We arrived at Fukuoka/Hakata airport after a long but uneventful flight from London. The great thing about this point of arrival in Japan is that the airport is so close to the centre of the city - after a short metro ride we found ourselves checked in and eating delicious meat skewers for a light evening meal at a small local bar. Although we were still in the centre of a modern city small things like a shop totally devoted to chopsticks or fans immediately gave hints of a change from our normal surroundings, and the bowing reception we received from all staff as the first customers to enter a large department store the next morning was both slightly disorientating and delightful.

The next morning we picked up our hire car. Only about half an hour away we made our first stop at Dazaifu. This worked out well since that we could get used to driving without any pressure of a long journey ahead. With an English SatNav requested, driving on the same side of the road, and bilingual main road signs, we found driving easier than we had imagined. However, do allow more time if travelling in urban areas - there are so many traffic lights and even main roads tend to be single lane with speed limits generally lower than in Europe. Luckily for us we planned a journey away from any main cities, and Kyushu in general is far calmer and relaxing than what might be experienced around the main cities of Honshu.

There are several temples in Dazaifu and it is also possible to see the remains of the fortifications built to repel Chinese invaders from the seventh century - a kind of Hadrian's Wall. The main Museum of Kyushu is also situated here, located in a striking modern building. The most famous temple is Tenmangu Shrine. This is the home of a deity of scholars and culture and many students come here to seek good luck for their exams. This was appropriate for my wife as she is currently studying for a masters degree. She paid her respects and we will keep our fingers crossed!

This was the first of many many temples we enjoyed during our stay - some grand and official, some tiny and tucked away in side streets. We began to realise how much a part of daily life spirituality plays in Japan. We strolled up behind the main temple complex area through dense humid woods where the sound of cicadas was literally almost deafening. Temples and shrines in lovely natural settings in forests, on mountains, or beside the sea became our favourite part of our visit.

It was here that we had our first meeting with the kitsune messengers to the Shinto Inari spirit. We have urban foxes in our garden in London, and we have been calling them kitsune ever since. you will see them at empales all over Japan.

The temple at the end of our hilltop walk at Dazaifu. We were getting familiar with some of the typical landscape of Kyushu now - lush green forests and bamboo groves on the rugged mountains, hemming in the towns and villages built on the flatter areas, with not a square metre wasted with patchworks of small rice fields between houses wherever possible.

Our next stop was Mount Aso, the constantly smoking volcano at the heart of Kyushu island. It's just under 1000m high and there are in fact a series of volcanic cones in the area of a caldera 80 miles in circumference. As we drove up to the summit we were engulfed in low mist and cloud. It was a shame to hide the view of the grassy uplands, and we only just made out the perfectly formed inverted rice bowl shape of the hill of Komezuka , but it was certainly spooky! It was too misty to enjoy the cable car to the summit, so we continued slowly by car and finally reached the top level. This was the only time in Japan when we were even slightly cold. We could sense the power within as we looked down into the smoking (and smelly) depths.

All this subterranean activity means plenty of hot springs across the island, and our next stay was a Yufuin in the north eastern corned of Kyushu. Nearby Beppu on the coast is larger and more well know as a spa town, but we preferred this quieter countryside location. There we were guests at a wonderful ryokan complete with outdoor thermal pools where we lay gazing up at the stars at night. It was also our first time in a 'Japanese style' room. We were to get very used to the scent of tatami matting, a delicate ikebana display, futons and wearing the very convenient yukata. Wherever possible we chose this option during our stay. The next morning we looked across the valley to see the town nestling below Mount Yufu and the steam rising from the many thermal springs.

It is very hard to choose our favourite meal during our visit, but the food at Yufuin came close to the top. Everything was so delicately and beautifully presented, and there were so many little treats to taste.

We enjoyed a walk around Lake Kinrin at one end of the town and did some idle shopping in the bohemian arts and crafts shops. With more time I would have liked to hike to the top of the mountain following the many trails.

Next we took a drive directly south through the middle of Kyushu across miles of jagged tree-covered scenery. The only problem was that the forests are so dense it is actually quite rare to get a good view from the roads, and they twist and turn so much that travel times should not be underestimated. But it felt like an adventurous journey into deep rural Japan.

Takachiho was a convenient stop on our way south. The famous shrine there has some majestic huge cedar trees.

