Kyushu 九州
Kyushu is Japan's third largest island, after Honshu and Hokkaido. Kyushu is home to approximately 13,5 million people, or 10,6% of Japan's population.
The island is divided in 7 prefectures : Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki and Kagoshima. Kyushu's largest city is the twin town of Fukuoka/Hakata.
History
Kyushu's proximity to Korea and China made it play an important role in Japanese history. It is believed that around 300BC a group of immigrants from Korea invaded Kyushu, importing rice paddy cultivation, bronze and metal working with them. They progressively spread eastwards on most of Honshu and Shikoku. supplanted the original Jomon people (probably the ancestors of the Ainu).
Touristic attractions
Visitors to Kyushu coming from Honshu by train will most likely arrive at Hakata/Fukuoka, the island's main hub.
Kyushu's most famous city for foreign visitors is probably Nagasaki, due to the dropping of the second atomic bomb in human history on 9 August 1945. There is much more to it than that, though.
One of Kyushu most original and controversial destination is Beppu, a hot-spring town famous for its "Hells" as much as for bathing.
History buffs will appreciate the castle town of Kumamoto as well as Kagoshima, home to many of the Satsuma samurai that brought the Tokugawa shogunate to its demise.
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