Tanega Shima

Tanegashima has two claims to fame. In 1543, Portuguese explorer Mendes Pinto found his way there and introduced firearms to the Japanese, and for a long time thereafter arquebuses were known as tanegashima in Japanese. These days, though, the main attraction is Tanegashima Space Center, JAXA's main spaceport.

Tourist Information Site:

#tanetabi is the local tourist association's multilingual guide site.

By plane:

1 New Tanegashima Airport (TNE IATA). Has five flights daily from Kagoshima (30 min) and one flight daily from Osaka-Itami (1 hr 20 min), all on Japan Air Commuter, a JAL subsidiary.

A taxi to Nishi-no-omote costs about ¥6000.

By ferry:

The "Toppy" (トッピー) and "Rocket" (ロケット) Jetfoil ferries (formerly two separate companies) can be taken from Kagoshima; 4-6 of them take 1 hr 35 min, one of them takes 2 hours and stops in Isubuki, and one takes 3 hr 15 min and stops in Yakushima on its way back to Kagoshima. They cost ¥7100 (as of Dec 2016, -50% for kids, small discount for return tickets). Regular ferry as well as jet foil ferry services are cancelled in case of bad weather (waves more than 3 meters high). It is also better to make a reservation at least the day before, some boats can be fully booked.

Timetables are available on this page (Japanese; Kagoshima: 鹿児島, Tanegashima: 種子島). Before your departure, you can see the traffic situation on this other page . The important kanjis are: "通常" (normal traffic) and "条件付" (under condition).

2 Ferry Toppy and Rocket Nishinoomote Terminal, 49-1 Nishimachi, Nishinoomote, ☏ +81 997221224. (updated Apr 2022)

The Princess Wakasa car ferry runs once daily (3.5 hours, ¥3,700 in standard class, -50% for children up to 12 years, small discount for return tickets).