The Best Healing Experience in Japan! Visit Yakushima🇯🇵

The Best Healing Experience in Japan! Visit Yakushima🇯🇵

If you come to Japan, there’s one place that I   recommend to visit even more 
than Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka. Can you guess where it is? Yes it’s Yakushima!!! It’s a sanctuary for monkeys, 
deer, and sea turtles. and Japan’s first natural World Heritage site. Also it’s the inspiration for Princess Mononoke. I went on a tour the other day and it was amazing! Starting with meeting our guide with tears, 
sound healing, trekking through the ancient   cedar forests, visiting Jomon Sugi, a 
matcha ceremony, souvenirs, and farewells. Today, I want to share this enchanting 
journey to Yakushima with you all. If you have even a little interest in Yakushima,   I’m sure you’ll find this content incredibly 
useful, so stick around until the end. There are a few ways to get to 
Yakushima, but the usual route   is to go to Kagoshima and then 
take a plane or ferry from there. Right now, we’re on the ferry. I’m super excited… or 
rather, I was pretty anxious. Why? Because this was our third 
challenge to get to Yakushima. Twice before, our flights were 
canceled due to bad weather. And even now, if the weather at Yakushima 
turns bad, this ferry might have to turn back. By the way, the ones who invited me on 
this trip are the team from Chafinity,   who sell my favorite organic matcha in California. So, we were just sipping that delicious 
matcha and praying on the ferry. When we heard the announcement for “We 
arrived at Yakushima,” we felt so relieved. So, when the guides warmly welcomed 
us, we were already in tears. The guide was too because they had 
been waiting for us for four days. That’s why we were crying 
with joy when we first met. This was the first time in my life that I 
cried upon meeting someone for the first time. Alright, let’s start the tour! **Yaku Shrine** First, we headed to Yaku Shrine. The first place you should visit 
in Yakushima is Yaku Shrine. With over 1000 years of history, 
it’s a prestigious shrine. Let’s greet the gods of Yakushima here first. Here’s a little secret about shrines. A shrine(神社) is a Shinto（神道） building. Shinto is Japan’s traditional 
religion that worships nature,   believing gods reside in everything. This means mountains, seas, stones,   grains of rice, and you, too, are 
considered to have gods within. Most shrines have mirrors. Do you know why? Mirrors symbolize the gods 
and also reflect ourselves. This reminds you that you are essentially a god. So, how do you become a god? It’s hidden in the word 
“kagami” (mirror in Japanese). “Ga” means “self” or “ego.” Now, if you remove “ga,” you get 
“kami,” which means “god” in Japanese. So, when you let go of your ego and show love 
to others, you come closer to being a god. Japanese is interesting, right? **Sound Healing** Next, we drove into the forests of Yakushima. It felt like an exciting jungle expedition. Our guide took us down the mountain. Wow! What a nature! After having lunch in the 
wild, we continued to go down. Then, we reached an open space. Untouched nature was all around us. It feels like Planet of the Apes!! Just by being here purifies my soul. Sound healing in such a place? Wow! They played wonderful healing music for us. OMG! I was so purified that I felt 
like I had turned into steam!! Let’s give you a little taste of it. Close your eyes and imagine 
yourself in this space. Take a deep breath. The vibes were beautiful! A collaboration of sound and 
soap bubbles was also great. Even the monkeys were drawn to it. It was the best experience, healing 
for both people and monkeys. After such an amazing sound healing 
session, we had to face reality. Yes, the preparation for 
tomorrow’s Jomon Sugi trail. The hike takes about 10 hours round trip. So, we rented trekking shoes and bought 
food for the hike at a drugstore. **Jomon Sugi treking tour** We woke up at 4:00 AM, rubbing our sleepy eyes. First, we drove to the bus station. After an hour’s drive, we reached the trailhead. We started trekking in the dark. At first, we walked along railway tracks. Such an adventure!! It gradually became brighter. The majestic scenery was thrilling. We ate breakfast at a rest spot, and our 
guide Shima-chan shared some hiking tips. I’m going to share with you! Basically, “When you do the Jomon-sugi trail, you 
should go up as fast as possible. ” So that means don’t take 
too many photos or videos,   just keep climbing. Pass the 
