Kyushu Itinerary Help, Please
 

So, we've decided on Kyushu for our next trip. I was also drawn to Chugoku and Tohuku but Kyushu appealed more. I'm sure we'll go back again, and visit the other regions in the future.

We have 8 nights to play with though more like 7.5 actual days...

Day 1 - First half day will be taken by travel by train, from Osaka or thereabouts.
Day 9 - Reasonably early morning departure as will be travelling back to Tokyo.

We are happy to get a rental car, which I think will give us greatest flexibility. I imagine best option is to pick up and drop off in Hakata / Fukuoka as that's most likely route into / out of Kyushu on train?

Initially had thought first and last night best spent in Hakata but actually, perhaps best to spend last 2 nights there so can enjoy the full day in between. In this case, would mean arriving by train, picking up rental car and driving straight on to first destination. Is this advisable / doable? Don't want to arrive too late anywhere...

Probably means not going to Beppu for first night (as want to tour there and then go to Yufuin for that night). Maybe an overnight in Nakatsu?

Day 6, 7 or 8 - Want to be in Katsuri for one of these nights, to coincide with Karatsu Kunchi festival.

Other days/ nights:

(Nakatsu?)

Visit to Beppu during day, overnight stop in Yufuin. Onsen.

Perhaps another town in this prefecture as there seem many of interest?

Visits to Aso/ Mount Kuji - best to overnight in Kurokawa or Kumamoto?
-- and do I want to include an overnight in Kurokawa if already stopping overnight in Yufuin?
-- and can I detour to enjoy Takachiho Gorge or is that pushing it?

Nagasaki - of historical interest but a fair drive out of the way

Kumamoto - looks a little ugly but looks like it has lots to do/ see/ eat and I'm a lot about the eating!

Kagoshima - looks beautiful but is a long way down, perhaps better left for another trip? If not, being there on day 6 or 7 best, as coincides with Ohara Matsuri.

Miyazaki - also out of the way from most other stops, again thinking best to leave Southern Kyushu for next time.

Ibusuki - as above, not this time.

So, with my days to play with and the restrictions in terms of when to schedule Katsura, any suggestions on itinerary/ order?

We prefer to pootle in leisurely fashion than rush about...

THANK YOU

Oh, I missed one - there's also a hot air balloon fiesta in Saga, I don't have 2013 dates but here's the 2012 page. Perhaps we can include this in our itinerary?

http://www.sibf.jp/e/

I would probably stay on the train till Kumamoto and start from there. Kumamoto is a lovely little town with a fantastic castle and shopping/eating area worth at least two nights.
Rent a car here and drive up through Mt Aso and stop over in Kurokawa onsen for the night. The next day then head out to Takachiho and tour the area maybe making it to Miyazaki for the evening. Trek down to Kagoshima through the coast and forest roads and explore the town and maybe take the ferry over to Sakurajima if you have the time. You could find enough to do in Kagoshima to spend two nights(maybe heading down to Ibusuki one day) then head back north through the coastal roads instead of the toll/freeways to avoid the tolls and take the more scenic route back past Miyazaki and up the coast to Ususki to see the stone Buddhas and their samurai district then maybe overnight in a ryokan Beppu or Yufuin. Then head back over Asosan and down back to Kumamoto to drop off the car and maybe have time for a couple of days in Nagasaki via the train. We have been to Kyushu several times, maybe you can gleen something worthwhile reading our latest venture with pictures here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...-fall-2011.cfm

Aloha!

Thanks HT!
We want to be in Katsura on day 6 as it coincides with festival...
Will look at your trip report again and have a think.
Part of me thinks best to leave Southern Kyushu as may be trying to fit too much in but Kagoshima does appeal...

OK I'm back to organising this again and need help!

I'll book a rental car (any recommendations for rental car agencies that can provide English language sat nav?)

