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| Native name: 九州 | |
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 Kyūshū region of Japan and the current prefectures on the island of Kyūshū |
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| Geography | |
| Location | East Asia |
| Archipelago | Japanese Archipelago |
| Area | 35,640 km2 (13,760 sq mi) (37th) |
| Highest point | Kujū-san[1] (1,788 m/5,870 ft) |
| Country | |
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Japan
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| Prefectures | Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, Ōita, Saga |
| Largest city | Fukuoka |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 13,231,995 |
| Density | 332.38 /km2 (860.9 /sq mi) |
| Ethnic groups | Japanese |
Kyūshū (九州 Nine Provinces)[2] or Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include Kyūkoku (九国 Nine States), Chinzei (鎮西 West of the Pacified Area), and Tsukushi-no-shima (筑紫島 Island of Tsukushi). The historical regional name Saikaidō (西海道 West Sea Circuit) referred to Kyūshū and its surrounding islands.
Kyūshū has a population of 13,231,995 (2006) and covers 35,640 square kilometres (13,760 sq mi).
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The island is mountainous, and Japan's most active volcano, Mt Aso at 1,591 metres (5,220 ft), is on Kyūshū. There are many other signs of tectonic activity, including numerous areas of hot springs. The most famous of these are in Beppu, on the east shore, and around Mt. Aso, in central Kyūshū.
The name Kyūshū comes from the nine ancient provinces of Saikaidō situated on the island: Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hizen, Higo, Buzen, Bungo, Hyūga, Osumi, and Satsuma.
Today’s Kyūshū Region (九州地方 kyūshū-chihō) is a politically defined region that consists of the seven prefectures on the island of Kyūshū and also Okinawa Prefecture to the south:
The world’s 37th largest island by area, Kyūshū is smaller than Spitsbergen but larger than New Britain and Taiwan. By population, it ranks 13th, having fewer inhabitants than Borneo or Sulawesi, but more than Salsette or Cuba.
Parts of Kyūshū have a subtropical climate, particularly Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures. Major agricultural products are rice, tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soy; silk is also widely produced. The island is noted for various types of porcelain, including Arita, Imari, Satsuma, and Karatsu. Heavy industry is concentrated in the north around Fukuoka, Kitakyushu, Nagasaki, and Oita and includes chemicals, automobiles, semiconductors, and metal processing.
Major universities and colleges in Kyūshū:
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Coordinates: 33°00′N 131°00′E / 33°N 131°E
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Kyūshū (九州) is the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. The climate is slightly warmer and more tropical than Honshu, and the southern and eastern coasts are regularly battered by typhoons each year. The terrain is generally mountainous with very fertile valleys much like the rest of Japan, except for the wide plain area at the top of the island - the location of the largest cities of Fukuoka and Kitakyushu.
There are seven prefectures in Kyushu:
The islands of Okinawa, leading southwest of Japan to Taiwan, are sometimes considered a part of Kyushu, and in fact the northernmost islands in the chain are administered by Kagoshima prefecture.
Kyushu is home to dialects of Japanese that are almost incomprehensible to speakers of standard Japanese -so much so that it was utilised during World War 2 for preventing interception by the Allies of Japanese communications. Even native speakers of Japanese from Honshu often have problems understanding the conversations of locals. However, most younger people would be able to speak standard Japanese so it should not pose much of a problem.
Fukuoka is Japan's busiest international hub after the trio of Tokyo, Chubu and Kansai and has excellent connections throughout Asia and Japan. All the other prefectural capitals also offer limited service within Japan and to a few major Asian cities (typically Seoul and Shanghai).
The Sanyo Shinkansen line from Hiroshima, Osaka and beyond serves Kokura Station in Kitakyushu and terminates at Hakata Station in Fukuoka. A trip by train all the way from Tokyo takes 5:40 and costs ¥22000.
The Kyushu Shinkansen from Hakata to Kagoshima is half-open, but there's still a stretch missing between Hakata and Yatsushiro that has to be covered by ordinary train. The entire line is scheduled to open in spring 2011.
123bus [1] is a company which provides daily night time bus services between Tokyo and Kyushu, Osaka and Kyushu. With an online booking service in English.
The train is the transport mode of choice on Kyushu, and will be even more so once the remaining bit of the Kyushu Shinkansen line is completed in 2011, allowing through service from Fukuoka to Kagoshima. And it's more than just practical: the JR Hisatsu Line (肥薩線) from Kumamoto via Yatsushiro to Hayato (near Kagoshima) is considered one of the most scenic in Japan, with sightseeing trains and, on Fridays, weekends and holidays, even a steam locomotive running part of the way.
The Kyushu Rail Pass [2], available only to visitors on tourist visas, offers unlimited travel on JR Kyushu's lines, including the Kyushu Shinkansen but not the San'yo Shinkansen to Hakata. As of 2009, the pass costs ¥16,000 for five days, or ¥7,000 for 3-day version limited to northern Kyushu only. you'll have to travel quite a lot to make this pay off and most visitors, especially those not flying in directly to Kyushu, will find the ordinary Japan Rail Pass a better deal.
Buses serve those parts of Kyushu outside the railway network, but schedules tend to be very limited. There is also a highway bus system paralleling the train network, which you can use through the Raku Bus [3] website. They also offer SUNQ 3-4 day unlimited travel passes: 4-day All Kyushu Pass ¥14,000; 3-day All Kyushu Pass ¥10,000; 3-day Northern Kyushu Pass ¥8,000.
Kyushu is the home of shōchū (焼酎), the fiery Japanese distilled liquor. It's typically around 25%, but some varieties can be much stronger. It can be distilled from nearly anything including rice, barley, brown sugar and buckwheat, but Kyushu is best known for potato shōchū (芋焼酎 imojōchū), particularly that from the ancient province of Satsuma (modern-day Kagoshima).
Chugoku - The Chugoku region offers many great experiences for travellers, such as Hiroshima, the first city to experience an atomic bombing, Okayama, home to one of Japan's Three Famous Gardens, Izumo, with the second holiest Shinto Shrine in Japan, and Tottori, with Japan's only sand dunes.
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From 九州 (きゅうしゅう, Kyūshū), “‘Nine States’”).
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Kyushu
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