Name: Pension BLUE DROP
Address: 428-10 Hirauchi, Yakushima, Yakushima, Yakushima, 891-4406, Japan
Rating: 10

Air conditioning

Smoke-free property

Heating

Private check-in/check-out

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Family room

Rooms

Accessibility features

Accessibility

Laundry

Concierge services

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Diet menu (on request)

Breakfast

Restaurant

Packed Lunches

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

English

Japanese

Languages Spoken

Free parking

Parking

Snorkelling

Sports

Family/Kid Friendly

Kids

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Additional measures against COVID-19

Health and Safety Measures

Location

At the guest house

Yakushima Airport

Pension BLUE DROP

Yakushima

I had planned to come to Yakushima in early 2020, and cancelled it due to Covid. In the three years that followed, I attempted again in the fall of 2021, but Covid prolonged. So when I finally arrived, Yuki and I were like old friends finally meeting each other after the long Covid seperation. This is how friendly and warm Yuki’s pension received me and my numerous emails in the past. Now onto the practical aspects: my twin room was clean, quietly welcomed me with clean towels, hot water kettle, a desk and chair, and a screen door to enjoy fresh, flower scented air. Hot water was plenty and strong, and the whole place was hushed between check in and check out and after dinner into the night. Yuki was a discreet host, always there when you need her, but never in your face when you want to be left alone. Location cannot be better for local immersion and here’s why. Yakushima island has different characters from the north, south, east, and west. Blue Drop is located on the sunny southern part of the island, also my favorite part after seeing the entire island on a tour with Yakushima Geographic Tour (please check out my review). The area is slow living residential dotted with homey cafes and artist studios. It feels as Yakushima should be, idyllic, lush, green, and air unbelievably fresh. Twice a day @ 6AM and 6PM you can hear short and sweet community announcement, mostly about the weather, positive local news, and at 3 o’clock, a familiar melody came on to remind the farmers of their mid-afternoon snack and tea time. I slept soundly of the three nights I stayed here. The bed looks thin but turns out very comfortable. Yuki is a great chef and this is such a plus as there are few restaurants near by. I enjoyed breakfasts and dinners in her dining room and always walk away happy and content. After a long touring day, there’s nothing better and more luxurious than a homemade dinner: Kaiseki, Sashimi, Chicken or Beef Stew, with local Shoju if you want it. Breakfast is a yummy sandwich with 4 or 5 different ingredient of your choice, and wonderfully strong coffee. She also prepare lunch to go at your request. A short drive from Blue Drop is the gorgeous Ohko Waterfall, ten times better than the photos I found online, a must see in person. And shortly after that is the World Heritage Coastal Road where not a human soul can be seen except in narrowly passing vehicles. There are abundant of small deers that are incredible rock climbers, and relaxed monkeys being groomed by seniority by the side of the road. This coastal road is very challenging for non-local drivers and it has no cell signal to call for help should you run into a problem, many sections are winding and narrow for one car to pass. You have to be very skillful at backing up when another car comes your way, or count on your luck on a skillful local who will patiently back up and guide you pass. On the north/east side of the island where Miyanoura, Ando port, and the airport are located are the least charming. It’s often gloomier with more clouds and rain, as well as human congestion and slightly polluted air. It is also where many of the hotels and restaurants are located for travelers who values convenience more. But this is not Paris, or London, or Barcelona, convenience is not the best compass. 

Blue Drop Pension is a blessed place with a kind host, I could not be happier anywhere else. 

Local Immersion Paradise 

We booked a 3 night stay in pension Blue drop. Directly Yuki helped us with arranging the ferry and rental car and everything we wanted to know for our stay. Unfortunately we had to cancel our trip very last minute due to the Corona virus, but Yuki again was so helpful and kind with this cancellation. We will visit the pension some day!!