Day1 - Travel from Kobe to ??
Day2 - ??
Day3 - ??
Day4 - ??
Day5 - ??
Day6 - Karatsu for festival (may not be possible, can't get any accomm)
Day7 - ??
Day8 - ??
Day9 - Travel to Tokyo



Karatsu was fixed for day 6 (Nov 2) but it's proving impossible to book accommodation and even an agency I've tried tells me it's all fully booked (as opposed to not being loaded for sale yet). I'm not sure on this but it's certainly possible given that it's festival date in Karatsu (which is why I wanted to be there)

I think I'd like 2 nights in Hakata / Fukuoka.

We'll visit Beppu daytime only, but think overnight in Yufuin would be nicer.

Kumamoto looks worthwhile, especially for foodies.

Aso, yes, but where best to overnight?

If we do give up on Karatsu, maybe we go to Kagoshima instead for their festival on same date?

I have 8 nights to play with, 7 full days and 1 half day on arrival...

Can anyone help give me some itinerary ideas as a starting point. I'm in ANALYSIS PARALYSIS mode!!

THANKS

Kavey,
Exciting about your upcoming trip. Some great advice given above. We recently returned from Kyushu and drew heavily from HT's trip report and enjoyed Kumamoto as a base to explore Kurokawa /Aso. You don't say whether you will have a Japan Rail pass or not.
We used public transport with a North Kyushu rail pass and bus transport in between Kumamoto and Kurokawa (bus goes through Mt Aso).
Given your time frame and wanting to 'pootle in a leisurely fashion" I would stay in northern Kyushu. If your travelling by rail though the time between Fukuoka and Kagoshima is only 2 hours by Shinkansen
Here is a link to Fukuoka Now, this article is an Oita travel guide.
http://fukuoka-now.com/areaguide/oita/

Another guide site with pdf guides
http://www.acros.or.jp/english/culture/tour.html
Dazaifu is worth seeing.
We wanted to go to Mt Hiko, The Yoshinogari Archeology site and
the spot where Eisai planted tea on Mt Seburi but ran out of time.

You could use Fukuoka or another Saga town as a base to visit Karatsu as a day trip, or stopover onward to another city.
Could be crowded but thats the fun of a festival. Don't know if you could make a reservation from Tokyo early on if you know where you will be the festival day, otherwise non reserved standing could be a possibility?

I find the hardest part of a trip sometimes is editing, I want to do so much but the idea of "leisurely pootling" is appealing as well.

Looking forward to hearing your plans

In Karatsu try booking out of town in the next city or a short train ride away. You've probably already seen this, there is some hotel information included, hope this helps.

http://www.karatsu-kankou.jp/english.html

We have used Toocoo car rental throughout Japan for English rental cars with lots of success. In Japan all Nissan car outlets have English language GPS car available. The JR ekiwren(usually have an office somewhere in the train station) are great outlets too that sometimes offer English GPS.

http://www2.tocoo.jp/?file=rentcar_i...in&asp_id=0001

There is a Nissan car rental you can get using the Toocoo site right across the street at the JR Kumamoto station which is where I recommend you start and end the car rental portion of your trip. Kumamoto is a main stop on the shinkansen line and a main hub of rail and bus transport if needed throughout Kyushu. Which also makes it a great place with easy access in and out of. Great little town to explore for a foodie with a first class castle to boot.

From Kumamoto you can head up over Aso san taking a tour then head to Kurokawa onsen for a soak and overnight. Then the next day drive on across to Takachiho and peruse that area, maybe even renting a boat for a short row in the gorge (25 minutes). Then drive back up the coastline to Usuki and visit the stone buddahs before driving up to Yufuin for another onsen stay or somewhere in Beppu this evening. Maybe a drive over to see Daizufu this day then back to Kumamoto to return the car and take the train down to Nagasaki taking the later train which might allow you to be coming down the mountainside into Nagasaki as the sun is just setting.....Kirei!!!
Just a few ideas to try and break that paralysis....

Aloha!

Thanks all, still absorbing and thinking, will come back to you for more soon.

x

another idea to confuse you.....

7 days on the ground really to explore. After arrival set out towards Beppu and relax somewhere near for the evening. Then drive to Beppu and explore maybe taking in Usuki and the buddahs in the morning, sleep in Yufuin ryokan for the evening. Next day its up to Aso san and its environs. Lots to do and see up there with a night in Kurokawa onsen. Explore onsen town the next morning then drive to Takachiho for the day settling back to Kumamoto for the evening. Tour castle and city then head to the matsuri town etc. Add more per your requisites.....just trying to help break the paralysis,lol.