We were also fortunate enough to catch some of the performance of the sacred 'iwato kagura' dance featuring the colourful battle of wits between a powerful spirit and a crafty old woman.

The painted wooden panels on which inscriptions are made also made lovely little souvenirs!

A short but steep walk away from the temple area is the picturesque gorge at Takachiho where we had a nice break at a cliff-side restaurant to gather our energy for the walk back up in the steamy heat.

Our route then took us towards the eastern coast of Kyushu, which we followed down to Udo Shrine - itself set beside the sea amongst rocks and caves. It was early evening and there was quite an eerie stillness about the sea as the sun was going down.

The main temple at Udo is set within an actual cave and is dedicated to the father of the mythical first emperor of Japan.

For 100 Yen you can get five clay stones with the chance to throw them down into a small pool in a hollow atop a large rock. I am not sure of the significance of being successful other than it is supposed to bring good luck. I was feeling very pleased with myself having achieved a score of three out of five until I learnt that men are supposed to use their left hand whilst women may use their right. Still, the rest of our trip to Japan was very lucky, so perhaps there was some beneficial effect after all!

Our base for the next few days was the seaside resort town of Ibusuki - around 50km south past the nearest major town of Kagoshima with its towering active volcano across the bay. That would have to be a trip for another time. We had a great stay in Ibusuki in a hotel with a wonderful spa facility and the steam sand bath treatment is not to be missed - again a natural phenomenon due to the thermal activity of the area.

Nearby Chiran is a great day trip and another reason why hiring a car for freedom to explore the area is a very good idea. In this small town a street of preserved samurai houses and gardens remains. All can be visited in a walk of a few hundred metres.

We certainly got plenty of ideas for things to do with our own garden on our return to Britain, though we won't quite have the sunny climate of the Satsuma area.

Also in Chiran is the Peace Museum for Kamikazi Pilots - located on the site of the old airbase that was the departure point for the largest kamikaze attack against the American landing on Okinawa island to the south.

The museum was fascinating to someone with an interest in military history like myself, and quite poignant. As the name of the museum suggests, the tone and emphasis is on the futility of war and the pity that it had come to that rather than a glorification of the events. There is a collection of last letters the pilots wrote to family members. The text of many is moving and some are famous in Japan. I also noticed a testimony from an American sailor in board one of the targeted ships.

The area is covered in vivid green fields of tea plants, and we also discovered Lake Ikeda, which has its own 'Loch Ness monster' legend and a local delicacy of smoked eels from the lake.

There really is a great deal to enjoy in this small area. We also visited the temple at Cape Nagasaki-bana and the nearby Kagoshima Flower Park. Dominating the horizon is the perfectly conical Mount Kaimon, known locally as Satsuma Fuji.

We next swapped our car for trains. We found the Japanese rail network had great coverage, busy schedules so no long waits between trains, and as might be expected - very punctual. This was the first time we used our Japan Rail Pass, to catch the local train from Ibusuki up to Kagoshima. There were some great views as the track ran alongside the bay of the volcano at Kagoshima, but we were never quite quick enough to capture it properly on film! Next time!

There are a couple of exceptions, but the Japan Rail Pass covers almost all the 'bullet trains' too, and they are simply fantastic. Each express seems to have its own design like a Formula 1 racing car, and in a few hours we had covered the whole length of Kyushu to be back in Fukuoka/Hakata.

We would stay two more weeks in Japan, travelling across Honshu to end up in Tokyo and with a brief visit to Shikoku too. We hired cars twice more, and took plenty of trains. We stayed in a variety of accommodation, and we were amazed at how well everything worked out. It has to be said that the more planning you can do beforehand the better the experience will be of course, and we were very lucky to have used a very helpful travel agent whose local staff even met us at their own suggestion on arrival and were looking out for us throughout our journey.

One of the few problems we had was deciding which of the wonderful arts and crafts to buy, and fitting everything into our bulging suitcases at the end of the trip. From embroidered silk to intricate bamboo wicker bowls and ornamental lights, our house now has a definite taste of Japan!

As I said, we covered quite a lot of Japan and saw many wonderful things across the whole journey, but Kyushu holds special memories as the place where we first began to feel at home in Japan, where the atmosphere is perhaps more relaxed and charming, and we left the cares of life in Britain behind. And after travelling the whole length of the island, we still hardly touched the western half, so there is definitely a desire to return!