Saiki Onyujima Kyushu Olle walk

Pier to pier across Onyujima

The walk across Onyujima is part of the Kyushu Olle trail, one of a network of waymarked routes spread across Kyushu and run as a sister trail to Korea's Jeju Olle — gentler than a mountain day, and good at taking you to places you would otherwise drive straight past.

Onyujima sits in Saiki Bay, ten minutes off the mainland: a gourd-shaped island of 5.66 km² with about 17 km of coast and one real hill in the middle. The course brings you by boat to Horikiri, halfway up the island, and finishes at Ishima in the south, where a different boat takes you back to Saiki.

We came in on the morning train and left our bags at the station before walking down to the port. Saiki is a fairly industrial town, a working port of shipyards and cranes.

Scarecrows, mikan and the coast road

The first stretch out of Horikiri runs through the villages, on narrow tarmac between the houses with the water alongside. The scarecrows start almost straight away: life-size cloth figures in real clothes, standing at hedges and gates and sitting on garden walls. One sits on the sea wall in a checked jacket and a cap, holding a bamboo rod over the water.

There is citrus everywhere too. The island grows ponkan, dekopon and lemons on terraces that rise behind the houses, and by early April the trees were heavy with yellow and orange fruit, hanging over the path at head height. The temptation is obvious enough that one orchard gate carries a sign in Japanese, English and Korean asking you to leave it alone: Farmer's Property. Don't make farmers sad. The Korean is no accident, since the whole network was set up with Korean walkers in mind.

Funakakushi and the sea path

The first named landmark, about twenty minutes in, is Funakakushi (舟隠), "boat hiding" — a narrow inlet where boats could be sheltered out of sight. A low concrete embankment crosses it in a straight line, wide enough for one person. The morning we crossed, the water was completely still and reflected the trees and the houses on the far bank.

Up to the Sky Observatory

After the coast the route turns uphill into the forest, onto an earth and stone path that is steep in places. This is the way the island's children used to walk over the hill to school. It comes out at the Sky Observatory (空の展望所), a clearing with a view over the bay: the headland, the village roofs and the fish pens offshore.

The path comes back down to sea level at Shirahama, through a short road tunnel cut into the cliff, and goes on to Kangaroo Hiroba, where the course splits. Route A goes over the hill, Route B follows the shore. We took A.

Mount Tomi, and down to Ishima

Route A climbs again, past a village shrine with a stone torii and a straw rope, cherry in blossom over the steps, up to the observatory on Mount Tomi (遠見山), "far-view mountain", 193.5 m and the highest point on the island. The view runs the full circle: Saiki and its shipyard on one side, the inlets and small islands of the bay on the other, and the mountains of the Oita coast behind.

From the top the path drops steeply through the forest into Ishima, the last village, a few minutes from the ferry slip. We met no other walkers all day, only islanders; one of them came out to us with water, a drink and some snacks. The course runs directly through their gardens and orchards, which probably explains both the signs and the hospitality.

After the walk

The boat back to Saiki takes a few minutes and lands within walking distance of the station. We had time before the train to Oita and ate at a small husband-and-wife ramen shop by the station: simple and filling. Saiki has its own ramen style, so it is worth eating a bowl here rather than waiting until Oita.