Kyushu Olle Shimabara – Volcanic Destruction

What?
The Shimabara Peninsula (島原半島) that is formed by multiple eruptions of what is called Mount Unzen (雲仙山), a name for several peaks. This volcano is highly destructive and erupted as recently as 1990 in which a big lava and debris flow ruined a part of the Shimabara Town and killed around 40 people. Today, the destructive force of the volcano is displayed at the Gamadasu Dome (がまだすドーム), better known as the Mount Unzen Disaster Memorial Hall (雲仙岳災害記念館). Kyushu Olle (九州オルレ) is an organization that has put together around 20 walking courses in Kyushu. The Shimabara walking course is one of them and centers on the nearby volcano and the surrounding nature.
Where?
The Shimabara Peninsula lies east of Nagasaki City in Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県). The start of the hike is at the Shimabara Port Terminal (島原港). The easiest way to get there is take a train from Nagasaki to Isehaya, transfer to the local Shimabara Railway and get off at the Shimabarako end station (島原港駅). The hike itself is an approximately 12km loop.
URL
Kyushu Olle Shimabara Course Japan Guide (Unzen Disaster Museum)

My faithful reader(s?) should know by now the answer to the following question: what do I do when I get to Kyushu? That’s right: I look for a Kyushu Olle walking course nearby. I have repeated t many times, but ever since that first breathtaking walking course in Takachiho (which unfortunately is scrapped from the Olle walks, probably due to nuisance) I fell in love with the concept. The Kyushu Olle courses’ strong point is their versatility. It feels like mash up of the favorite walking paths of the local senior, the local hiker and the local farmer.

The Shimabara course that I took today has exactly the same versatility in store for us. Let me start immediately by saying that this course doesn’t match the Takachiho or the Karatsu ones. It tops those of Takeo and Ibusuki though.

While the theme of the hike is “volcanic and geographical beauty”, it starts out as an urban/coastal walk, then changes into a geopark course and eventually transforms into a lush forest climb.
I had tough luck with the very clouded weather, so the beauty of the sea was completely lost to me. Also looking towards the other side, while I clearly saw the central Heisei Shinzan mountain, its obvious majesty was most of the time subdued by grey clouds and smog. It resulted in a fairly drab first half hour.

Right before entering the stream bed of the Waren River (われん川), I paid a side visit to the Mount Unzen Disaster Museum which seems to have been renamed Gamadasu Dome recently. It's a small but super nice interactive museum about the volcanic activity of Mount Unzen, with extra attention to the two most recent deadly eruptions in 1792 and 1990. It has two theaters and both are very well made. Especially kids should enjoy this museum to the fullest. Unfortunately, the lava garden as well as the open air museum that shows houses buried under a lava flow a little further along the road were temporarily closed due to corona.

The local ferry disappearing into the mist.

One of two exquisite theaters in the Gamadasu Dome.

The culprit of all the volcanic activity.

Nature can be so simply beautiful.

Returning to the Kyushu Olle course, I now stepped into the dry stream bed of the Waren River. If you look this up on google maps it mentions the river’s name as “Mizunashi”, which literally means “no water”, and that’s exactly what it is. It is actually the stream bed of the debris that came down from Mount Unzen during the last eruption in 1990. The route takes you along this “stream” for a kilometer or 2, all along with the majestic Mount Unzen and Heisei Shinzan is full view. When finally crossing the “river”, the last part of the course starts, and for me this was the most interesting.

First the path meanders between old houses and farm fields, but it soon goes into the forest. The paved road is quickly left behind to enter the forest. While initially the path is very visible, it soon is only recognizable by the Olle signposts and little flags. Again I was kind of cursing for always coming in the wrong season. This forest in any other season would be beautiful with lush green. But there was also a positive note: it hadn’t rained all day so the path was easy to tread.
In fact, in wet weather the organization recommends a shortened route that doesn’t lead you to the steep ups and downs on the mountain hill. I personally don’t understand that reasoning: even when taking their advised route, there are enough parts of the hike that will get you soggy feet.
No, you should only skip it if your condition doesn’t allow you to go up. Because although these Olle courses are no mountain climbing courses, they have some panache in them at places and are not to be taken too lightly. If it rains, just don’t go – there won’t be any views and the forest hike will be just one pool of mud.

When finally leaving the forest, there is park with views over Shimabara which must be absolutely gorgeous in a few weeks’ time when the sakura trees will be in full bloom. Also at the end of the course there is very nice park with a picturesque pond surrounded by cherry trees and inhabited by huge pregnant looking ducks (which I think are Muscovy ducks, but what they are doing there is a mystery to me).

Anyway, despite the bad weather, this was again a very nice and welcome walk that the people from Kyushu Olle offered us.