Kyushu is Japan's southwestern frontier, a place shaped by volcanic drama and centuries of contact with the outside world. Long before Tokyo ever saw a foreign face, Kyushu's ports were welcoming Portuguese traders, Dutch merchants and Chinese scholars — and that layered history still shows in its temples, castle towns, ceramics villages and harbour cities.

Available as an extension on select Adventures Abroad Japan tours, our Kyushu program lets you go beyond the classic Honshu circuit of Tokyo, Kyoto and Hiroshima. Watch Sakurajima's active cone smoke over Kagoshima Bay, bury yourself in a volcanic sand bath at Ibusuki, wander the samurai lanes of Chiran, and stand before the ramparts of Kumamoto Castle. In Nagasaki's foreign quarter and the kiln villages of Saga, Kyushu's centuries as Japan's window to the world come vividly alive — all in partnership with Tourism Kyushu.