Aloha!

Thanks HT, it's ridiculous isn't it? I know whatever I choose will be great and yet and yet....

Been desperate to get back to this for last fortnight, but not had even weekends at home... am resorting to snatching hours here and there.

Even my Japanese lessons are suffering - I was doing 20-30 minutes every morning 7 days a week and now it's down to 4 days a week, if that. Gah!

Anyway...

As we can't readily find accommodation in either Karatsu or Kagoshima for the holiday weekend, I think I may stop trying to attend either Karatsu Kunchi or Ohara Matsuri.

So I'm wondering if the following is a good order, loosely?

Train from Kobe / Kyoto directly to Kumamoto:-

Kumamoto - 2 nights
Mount Kuji / Aso / Kurokawa - 2 nights (need more help here)
Beppu / Yufuin / area - 2 nights (and here)
Hakata/ Fukuoka - 2 nights (I'd like to finish here and then train back from here to Tokyo)

Means rental car needs to be one way from Kumamoto to Hakata, which I assume would not be a problem.

With this loose outline in mind, could any of you Kyushu gurus help me to flesh it out?

THANK YOU!

No problem doing one-way rental. Just the not insignificant drop-off fee when returning car at a different prefecture.

I have given suggestions already but with your revised plan......

Starting in Kumamoto is great. The Comfort Inn Shinshigai is in a great spot at the end of the covered shopping dori and right in the middle of food city. Bars and restaurants are very close by and the new Toyoko Inn is right across the street if the Comfort Inn is full.

Head straight out to Beppu area passing over Aso san and down past Yufuin the first day. The drive should take a leisurely three to four hours.....more if you stop. Spend your 2 nights in the Yufuin/Beppu area(haven't been so can't reco a hotel/ryokan)then head back to Kurokawa Onsen and stay at the Sanga Ryokan for 2 nights from where you can also explore the Aso san areas.

Then drop the car back in Kumamoto at the Nissan rental across the street from the station and take the next shinkansen for a short 35 minute ride back to Hakata where there are a plethora of hotels near the station or my fave the Grand Hyatt in Canal City.
One idea..... ;)

Aloha!

This could be a driving loop from Fukuoka though the driving time to Kumamoto can't compete with 40 minutes on a shinkansen.

Fukuoka airport is quick and cheap to get to. Flying to Tokyo could be quicker and cheaper than train.

Other option is to stop in Fukuoka on the way south and then fly to Tokyo from Oita or Kumamoto. Drive between Kumamoto and Oita/Beppu. I don't remember what the transfers between Kumamoto and the airport were like but that just means it wasn't difficult or long.

HT, the idea to start in Kumamoto instead of Hakata/Fukuoka came from your earlier advice, so I'm very grateful for it.

MrWunrfl, hadn't even thought about flight options, very good reminder to check, especially as we won't have JR Pass it it doesn't make sense for this trip.

(We'll do 1 night Tokyo, then 6 in Kyoto, 2 in Kobe and then these 8 in Kyushu and 2 back in Tokyo, so JR Pass won't help, I think).

RK I'll keep an eye on price differentials for one way rental vs. return to same spot. THanks

By the way, is there enough in Kumamoto for me to spend 2 nights there, given that we'd arrive mid to late afternoon that first day? I assume we'd have plenty to see by spending the next full day and night there before heading out after that?

Yes, lots for you to see in 2-nights. Kumamoto-jo is the main attraction but there is also the main shopping dori Shinshigai, and a lovely walk in Suizenji Garden should fill your day nicely. There is also a Tokyu Hands in Kumamoto. Have you been in a Tokyu Hands store yet while in Japan? An experience all in itself.....Japanese ingenuity personified :)

Aloha!