Yuki is the best

The island of Yakushima and the stay at Pension Blue Drop were a real highlight of our trip through Japan. The Pension Blue Drop is easily accessible by car, very clean, furnished with a lot of love and equipped with everything you need (including air conditioning, vacuum cleaner and washing facilities). The host Yuki not only helped us in advance by mail with the organization of a rental car and ferry ticket (very useful if everything is written in Japanese only), but also in place with useful tips to explore the island. Yuki and her husband welcomed us very warmly and uncomplicated. Yuki, who speaks very well English, is honest about exchanging with guests, always has an interest in the lips and a meal ticket.

It's just wonderful!

During our trip to Japan, we saw many very beautiful and hospitable places. But what makes Blue Drop special is its host Yuki. She speaks very well English and helps with all the questions and challenges of Japanese travelers. Yuki has already helped us with the booking of the ferry and the automaton for the trip, and later booked a special restaurant in Tokyo. Since the websites outside of Japan do not work in part or certain selection fields are not accessible with a Google translation, this was a huge help. Even during our stay in Blue Drop, Yuki was always thinking about helping us with our plans. When we wanted to see the night on the ocean, she provided us with an extra hot tub, but the location outside of Japan is not working, and we are not able to access certain selection fields with a good price.

Super helpful and hospitable

We stayed at Pension Blue Drop for 3 nights during our trip to Yakushima and was very happy that we chose here. Our host, Yuki, was very gracious even prior to arriving and provided us with information well in advance to help plan our trip. Yuki helped us book a car, which was ready upon our arrival at the port even though our plans had changed last minute and we arrived at a different port three hours sooner than expected. The facility itself is modest but very clean. Our room comfortably held two travelers and our luggage without issue. There is a traditional japanese bath/shower combination that is shared between the three guest rooms.  One thing to note is that Pension is located about 40 minutes from Anbo port and 1 hr away from Miyanoura port, which makes travel town a bit inconvenient if you do not book a car. We opted for Yuki’s dinner and breakfast and thought it was very delicious and reasonably priced. During our stay we even met two travelers who have stayed with Yuki on 3 different occasions! Needless to say, we would highly recommend to anyone traveling to Yakushima.

Amazing host, great cook, very clean facilities. Highly recommend!

My husband and I stayed at Pension Blue drop for two nights and absolutely loved it. Yuki-san is such a sweet and gracious hostess and her cooking is amazing. We ate the Kaiseki meal with delicious fresh sashimi and cooked fish (caught by Yuki's husband) + lovely small dishes made from fresh vegetables from their garden on the first night, and shared the pot chicken and beef stew on the second night - yum! All the food was really good, including the breakfast sandwiches and cute packed lunches that we ate on our hike through the incredible Shiratani Unsuikyo forest. Pension blue drop is great value for money, and super cute, all the walls are made of local cedar and there are lovely lead-light windows featuring Australian birds. The beds were very comfortable with lovely linen sheets, there was a WC next door to our room and a nice shared bathroom down the corridor with a deep bath and shower / wet room + a washing machine for guests to use. We really enjoyed walking around the local area following Yuki's cute hand drawn map, admiring the beautiful tropical surroundings and the jagged volcanic rocks on the remote coastline. As we are non-drivers we travelled around the island for 2 days by bus, which Yuki warned us was going to be challenging, but with some detailed planning (again helped by Yuki) it was possible to get to most of the places we wanted to see. Yakushima is a very special island with incredible natural beauty and Pension Blue Drop is a lovely place to stay while you are there. Arigatou Gozaimasu Yuki-chan, hope to meet you again someday, best Anna & Jason.

Loved this gorgeous pension on beautiful Yakushima!

My husband and I spent 3 nights at blue drop, for the most part it was a pleasant stay.  I may suggest a couple things to make guests stay more comfortable though....

Pros

Owner Yuki is a gem, an amazing host who has turned hospitality into a fine art.   She is extremely helpful from the first inquiry until check out.  She speaks good English which is huge in the mostly non speaking Japanese area of Yakushima.

Yuki is a hostess with the mostest who aims to please, she is very gracious. She and her husband bustle around serving beautiful sashimi dinners, welcoming and serving guests.

