As the single flashing beam of the lighthouse struggled to make itself seen in the misty half-light, the Toppy 2 high-speed ferry bumped its way across the waves on the east side of the island of Yakushima, southeast of Kyushu.
Within minutes we were safely inside the concrete-fortified port of Anbo, umbrellas at the ready. Looking out from behind Toppy's steamed-up windows, our first view of the island was of dark, towering concrete harbor walls protecting us from monster typhoons and killer tsunami, and sheets of rain being buffeted, almost horizontally from one side to the other, by a strong wind.
Was it the rainy season? Was it just another normal day on Yakushima? Whatever, we had arrived.