How Do You Get to Takachiho by Car, Bus and Train from Fukuoka, Kumamoto and Miyazaki?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to reach Takachiho, the mountain town in northern Miyazaki that is known for its gorge and its myths. It uses the Japanese access page of the Takachiho Tourist Association, which we translated, and the English pages of the Visit Miyazaki prefectural site. All pages were read on 2026-10-04. Timetables and road conditions change, so confirm them on the day.

The short answer

Takachiho has no train line. The railway that once served the town no longer operates, and the old line now carries sightseeing carts (see our guide to what to see). The Tourist Association says the town can be reached from many directions and lists three ways to come: by car, by train and bus, and by air plus a car or bus. Without a car, every route the association lists ends with a bus.

By car

The association gives these driving times, which it describes as roughly what to expect on expressways and national roads:

• From Fukuoka Airport: about 3 hours.
• From Kumamoto Airport: about 2 hours.
• From Miyazaki Airport: about 2 hours. The Visit Miyazaki page for Takachiho Gorge gives about 2 hours 15 minutes from Miyazaki Airport and JR Miyazaki Station, and about 1 hour 25 minutes from Kumamoto Airport. Treat the two sources as a range.

The association also lists scenic routes: about 2 hours 30 minutes from Yufuin Onsen by the Yamanami Highway and prefectural road 11, and about 1 hour 30 minutes from Kurokawa Onsen by prefectural road 11 and national road 325. The Visit Miyazaki pages name the Hinokagefukasumi Interchange on the Kyushu Chuo Expressway as the nearest exit, about 8 to 18 minutes by car from the main sights.

By train and bus

The association's page gives four starting points:

• From Fukuoka: Kyushu Shinkansen from Hakata to Kumamoto (about 1 hour 30 minutes), then a limited express bus to Takachiho (about 3 hours). The page says this bus runs once a day and needs a reservation.
• From Kagoshima: Kyushu Shinkansen from Kagoshima-Chuo to Kumamoto (about 45 minutes), then the same bus (about 3 hours).
• From Miyazaki: JR limited express from Miyazaki Station to Nobeoka Station (about 1 hour), then a local bus (about 1 hour 30 minutes).
• From Oita: JR limited express from Oita Station to Nobeoka Station (about 2 hours), then the local bus (about 1 hour 30 minutes).

Visit Miyazaki agrees on the Nobeoka route: about 1 hour 30 minutes from JR Nobeoka Station by Miyazaki Kotsu bus to the Takachiho Bus Center, the last stop. The association also lists an express bus from Fukuoka Airport called Gokase-go (about 3 hours 30 minutes, four a day, reservation needed) and, for visitors flying into Kumamoto, a combination of an airport bus to Aso Station followed by the Aso-Chiho-go bus (about 1 hour 50 minutes, one a day, reservation needed).

Once you are in town

Takachiho Bus Center is the hub. According to Visit Miyazaki, Takachiho Gorge is about 8 minutes by car from the bus center, Takachiho Shrine is about 3 minutes by car or 15 minutes on foot, and the Takachiho Amaterasu Railway is about 2 minutes by car or 10 minutes on foot. The association's link list names local taxis, a community bus, rental bicycles, e-bike rental and rental scooters. A Visit Miyazaki sample course for visitors without a car uses a bus from the bus center to the Iwato bus stop (about 15 minutes) and a rental electric-assist bicycle for the town centre.

Choosing a route

If you are not driving, start with the bus. Two of the buses the association lists, the Aso and Takachiho buses from Kumamoto and the Aso-Chiho-go from Aso Station, run once a day and need a reservation, so fix that departure first and plan the rest of the trip around it. The connection at Nobeoka, from Miyazaki or Oita, uses a regular route bus for the last leg. Driving is the most flexible way to arrive, and the association also lists car routes from the Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, Oita and Kagoshima directions on the same page.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Current bus timetables and fares, which both sites leave to the bus companies' own pages.
• Whether the once-a-day buses are running on the date you travel.
• Road closures. The association links to an expressway operator page for this.
• The association's English page: the access page we read was in Japanese, so the wording above is our translation.

Related guides

• What is Takachiho Gorge, and what else is there to see in Takachiho?
• How do you see Takachiho Kagura, and plan two days in Takachiho without a car?

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Access (Takachiho Tourist Association, in Japanese) — (routes, times, bus links)
2. Takachiho Gorge (Visit Miyazaki) — (car and bus times)
3. Takachiho Amaterasu Railway (Visit Miyazaki) — (walking and driving times)
4. Takachiho Shrine (Visit Miyazaki) — (walking and driving times)
5. Two days in Takachiho by public transportation (Visit Miyazaki) — (bus and bicycle course)