Kyushu’s Most Terrifying Narrow, Hard-to-Drive Road

After that, we headed south on R265 toward Shiiba Village. This R265 is apparently part of the Kamimashiki Aso Southern Tourist Route, and it’s a wonderful road for spirited driving. There are a few narrow sections, but they’re hardly a problem. Most of it is a wide, well-paved two-lane road, perfect for cruising at a brisk pace.

However, R265 suddenly showed its fangs. We arrived at Shiiba Village and wanted to continue toward Kagoshima, so without any prior research, we just kept following R265. That was a big mistake.

This area was still manageable. It got worse, so bad I couldn’t even take photos.

The road gradually narrowed, and the factory navigation kept insistently instructing us to turn around. Switching to Google Maps showed we should keep going on R265. We should have stopped there, but our adventurous spirit pushed us deeper and deeper.

Before we knew it, this was no longer just a narrow road. We had entered a truly brutal narrow, hard-to-drive road. We had mistakenly assumed it would be safe because it’s a national road. The road was barely wide enough for one car, with crumbling shoulders and unpaved sections. There was no escape route—just a single path with no way to turn back.

The sun began to set, and darkness approached.

This was basically off-road by now.

The curves repeated endlessly, making us feel like we were stuck in an infinite loop in Super Mario. The scenery and curves were all the same, and the navigation map showed countless tight zigzag bends still ahead.

“Are we even making progress?” we seriously wondered.

The same scenery kept repeating. Some guardrails were missing here and there.

At one point, there were signs for construction and road closures that startled us, but a small note said “lifted,” so we breathed a sigh of relief and kept going. If the road had been closed here, it would have been impossible to turn around due to the narrowness.

We would have had to perform a miraculous reverse on an ultra-narrow road. That was impossible.

This had become a mental endurance test. Carefully avoiding stepping off the shoulder, dodging falling rocks and branches, considering the risk of a flat tire, and protecting the bodywork, we kept driving endlessly on this visually challenging, repetitive mountain road. In Buddhism, there is a practice called kaihōgyō, where monks run alone deep in the mountains as a form of ascetic training. This was the car version of that.

The more expensive or wider the car, the greater the mental strain and the more intense the training. (Or so it seems?)

After who knows how long, the hellish R265 finally ended, and we reached R388. Although there were still some narrow sections here, it was tame compared to R265. Later research revealed that R265 is considered one of Kyushu’s most terrifying narrow, hard-to-drive roads.

I strongly advise anyone except enthusiasts or those seeking spiritual training to avoid it at all costs.

Relieved to be free from the nightmare road, we changed plans and headed straight to the hotel on the highway.
I said to the car, “Boxster, well done. You really gave it your all today.” and turned off the engine.