When arriving in Fukuoka, the largest international metropolis of Kyushu Island, you can firstly visit the Dazaifu Tenman-gu, where Sugawara no Michizane, venerated as “the God of Knowledge” and “the God of Calligraphy”, is worshipped. This shrine of 1100 years’ history is considered as a holy place by Japanese people. The next stop shall be Beppu, a heaven of onsen (hot springs). It has the largest volume of hot water in Japan, and its large number of hot spring sources and the quality of water is rare in the world. You can put up for the first night at a time-honored hotel founded in Meiji Era, where you can enjoy a buffet supper including foods of many countries, and then immerse yourself in an outdoor spring or an indoor bathing spot, delighting in the warm spring water.

After breakfast, you are going to Umi Jigoku (Sea Hell), one of the eight spring hells of Beppu. This 1200-year spring holds turquoise water that resembles the sea because of the sulfate it contains, and hence the name of “Sea Hell”. It can be 98 degrees Celsius hot. You can go on with your tour in Yufuin, a town located in the northern tip of Oita and the center of the valley beneath the Mount Yufu. As the most fashionable on-seen area of Japan, Yufuin was considered as the No. 1 resort by Japanese OLs. Your next attraction will be the Glover Garden, situated in Minamiyamate, which was inhabited by expatriates in Meiji Era. The Glover Residence, the oldest wooden building of western style in Japan, was splendidly decorated, time-honored and luxurious, showing the impressive lifestyle of western merchants then. The last spot of the second day is Oura Church, a Roman Catholic Church, the full name of which is “the Church of the 26 Japanese Martyrs”. Built in 1864, this church is said to be the oldest Gothic building in Japan. When all the visiting of the day finish, you will head for Nagasaki.

You can have a sightseeing tour in Nagasaki City by yourself after the breakfast time. As the only open city in the Edo period, it was influenced by the western culture. You could visit Nagasaki Peace Park to learn something about the atomic bomb attacked city during the World War?. You will go on with your tour heading for Kitakyushu by bus. Located in Fukuoka Prefecture, north of the Island of Kyushu, Kitakyushu is an industrial city and a container base. The attraction you are going to visit in Kitakyushu is Moji-ko Retro District, which had been a thriving international trade port from Meiji Era to the Taisho period. At sunset, you will take a ferry from Port of Moji-ko via the Seto Inland Sea to Port of Izumiotsu in Osaka.

You will arrive at Port of Izumiotsu the next morning. The tour in Kobe is due after breakfast. The first spot will be the Meriken Park—it sat beside the American Consulate and hence the name—a resort beautifully lying on a new-style wharf. It is the most favored seaside park by tourists and Japanese citizens. The next attraction will be Kitano-ijinkan, a mountain waist area of large western-style houses, which were built at the end of the 19th century by many foreigners living in Japan out of their homesickness. Today, museums, coffee shops and gift shops are flourishing among those exotic buildings and popular with tourists. After lunch, you will leave for Osaka. The first stop for the afternoon is Osaka Castle Park. Osaka City was constructed in 1586 under the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and formed by a great many gigantic stone walls. It is now a historical relic under state protection. The next destination will be the heaven of gourmets and pleasure-searchers–the delicacies street in Dotonbori and the street of luxurious goods in Shinsaibashi. Those are the largest shopping areas and most interesting places in Osaka.

After a good rest in Osaka, you can have some relaxing activities the next morning and then leave for the airport, ending your five-day tour of pleasure in Kyushu Island.