From afar, Onidake (literally, “ogre hill”) rises almost comically from the landscape, a craggy goitre carpeted in a lush green lawn. It has become a symbol of the vaguely Hebridean islands of the Goto archipelago. Mount Onidake’s odd position, almost alone on the eastern plains of Fukue Island, cut off from the mountains that make up the spine of the island, and peculiar domed shape hint at the true nature of the hill: it’s a volcano, dormant for millennia.
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The hike up Mount Onidake is well-traveled and fairly easy, given the easy slopes of the volcano. The route lies on a section of the Kyushu Nature Trail which winds through the prefectures of Kyushu and, following one detour, makes its way through the Goto Islands and across the volcanic field.
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The islands of the Goto archipelago have no shortage of observatories and mountain lookouts, giving visitors the chance to look out across the East China Sea and the surrounding islands. The view from the rounded hump atop Onidake, sitting at around a thousand feet above sea level, shows off the rough emeralds that are the Goto Islands, and, on a clear day, you can see just about to Kyushu in the east.
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The scrubby lawns of Onidake are the perfect place for sit back and watch the comings-and-goings of ships in the harbor, or, more ambitiously, and perhaps with a breakfast packed, to watch the sun come up. Pick up a kite down in town and let the breezes coming in off the strait send it far overhead—there’s a reason the mountain’s slopes host an annual kite flying exhibition. If you’ve got an afternoon to kill, there’s no better way to do it than with a kite and a picnic lunch on Mount Onidake.
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At the base of Onidake, due west of the Goto Country Club, there is a modest onsen heated by the volcanic vents that helped build the mountain. The tidy hotel that’s claimed the hot spring is an option, if you want to spend the night in Fukue, but the onsen itself welcomes guests not staying at the property. The onsen is known for being fairly tepid, but with spectacularly dank water, rusty red and loaded with minerals.
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Far from the light pollution that blots out the stars in most of Japan’s urban centers and beyond, the night skies of the Goto Islands are hard to put into words. Especially from more remote islands like Hisaka, in their interior, the night sky is almost unrecognizably impressive. The Onidake Observatory gives visitors a chance to look up with a telescope, and the staff and introductory astronomical explainers can give some sense of what the heck it is you’re looking at. Entry to the observatory is 300 yen, and reservations to use the telescope (made by phone or at the nearby Shiki no Sato Village, before 5pm), are not hard to come by. Stop by in the evening, once it gets dark, and take in one of the true wonders of the islands.
- Onidake Shiki no Sato
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