Archaeological excavations date that, around 10,000 BC, Kyushu was the entry point of the Jômon culture.
It was on the island of Kyushu that trade between China and Korea began, and it was on one of its islands (Tanegashima) that the Portuguese arrived in 1543. There began their relationship with the West, as well as a century of Christianity (1549-1650) ).
The Portuguese brought firearms, which eventually spelled the end of the Samurai tradition. In 1868 on the island of Kyushu, rebels began engineering the Meiji Restoration, which would end the shogunate's policy of isolation, marking the beginning of modern Japan. Unfortunately, it was also on the island of Kyushu, more precisely in Nagasaki, that the second atomic bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945.
The island of Kyushu is the most western and southernmost of the four main Japanese islands, and is, without a doubt, the most welcoming, friendly and beautiful in Japan. With its active volcanoes, rugged sub-tropical coastlines and onsen practically everywhere.
Most of Japan's history took place on this island of Kyushu. Jômon ruins and the Shinto sun goddess Amaterasu reveal that it was on the island of Kyushu that Japanese culture began.
Today, its capital, Fukuoka, is a multicultural city. And the city of Nagasaki contrasts a history of tragedy with a past full of enriching intercultural exchanges.
The island of Kyushu, as we can see, is a unique and concentrated Japan.
Kumamoto Castle is one of the best in Japan.
On this island we have the place to practice the best Surf in Japan, and we can bathe in the best Onsen. The impressive Aso volcano, has the largest crater in the world. An unmissable island.
Fukuoka is Kyushu at its most urban possible where it's possible to have all the fun that any major Japanese metropolis can offer.
Nagasaki is one of the most interesting places on the island of Kyushu, not only because of the tragedy of the atomic bomb, but also because it was, and is becoming again, a city full of multicultural life and fantastic cuisine.