We are only a dozen steps into the forest the first time we stop to gawp, our necks craned to scan the towering canopy. We are surrounded by trees that creak in the gentle wind, and 1,000 shades of green that shimmer in the morning light. Most of Yakushima was logged at some point, starting early in Japan’s Edo period (1603-1867), but the forest has been conscientiously replanted since logging ended in the late 1960s.
Having sailed in and tied up our boat in the fishing port of Anbo, one of two small towns where most of the island’s 13,486 inhabitants live, we enter the forest at the Yodagawa Mountain Trail Entrance, clutching maps found at the tourist information office. The staff promised that if we walked in a clockwise direction at a moderate pace for three days, the path would lead us past mountain huts where we could find free shelter, across the island’s highest peak and eventually to a bus station, where we could catch a ride back to a hot shower and a cold beer in Anbo. Our first day of hiking is just an hour’s walk to the Yodagawa Hut, where we unroll our mats and sleeping bags.
Yakushima’s mountain huts, which can each accommodate up to 40 hikers, are very basic; they have sleeping spaces marked out on a wooden floor and a few grimy windows letting in the dim forest light. There is no electricity, nor any cooking facilities, and only one reeking drop toilet per hut. Having settled in, we follow the sound of water down to a narrow river that winds around t.
