Soaking in the Sand Baths of Ibusuki

What?
Ibusuki (指宿) is the southernmost town on the Satsuma Peninsula. It is an onsen town, but it got more famous for its sand baths – beaches where you get covered in warm sand. The Kyushu Olle organization laid out a walking course from the southernmost JR station Nishi-Oyama (西大山駅) to the foot of the imposing Mount Kaimon (開聞岳) and around. (Update 2024/1/28: the Kyushu Olle Ibusuki course has been discontinued since 2022/2/1, so if you are interested please use the gps data at the end of the post.)
Where?
Ibusuki is located in the south of the Kagoshima Prefecture (鹿児島県). Getting to the start of the Kyushu Olle walking course you need to board the Ibusuki Makurazaki Line train (指宿枕崎線) and get off at Nishi-Oyama Station. The walk takes you all the way to the Kaimon Station (開聞駅) on the same line. Also the warm sand baths of Saraku can be reached by taking the same train, but this time you need to get off at Ibusuki Station.
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Welcome Kyushu Saraku Sand Bath Hall

I have only good memories from my trip to Kyushu’s Takachiho a few years ago. Back then I chose to follow a walking trail called Kyushu Olle, which was the best thing I could do. I had a great walk around the village passing all famous spots. It made me look for other Kyushu Olle walks, and that’s how I found out about the Ibusuki course.

There are 2 courses near Kagoshima, but as my parents were not really ready for a tough hike, I chose the Ibusuki course which was labeled as easy. And that’s just what it is. There are no real elevation changes and the whole walk is pretty straightforward.

It starts at the southernmost JR station, Nishi-Oyama. Getting off at this station you immediately have a great view on Mount Kaimon, a volcano that will be a constant beauty throughout the course. From the station it’s a leisurely walk through the fields with Mount Kaimon constantly at your side. It might be a bit long though, but it was better than the part where you have to go through an oceanside forest strip. It was clear than no one had taken this course for quite a while. The forest path was overgrown and inhabited by hundreds – no, thousands – no, millions! – of spiders!! It was crazy. I was using a fallen branch like a samurai sword to cleave us a way through the very small forest. Halfway through we just gave up and took the road. I hope the path will soon be restored but I kind of doubt it.
As the road runs parallel to the forest path there was no real delay though. We arrived at the beach safely and enjoyed again some great views on Mount Kaimon. The beach was disappointing though, as it is a typical Japanese beach with black sand mixed with little stones, and views hindered by a lot of concrete.
Until this point you were always walking towards Mount Kaimon, but now that you have arrived at its foot you start to put some distance in between again. The whole return walking path runs through patches of rice fields and small patches of trees. I enjoyed the walk as it was clearly pretty, but not more than that. You should wonder whether it is worth coming all the way to this southern point of Kyushu.

The view at the southermost JR station of Japan.

The sign for the Kyushu Olle course.

Spiders. A lot of spiders. Heaps of spiders. Millions and trillions of spiders.

The signage here has been gone for a long time, but the framing is nice anyway.

Instead of taking the train immediately back to Kagoshima, we got off at Ibusuki Station to experience a treatment at the local sand bath hall. This means that you strip down, put on a yukata and go to the beach. The sand of the beach is warmed by natural onsen water, and when you lie down on the ground the staff will cover you up with it. People claim taking a sand bath is good for your health, but I’m not really sure about that. I don’t really care also, because it just felt really good and relaxing, even though it’s clearly a tourist spot. It really is great fun and the onsen afterwards is as Japanese as you can get. So it was nice touch after that long walk.