TL;DR – I took a day trip to Miyakonojo.

Disclosure – I paid for my flights, accommodation, entry, and everything you see purchased in this article.

Exploring Japan –

I had always planned to go back to Japan one day, and had started making plans to go back in 2020. Then, well, 2020 happened. But late last year, I finally had the chance to put those plans back in motion as I flew out of Melbourne for Osaka, and thus my time in Japan began.

By pure fluke, I had discovered just before leaving that a good friend of mine, who lives on the other side of the country, would not only be in Japan at the same time as me, but they would also be in Kyushu at the same time as me. Fast-forward through some schedules being compared, and we discovered that there was one day that we could catch up, and that was in the small mountain town of Miyakonojo. The first part of the trip for me was to take what turned out to be a very swanky train to Kagoshima, and then a local into the mountains.