I settled down here in South Kyushu a few decades ago: hardly ever leave now. It feels like there's enough variety just in Miyazaki even before thinking of Kagoshima and Kumamoto too. A guy from New Zealand goes to Nichinan's SakaeMatsu campground every year because the view reminds him of his time in Thailand. Photos of mountain views in Shiiba Village prompted a young woman to ask if I was in Nepal!?? She had just come back from there.. When you were in Takachiho did you get to ShishiKawa, the cliffs and stream there got me thinking of ancient Chinese painting, Cold Mountain or something like that.. The people are really sweet there too. I only got over there once but I glance up at the cliffs while racing from Mimata/Miyakonojyo to Takachiho. it's about a 3 hour drive and I usually want more time to chat (and sometimes help with the rice harvest or something) with friends in Toroku.. From Mimata I can get to Minamata in 2 hours too, the Shiranui Sea there feels different than the Pacific Ocean we see more often at Aoshima. I hope you get a chance to visit great places in South Kyushu again. Here's some of Jin Akutagawa's work that includes photos of Toroku, Minamata, Shiiba... He's a nice guy: http://www.akutagawa-jin.com/sp/photostory.html