HT is quite right . We just spent two days in Kumamoto and had plenty to do. It is a mid sized city so the stations, dept. stores and facilities while busy and crowded are on quite a smaller scale than Tokyo/Kyoto/ Osaka which makes for a different feel. Our stay broke down like this. We arrived by train from Yufuin mid afternoon, we stored our small packs (suitcases waiting at Comfort Inn) at the rail station ( rail station is out of city center), and took train to Suizenji Station and walked to Suizenji Garden, (could have taken taxi from station to garden) about a 15 minute walk.Another attraction in area is Col Janes house who was an early western teacher but we didn't have time to go there.
Afterwards walk and train back to station and taxi to hotel in city center. Late afternoon walked the shopping streets and checked out some stores for snacks and treats.
Dinner at a place a few blocks from hotel Za Wataya, good food and english menu.
Would recommend next day to get to the castle first thing to beat the crowds, we walked there from our hotel. We spent about three hours touring the castle, palace and turrets . From there we walked through park grounds to the Hosokawa Mansion and spent about an hour there. City Museum is in this area but it was closed this day so we took a taxi to the Shimada Museum to see a bead exhibit my wife was interested in she discovered by picking up one of those advert postcards these places put out. I was pleasantly surprised tha t this museum was dedicated to supporting local artists and had a collection of artifacts connected to Miyamoto Musashi the famous swordsm and martial arts philosopher. The museum also has a very nice little cafe full of artwork and good food. We walked to bus stop and the back to downtown by bus . Late PM we were feeling like we had had a full day already so enjoyed an expertly mixed martini at Bar Vespa ( thanks HT) near hotel and then meandered through entertainment shopping arcade area.
Next day we caught the bus to Kurokawa which by the way passes through the Aso highlands and Mt area. This was enough of a tour of the area for me as we continued on to Kurokawa where it was quite enough to stay at the Ryokan and do the onsen tour.

In Yufuin we stayed at the Shuhokan hotel and enjoyed it. We stayed in a japanese style room with meal package. The building is modern with baths on the top floor with a great mt view and delicious meals. A little out of town we enjoyed the walk to the shop area along the back road , look out for a place called Grandmas where they have baked goods and coffee and tea and are very friendly. I posted a link on my trip report that takes you to photos of trip.

Hope you have a great time!

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4505.html

I also stayed in Kumamoto two nights after arriving there from Yufuin on the Trans-Kyushu bus. I visited the Kumamoto castle, Hosokawa residence, Suizenji garden and the Lafcadio Hearn residence (linked above).

Brilliant, thank you all. Will absorb and then look at the exact itinerary for the days after Kumamoto...

Thus far I have booked a few nights accommodation, it's all with free cancellation so can change where needed, but as some of the dates are holiday weekend, quite a few hotels showing full so wanted to get something in.

Day 1 -- Kumamoto -- Dormy Inn - arrival from Kobe
Day 2 -- Kumamoto -- Dormy Inn
Day 3 -- // looking to book ryokan in Kurokawa Onsen //
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6 -- Yufuin (Onsen) -- Hotel Shuhokan Half Board
Day 7 -- Hakata / Fukuoka -- Dormy Inn Premium Hakata Canal
Day 8 -- Hakata / Fukuoka -- Dormy Inn Premium Hakata Canal
Day 9 -- Fly (or train) back to Tokyo

Does this look about right so far?
Any further input, into that empty bit?

Day 4 could be spent driving from Kurokawa Onsen through the Mt Aso area with stops at places of interest then working your way down to Takachiho to see the sights there.....maybe a leisurly row through a short part of the gorge followed by an overnight there or Miyazaki.

Day 5 might be spent driving down through to Kirishima mountains where you can sight see and do a little hiking sleeping in Kirishima city or even down into Kagoshima if you like.

Day 6- drive back up the coastal highway to Yufuin passing by Usuki and the stone buddahs and Beppu's sights.

Aloha!

Thanks HT, that sounds good, wanted to see if you thought that would fit (as I liked sound of the ideas in your earlier post) but thought I'd leave it open to see what people proposed for those days.

Am going to look at that right now.

Any accommodation recommendations in those places?

x

I visited Kyushu by public transit so I don't know the distances/times if you travel by car. But if you can manage it I also recommend a visit to Usuki and the Buddhas - there are other interesting places to visit nearby as well which are reachable by car.