The pension is all cedar and is lovely with both of the couples art work everywhere, stained glass, and gorgeous woodwork including the hand carved tables you dine at.

Reasonably priced and comfortable for the area which has very expensive hotels...

A washer is available to use

Cons

Once you put a couple suitcases in the room there is hardly any room to walk around and you end up sitting on the bed as there is also no couches or other rooms to get cozy and read, etc in the evening

We found the beds very comfortable but there is a type of sheet used both on the bed and pillow that is a bit rough and worn.   New, fresh duvet covers might be a consideration at some point .....

We were still getting up pretty early with jet lag and had a terrible time trying to find a cup of coffee before 7:30 am which is when breakfast is served.  We drove all over one morning at 6:30 and finally gave up and got coffee out of a vending machine as absolutely nothing was open on the island until 8:30am.  

We did end up eating a wonderful buffet breakfast at JR hotel nearby the next morning as they open at 6:30am but it was expensive.

As a suggestion it would be a kindness to consider a coffee/tea station in the “dining” room, it would be practical and also welcoming.

All in all blue drop is a very nice pension to spend a few days, we recommend it as a local alternative to the large formal hotels.



Little blue drop pension a bargain on southern coast

A friend and I had a wonderful couple of nights at Pension Blue Drop recently. Yuki and her husband's home was warm and friendly and well appointed - they can't do enough for you to make your stay comfortable.

We ate here for two nights, and there was a range of food options, including freshly caught local fish - courtesy of Yuki's husband. 

Yuki in particular was incredibly helpful - she organised ferries for us, and had highly detailed information on what to do, where and when, and has very good english for those of you who speak english and not much Japanese!

The only thing we'd say is that Pension Blue Drop is at the bottom of Yakushima, so quite handy to Yakusugi Land and beaches / waterfalls and hot pools, but reasonably far from Miyanoura and the port - and the bus service is very slow. So if at all possible rent a car. It will make your life much easier. Yuki recommended this to us too, but we didn't have our International Drivers' Permit.

Brilliant place to stay, amazing service from Yuki - ideal to take a car

The Blue Drop Inn is a marvel. Yuki and her husband were so kind and generous with us. This is really the pinnacle of hospitality in Japan. Yuki helped us rent our car, fax a translation of my license to the rental agency, organised things with our boat, drove after us when I forgot my hat in the room, was very attentive to food allergies… the list goes on. We were also delighted by the many great conversations with had with Yuki. We loved her guesthouse, which is a beautiful tranquil oasis, a wooden building that breathes and makes your feel comfortable. The room was immaculate and well-heated in winter. The bathroom is shared, but since there are two toilets we, in fact, did not have to share with the other guests, but simply had to walk out our door across the hall. A couple other remarks: there’s a washing machine available, very good sake, parking on-site, the property is gay-friendly for a couple travelling together, and there is a great seaside onsen nearby (the location is perfect for exploring the island by car). And you really must take all your meals here. I would be surprised if you can eat anywhere on the island as well as at Yuki’s. Her kaiseki set was full of local island flavours and so carefully prepared. Breakfasts are great too: make sure you try the fresh Tonkan orange juice from the garden. Thank you so much for a beautiful stay on an amazing island!

Remarkable Guesthouse on a beautiful island

Yuki and her husband did everything they could to make our stay as pleasant as possible. We traveled all over Japan, but here we experienced the greatest hospitality of our entire trip. Yuki helped us book the ferry in advance, as well as organized a rental car, everything went smoothly. The Japanese dinner in the guesthouse (many ingredients from our own farm) was one of the best in Japan. Yuki also provided us with a delicious breakfast and tasty bentos (lunch dishes). Your English is very good, so she could give us so many tips to explore the interior of Yakushima, and a lot of Japanese culture. We would never forget to stop here in our Yakushima bus, and that's why we would never stop here in the Japanese city of Yakushima!

Pension BLUE DROP

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