Somehow I knew I’d blow the time on one of my trains or something and I’m hoping that this is my one and only screw up this trip. One previous year I booked a seat on the Narita Express for the wrong day. I was lucky that I had a rail pass so they let me ride anyway, but it was just dumb on my part.

I was planning on going on the Ibusuki and Chiran tour today. I took a free shuttle from my hotel and got to the bus stop early and didn’t see anyone. I thought the bus was leaving in 15 minutes instead of 5 so I left to eat breakfast.

Basically, I missed the bus by five minutes. That left me with no plan but I then I came up with the wild idea to rent a car to drive to the “southernmost point” of Japan. The real southernmost point of Japan is an island most of the way to Taiwan, but the old geography courses used to teach that Japan was defined by the four main islands. I wasn’t even sure if I could get to the southernmost point and I wasn’t planning on renting another car. Heck, I was nervous enough renting the first one. But it was time for another adventure. I consulted with my buddy at the tourist bureau who sent me to Orix Rentacar. They gladly rented me a compact car and told me which ferry to take and where to gas up the car on the way back. They even apologetically sold me the most expensive insurance which cost less than $20. Off I went to find the ferry in South Kagoshima City, trying to decipher signs as I drove. Here’s the gray car I rented.

Let’s see, I must’ve started around 9AM. There was a 40 minute ferry ride across to the opposite peninsula and we went by the volcano “island” again. The bus driver from the hotel told me that there was a lot of ash on the cars today and I saw the reason. The volcano was being active again.

So off I went with my rudimentary understanding of the Japanese GPS to Cape Sata. Lots of driving down the coastline, which was beautiful, but it took 2 ½ hours or more to get to the cape. And I was “speeding”. The speed limit varied from 40 to 50kph which is 25 to 30mph. I was doing 30 – 35mph.

I got down to the cape and it was HOT. Well, there’s an explanation. 100m from the parking lot for Cape Sata is this monument that says you’re at the 31st parallel which also runs south of California thorug Baja California, and through Texas.

At Cape Sata there’s a tourist information counter and then a 20-minute walk to an observatory. That’s as far south as the path goes and I wasn’t sure which was further south: the end of the path or the ruins of the ruins of the lighthouse quarters. I went to both just in case.

Do I really look this goofy?

It was pretty out here, too.

I could even see the mountain I would’ve been next to to if I hadn’t missed the tour bus (the conical one in the middle distance).

On the way back I stopped at the souvenir shop and they gave me a postcard commemorating my visit to the southernmost point. They said I could’ve gotten a card for the northernmost point. I also asked if there was anything to see on the way back and they told me to see Ogawa Falls. This was a spectacular Google Maps fail. I couldn’t find it on the car GPS and Google took me to the top of the falls through windy one-lane country backroads. The top of the falls is unspectacular. There’s a viewpoint where you can see down into the valley and down to where I really wanted to be.

It’s quite a drive down around to the mouth of the valley and then narrow windy roads up to the parking lot for the dam. From the parking lot there’s a 30-minute walk along the river up to the viewpoint. it was a pretty walk, though.

Yes it was humid, but the waterfall was spectacular. A lot of the water came from springs in the face of the cliff.If you look towards the top left of the cliff you can see a pole. I think that’s part of the hydroelectric plant you can see at the top of the falls. If this was a video, you could also see a flashing ramen sign from up there.

Then it was time to get back. I was tired of all the driving (it wasn’t freeway driving and would it kill a guy here to make a straight road?)

The volcano was still going.

I got back to town, filled up with gas, and returned the car. Then I hit the train station department store for some dinner. I think I overdid the carbs.

If the people next door stop slamming their goddamn door, I may get some extra sleep tonight.