I only stayed in Beppu long enough to have a sand bath at Takegawara Onsen - I flew in to Oita, took the airport bus to Beppu and then went on to Usuki by train....

I took the bus from Yufuin to Kumamoto which went to Aso-san for a lunch-time visit so I recommend Aso-san as well...

Oooh just added Usuki to my map/ plans, thanks!

This is what it's looking like now... (am waiting on bookings for Kurokawa)

Day 1 -- Kumamoto -- Dormy Inn - arrival from Kobe
Day 2 -- Kumamoto -- Dormy Inn - explore Kumamoto
Day 3 -- // looking to book ryokan in Kurokawa Onsen // - visit Takachiho and area on way to ryokan
Day 4 -- // looking to book ryokan in Kurokawa Onsen // - explore Mount Aso etc
Day 5 -- Yufuin (Onsen) -- Hotel Shuhokan Half Board - TBC Usuki visit / Beppu
Day 6 -- Yufuin (Onsen) -- Hotel Shuhokan Half Board - Meander up through Oita towards Fukuoka, afternoon/evening there
Day 7 -- Hakata / Fukuoka -- Dormy Inn Premium Hakata Canal - explore city
Day 8 -- Hakata / Fukuoka -- Dormy Inn Premium Hakata Canal
Day 9 -- Fly (or train) back to Tokyo

Actually let me make that clearer:-

Day 1 -- arrival from Kobe
-- overnight Kumamoto, Dormy Inn
Day 2 -- explore Kumamoto
-- overnight Kumamoto, Dormy Inn
Day 3 -- visit Takachiho and area
-- overnight <looking to book ryokan in Kurokawa Onsen>
Day 4 -- explore Mount Aso etc
-- overnight <looking to book ryokan in Kurokawa Onsen>
Day 5 -- Explore Oita (Usuki, Beppu)
-- overight Yufuin Hotel Shuhokan BB only
Day 6 -- in Yufuin
-- overight Yufuin Hotel Shuhokan Half Board
Day 7 -- To Fukuoka, afternoon/evening there
-- overnight Dormy Inn Premium Hakata Canal
Day 8 -- Explore Fukouka / Hakata
-- overnight Dormy Inn Premium Hakata Canal
Day 9 -- Travel back to Tokyo

If you're staying at Kurokawa for 2 nights, you shouldn't and won't be going to Mt Ato during the day. You'll be enjoying the onsen at your ryokan and other ryokans. And walking around the village, enjoying the food, etc.

RKK, can't we do both? Had imagined getting out in the car and exploring Mount Aso in the morning, then coming back to Kurokawa for lunch and leisurely afternoon.

Whilst I love the idea of visiting the other ryokans, I'm not brave enough to strip off on my own for the shared onsen (as I'm sure they're all divided by gender) so does anyone know if the passes that allow you to visit other ryokan onsen include private rotenburo onsen baths?


Regarding car rental:

I've looked a the TooCool site and it's confusing me - it forces me to pick one agency before allowing me to enter dates and give me back a quote. Does that mean I need to go through every agency to compare the prices? Is there any way of just asking them to do the comparison based on my chosen pick up/ drop off location and dates and let me know cheapest?

Am also looking at Japan Experience for car rental, which uses Nissan on the ground but has a much simpler booking interface and clarity on English language GPS, one way drop off fee.

None of the sites seem to have any information about whether they charge for a second driver?

:D

No, the Kurokawa passes don't include private rotenburos, as those are almost always reserved for hotel guests only.

The reason I don't think you'd even want to leave Kurokawa is that even though we stayed 2 nights in the Kurokawa area, we felt we were too rush to just try out all the onsens in our ryokans and outside. And we didn't even have much time to walk through the village at all. Just cannot imagine trying to go somewhere else and come back during the day.

And looking at the info in our picture, it took as about 2 hours in very light traffic in December to get from Kurokawa to the top of Mt Aso. So, it's 4 hours on the road, not including actual sightseeing on Mt Aso and surrounding area.

