Yakunoyado Taguchi

Yakunoyado Taguchi is a much-recommended base for exploring Yakushima island. The guest house itself is lovely despite the bedrooms being minimal, but the stay was made special by Shigeru and Hitomi, who went out of their way to help us navigate the island - including giving recommendations, lending us waterproofs, and driving us to certain places. Hitomi's cooking is delicious! The big baths are great after all the walking. There are also two beautiful cats.

It's worth knowing that: -The communal area with sofa and tables with chairs closes at 9pm, though there are a couple of outdoor chairs. So after that if you want to be indoors you only have a futon bed/floor mats to sit on. -Coffee is not included in the price of meals. -The guest house is located a 15/20 minute walk up a hill. All in all though we had a fantastic time and would definitely recommend it.

My favorite part about my stay at Yakunoyado Taguchi were the hosts, Shigeru & Hitomi. They are a lovely couple that made me feel so welcome and helped me figure out how to get around the island, as I didn’t have a car. The accommodation is located about 25 min by foot from Miyanoura town, which is absolutely doable, though the last stretch back to the property is dark walking back at night. I do recommend getting a car if you’re planning on going to Yakushima, as buses run very infrequently and the timings aren’t ideal. The rooms were clean and spacious and the shared shower and bathroom facilities very well kept and clean. The common area is available from 7am to 9pm. Even if you don’t opt for included meals, there is a fridge to store your own food and you can use their tableware to eat your meals in the dining area.

The rooms aren’t very soundproof, so you do hear when someone uses the washroom at night.

It was just the most amazing home stay. The host offered to pick us up and drop us off at the ferry port. He even offered to drive us around the island when yakusugi land was closed due to the weather (albeit for a fee), and we would not have been able to do nearly as much on our own with public transportation and bad weather that day. The host provided great information on what to do on the day of arrival, and made amazing dinner / breakfast for us. Everything was superb, would love to go back again if I'm in Yakushima again.

Shigerou and Hitomi were very helpful in planning activities and factoring in the weather. The dinners were exceptional, and I enjoyed the local sweet potato shochu too. Easy to walk to the local buses and Shigerou was generous in offering to transport to and from the ferry port. Everything was so clean and fresh in the facility too.