people ahead and keep climbing. I’ll explain the reason later. Before that, I’ll share some tips for climbing. **Four Tips for Climbing** According to Shima-chan, keep 
these in mind while climbing: ① Instead of lifting your knees, lean your 
body forward to naturally step forward.  ②Avoid moving your head up and down; 
think of it as a Noh performance.  ③Gently place your feet on the ground; this small 
detail makes a big difference over 20,000 steps.  ④For steep climbs, go slowly 
to avoid getting out of breath. **Why Climb Steadily?**
You might be wondering. The reason is, it’s less crowded. Most trekkers start hiking at the same 
time and take photos on the way up. This makes famous photo spots crowded.
And when you reach Jomon Sugi, it’s crowded too. But if you climb fastly and steadily? You reach Jomon Sugi earlier than other people 
and can take plenty of photos or videos. And on the way down, those 
photo spots are less crowded. It’s super efficient! Following these tips, we 
climbed fastly and steadily. Of course, we took breaks, took 
photos, but kept them to a minimum. Just kept climbing. Yakushima’s nature is incredibly rich. Everywhere you look, it feels 
like Kotodama コトダマ are there. **Jomon Sugi**
Eventually, we reached Jomon Sugi. Jomon Sugi is estimated to be 
between 2,000 and 7,200 years old. This was my third visit, but the sheer 
size always overwhelms me. sooooo huge!! This is something you should see 
at least once in your lifetime. Like the Grand Canyon, I think it 
changes your perspective on life. We took a picture together and 
after that, we went down slowly. While others struggled climbing up,   we cheered them up and enjoyed 
the less crowded picture spots. **Three Tips for Descending** Next, Shima-chan shared tips for descending. ① Move fluidly like water, without stopping.  ② Relax your upper body, like a bird.  ③ For steep descents, angle your body to always 
be able to catch yourself on the uphill side. **Three Recommended Spots** Here are three spots I recommend 
on the route to Jomon Sugi. First, the Heart Stump. This is it! It looks just like a big stump 
from the outside but Inside, it feels sacred. And if you see the sky from a 
certain angle, a heart appears. Great for couples or partners. But also fine alone, like me. I love myself:) Next, the Meoto sugi (Married 
sider), famo us for couples. Apparently, taking a photo 
here is said to bring marriage. So the three of us are going to get married:) We ate lunch here next to the Married cedar. Lastly, the secret spot. Near the bio-toilets, if we go through 
a mountain you can see a stunning river. It’s the perfect place for soothing tired bodies. When you come here you should 
put your face in the water. You can drink it too! It feels amazing. We did massages and a tea ceremony here. We felt so rejuvenated that we 
could descend swiftly like this. We took a lot of photos and videos 
and finally, we reached the trailhead! Well done, everyone!!! **Food** After soothing our tired bodies in 
hot springs, we ate dinner together. This was one of the greatest 
dinners I’ve ever had! The perfect reward for our tired bodies. So good! At night, we had a special matcha ceremony. And goodnight.
**Souvenirs** Yakushima has several souvenir 
shops, but I recommend this one. They sell various shapes and styles 
of Yakusugi (Yakushima cedar). You can customize its shape to your liking. The shop staff shapes it for you, 
and you finish it with sandpaper. I decided to make a 勾玉magatama (curved jewel). The special thing about 
Yakusugi is its unique scent. Kind of like the scent of the deep forest. The more you carve, the better it smells. Because Yakusugi contains oil, a 
result of Yakushima’s heavy rainfall. Usually, wood would rot with so much rain, but 
Yakusugi produces a lot of oil to prevent this. This oil’s scent always 
takes me back to Yakushima. **Farewell** After souvenir shopping, we said our goodbyes. We were crying when we met, 
but smiling when we parted. It was a wonderful tour from start to finish. A big thank you to RiRi for organizing this tour. To the wonderful guide team. To the sound healing team. To the Chafinity team. To the monkeys and Yakushima itself. I’ll definitely definitely return one day, as Ashitaka. Until then, bye bye Yakushima! See you next time!!! Thanks for watching 🙂

If you come to Japan, there’s one place that I recommend to visit even more than Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka.

Could you guess where it is?
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