Anyways, that's just us, but rushing out somewhere and come back is exactly the opposite of what staying in an onsen town like Kurokawa is about, in my opinion.

---

As for rental car, yes, I search for the rates for each of the rental companies on ToCoo's site. Didn't feel it took me too long to do so. And we didn't get charge for 2nd driver with either JR at Hakata or Orix on Yakushima. Both rented via ToCoo.

Kavey,
I agree with rkkwan that if you do book a ryokan stay in Kurokawa. Day 4 would be better spent enjoying the town and relaxing. For the price you will pay for an onsen stay it wouldn't make sense to only be there before 8:00 am and after dark when you get back.
Keep in mind check in time is usually 15:00 so with a early start your trip from Kumamoto to Kurokawa could perhaps encompass both Takachiho and Aso in a long loop drive?
You could play around with google maps and your gps to find a fun route.
Just looking on Google Maps, Kumamoto to Takachiho takes approx 2 hrs and takes you right past Aso. Then from Takachiho to Kurokawa another 2 hrs approx, past Aso again.
Then Day 5, Kurokawa to Usuki approx 2 hrs . Usuki to Yufuin 1 hr.
Keep in mind though that actual drive times may be different.

We took the bus from Kumamoto to to Kurokawa that passed through Aso and I was satisfied with that brief encounter. We had a rest stop at a scenic look out and the continued past the museum and ropeway then back down through the town of Aso and on to Kurokawa. To have stopped and done some hiking would have taken up almost a whole day.

We did the onsen tour and the baths offered are the public ones. In our case we had them mostly to ourselves. It was fun to see the inside of the different ryokan and the various gardens and outdoor hearths. We did ask the lady at the desk of the Sanga to recommend those ryokan that would be best and we weren't disappointed.
Same with Yufuin, I'd enjoy an onsen town day of relaxation and the next day the day trip to Beppu?

It was high season at the end of Dec when we visited Kurokawa. Even so, at several of the onsens we visited, there were at most one or two others using the rotenburos.

Just don't go to the really popular ones like the cave ones at Shinmeikan or Ikoi. And you don't have to walk far for quiet ones - the tiny Okyakuya right next door to Ikoi was incredibly quiet and quaint, for example.

I had been wondering if I could combine Aso with the Kumamoto -> Takachiho -> Kurokawa so very happy to hear you suggest that, kalihiwai2.

RKK Good to know re TooCoo, I'll have another go...

As I know I won't be braving the shared onsen unless I can wear a swimsuit (which I'm pretty sure wouldn't be allowed) I don't think we need to time that in but we do love to amble slowly around a village so happy to relax in the town there...

I am of a different mind when it comes to onsen and onsen towns. We usually find and hour or two walking around a town enough to suffice our curiosity. I don't particularly like going from onsen to onsen. We like to relax at our ryokan and do our bathing there....to each his own I guess. We use the daytime (especially if we have rented a car) from about 9 am to explore the surrounding countryside or where ever we want and try to be back by 2:30 pm to enjoy our own ryokan's baths in leisure.

Aloha!

HT, we won't be doing bathing in the other onsen, since I know I won't brave the public baths... we'll stick with using the private bath in our room and the family baths in our ryokan...

Am just confirming between two that have availability, with Japaneseguesthouses as one of the ones I was looking at has a Japanese-only website and google translate not enough for me to do it directly. Think JGH is brilliant service...

But we'll stick with the 2 night booking and we can work out the day-to-day itinerary nearer time.

So still for me to do:-

Book flights / train back to Tokyo from Fukuoka/Hakata.
Confirm the Kurokawa accommodtion.
Book a rental car for Kyushu

Then I also need to sort accommodation in Tokyo for beginning and end of stay, review accommodation in Kyoto (have a holding booking with free cancellation in meantime) and consider whether to overnight in Osaka or extend Kyoto by one day. Already have my Kobe booking sorted.

And I'll need to look at train prices, as JR Pass won't make sense for this trip, so trains will cost more than previously.

:D

You are totally short-changing yourself by not giving Nagasaki a full day and night. Traveling to northern Kyushu and skipping that city is like taking a trip to northern California and not visiting San Francisco. Sure, there's plenty to do and see, but . . . . Not to mention the champon!

