Shiratani Unsuikyo — Taiko-iwa

The moss forest on Yakushima that Miyazaki's team drew for Princess Mononoke. Cedars that have stood a thousand years and more, granite boulders under a skin of moss, and rain often enough that the green never dries out. The path climbs from the gorge past the Shiratani hut to Tsuji pass and then a short scramble up to Taiko-iwa, a slab that looks back over the island's interior. [Route details] Start: Shiratani Unsuikyo entrance · End: Taiko-iwa Via: Shiratani-sanso · Tsuji-toge 2.86 km one way · 637 m to 1040 m · climb 414 m [Good to know] - The Ministry of the Environment's Yakushima centre gives 5.6 km for the round trip and 600–1,070 m; this line doubled is 5.72 km and reads 637–1040 m. You come back the same way. - Taiko-iwa is not a node in OpenStreetMap; the end here is the highest point the path network reaches beyond Tsuji pass, 190 m past it. - Unpaved the whole way with stream crossings. Boots, and it will probably rain. - Elevation is sampled from a terrain model at 300 m spacing, not recorded on the ground.