Dazaifu Tenmangū in Fukuoka is a Shinto shrine built in 905 over the grave of Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and statesman who became honoured as the god of learning. Students come to pray for success in exams. About 6,000 plum trees bloom in the grounds in February. A street of shops sells umegae mochi rice cakes.

Nagasaki Peace Park was built near the hypocentre of the atomic bomb dropped on the city on 9 August 1945. The Peace Statue, about 10 metres tall, shows a seated man with one hand raised to the sky, warning of the bomb, and the other stretched out for peace. Fountains and monuments donated by many countries fill the park.

Glover Garden is an open-air museum on a hillside in Nagasaki, with Western-style houses built by foreign merchants after the port opened in 1859. The Glover House, built in 1863 for the Scottish merchant Thomas Glover, is the oldest Western-style wooden building in Japan. The gardens look out over Nagasaki harbour.

Ōura Church in Nagasaki was built in 1864 by French missionaries and is the oldest standing church in Japan. In 1865 hidden Christians, who had kept their faith in secret for centuries, revealed themselves here to the priest. The white Gothic church is a National Treasure and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hashima Island, also called Gunkanjima or Battleship Island, lies about 15 kilometres off Nagasaki. It was a coal mining island, crowded with concrete apartment blocks for over 5,000 people. The mine closed in 1974 and the island was abandoned. Boat tours land visitors on a small part of it. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kumamoto Castle was built from 1601 by Katō Kiyomasa and was one of the largest castles in Japan. Its curved stone walls were designed to be impossible to climb. The keep was rebuilt in concrete in 1960. Earthquakes in 2016 badly damaged the walls and buildings; the main keep reopened in 2021, and restoration of other parts continues.

Mount Aso in Kumamoto is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, with a huge caldera about 25 kilometres across in which towns and farms lie. Its active crater, Nakadake, steams with a turquoise acid lake, and visitors can look in when gas levels allow. Green grasslands where horses and cattle graze cover the slopes.

The Beppu Hells are a group of hot springs in Beppu, Ōita, too hot for bathing and meant for viewing. Each has its own character: Umi Jigoku is a bright blue pool, Chinoike Jigoku is blood red, and Tatsumaki Jigoku is a geyser. Beppu has more hot spring vents than almost anywhere in the world, and steam rises over the whole town.

Lake Kinrin is a small lake at the edge of Yufuin, a hot spring town in Ōita. Both hot spring water and cold spring water flow into it, so on cold autumn and winter mornings mist rises from its surface. A small shrine with a torii stands at its edge. The town nearby has galleries, cafes and shops, with Mount Yufu rising behind.

Sakurajima is an active volcano in Kagoshima Bay, rising to about 1,117 metres. It was once an island, but an eruption in 1914 joined it to the mainland. It erupts small amounts of ash many times a year. Ferries run around the clock from Kagoshima city. Visitors can see lava fields from observation points and bathe in a free foot bath.

Sengan-en is a Japanese garden in Kagoshima, built in 1658 as a villa of the Shimazu clan, lords of Satsuma. The garden uses Sakurajima as borrowed scenery across the bay and Kagoshima Bay as its pond. The Shimazu family's residence, a museum and early factories that helped modernise Japan are nearby. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Yakushima is a round mountainous island south of Kyushu. It is covered with ancient cedar forests, including trees thousands of years old, such as the Jōmon Sugi. It is one of the wettest places in Japan, and moss covers rocks and trees. The Shiratani Unsuikyō ravine is said to have inspired the film Princess Mononoke. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.