Kagemusha, I'm not a traveller who likes to rush around just to tick everything off, and I simply can't see everything Kyushu offers in one short week.

For this first trip I've gone for a short selection of what appeals the most and fits nicely together in a simple loop.

I'd also like to visit Nagasaki, Kagoshima and a long list of other places but they can wait for next time. I'm not dismissing Nagasaki as being uninteresting, but I opted for Fukuoka and Kumamoto for the two city destinations for this trip.

:-)

As an aside......The people at JGH will also call and make reservations for you in other ryokans throughout all of Japan that are not on their listing. Just send them a note and one of the friendly service people will be in touch with you. They just need the name of the ryokan and some contact info if you have it. They are a travel agency after all. I have used them many many times now and they have also happily done this service for me.

Aloha!

Yes, they did that for us last year when I asked their help in finding an overnight in Osaka - they suggested a well priced Western hotel which suited us perfectly. Vincent is very on-the-ball!

Hello my dears, how are you all?

So, here is where I ended up, let me know what you think!

Day 10 Kyushu - Arrive by train from Kobe around lunch time. Afternoon/ evening in Kumamoto
* Night in Kumamoto (Dormy Inn Kumamoto)
Day 11 Kyushu - Full day in Kumamoto, meet a local online friend there for dinner.
* Night in Kumamoto (Dormy Inn Kumamoto)
Day 12 Kyushu - Pick up car. Visit Takahicho Gorge (and Mount Aso/ Komezuka)
* Night in Kurokawa (Sanga Ryokan)
Day 13 Kyushu - (early morning Mount Aso if not been on previous day) Most of day in Kurokawa Onsen
* Night in Kurokawa (Sanga Ryokan)
Day 14 Kyushu - Drive to Usuki (to see stone Buddhas and samurai district). Could include Miyazaki?
* Night in Yufuin (Hotel Shuhokan)
Day 15 Kyushu - Morning/ lunch in Beppu and afternoon/ evening in Yufuin
* Night in Yufuin (Hotel Shuhokan)
Day 16 Kyushu - Drive to Hakata. Could stop in Dazaifu on way or go direct and spend more time in Hakata
* Night in Hakata
Day 17 Kyushu - All day with guide in private volunteer guide in Hakata
* Night in Hakata
Day 18 Kyushu - Morning flight to Tokyo

Some questions:

I can either do both Takahicho Gorge and Mount Aso/ Komezuka on day 12, making for a longer day but leaving the entirety of day 13 free in Kurokawa or make each of the days shorter, with Takahicho on the first and Mount Aso/ Komezuka on the second, giving me a full afternoon in Kurokawa on both days. Thoughts?

Given that we'll likely return to Kyushu in the future to visit the Southern areas, and Nagasaki in the East, is it worth including Miyazaki in day 14? I'm tempted to skip it this time, just visit Usuki and give ourselves more time to enjoy Yufuin? We're staying at the Shuhokan, so would love more detail on what it's like, kalihiwai2?

On day 16, my plan was to drive straight to Hakata to give us more time there, as I think there will be plenty to do. Our one full day there is already booked in with a tour guide, so for shopping, ambling and other attractions, we'd only have the afternoon of day 16. Should I stop at Dazaifu anyway or leave it for another time and give the time to Hakata?

p.s. Why is it that one city is seemingly called both Hakata and Fukuoka? This is constantly confusing me and I've ended up writing both every time I've referred to it, until now...

Thanks again, all.

Oh and by the way, I did book the car with ToCoo and it all went fine. Took me a while to work through their site, it's poorly organised and could do with some intelligent hyperlinking, but with lots of back and forth between pages, I eventually worked out which agencies offered my desired pick up/ drop off location, English GPS and a suitable car model. We booked with Nissan, which I think some of you have done before.

Hakata is the area centered around the Hakata station on the east side of the river. There is another city center west of the river, Tenjin. Fukuoka is name of the whole metropolitan.

JR's main stop is Hakata. But the private Nishitetsu's main station is Tenjin.