Yatsushiro

Kumamoto Airport is less than an hour away by car. Kamizono Kōtsū runs 10 Super Banpeiyu services a day to and from Yatsushiro (both stations and five central hotels), taking about an hour and costing ¥2300 (¥4200 roundtrip). Fukuoka Airport is also a good option, though much further away (allow at least 1hr 30mins). Yatsushiro Station is the meeting point of the JR Kagoshima Line north to Kumamoto and beyond, the JR Hisatsu Line to Hitoyoshi (along the Kuma River), and the non-JR Hisatsu Orange Railway south along the coast towards Minamata. Shin-Yatsushiro Station is 5 minutes north on the Kagoshima Line, on the outskirts of town, and is the city's station on the Kyūshū Shinkansen. Shin-Yatsushiro used to be the northern end of the Shinkansen line, where everyone had to change to a Relay train to Hakata, but since the line was completed in 2011 it has been a little less busy....