no available spaces. I think taking the bus and enjoying a more comfortable journey is a better option.

Several of the attractions are natural energy spots, lush with green trees, perfect for breathing in fresh air and clearing your mind, while also learning about the origins of Japanese mythology. Getting to these spots from Fukuoka isn't very convenient, so this tour was a huge help, and the itinerary was very well-planned. Kamishikimi Kumano-imasu Shrine is integrated with nature, surrounded by greenery, much like a place where forest spirits from Princess Mononoke might appear. Amano Iwato Shrine and Amano Yasukawara tell the story of how eight million gods lured Amaterasu Omikami out of hiding. Takachiho Gorge is where the young deity Ninigi-no-Mikoto descended to Ashihara no Nakatsukuni (the Central Land of Reed Plains), and the air there feels divine, inspiring awe. Be prepared for some physical exertion, as there are stairs and hills to climb, but it's definitely worth the effort! Our tour leader, Zheng Yu, switched effortlessly between Chinese and Korean, providing thoughtful guidance and clear instructions. He clearly communicated the meeting times for each stop in advance and also informed us that there wouldn't be a dedicated lunch break, so we'd need to eat during our free time. He also pointed out convenient dining spots. It felt like the time allotted for each location was just right, never rushed. At the end, he even gave us Takachiho Gorge's specialty steamed buns as souvenirs. Despite being the rainy season, it didn't rain, and the weather was incredibly cooperative. Our tour leader was very organized, and our fellow travelers were very nice. It was an excellent experience! Many thanks! 🙏