Ebino Kogen by taxi and some more questions

I would really like to go to Ebino Kogen in the beginning of June for a 2-day hike, but I am disappointed by the lack of frequent public transportation.

The ideal plan would be to arrive to Ebino Kogen in the morning of the first day, hike to Karakuni-Dake and return to Ebino Kogen to sleep.
Then second day with bus (or on foot via the open vehicle road) to Takachiko-gawara, hike via Takachiko-no-mine to Haraigawa and then by bus to Takaharu JR station.

Regarding reaching Ebino Kogen.
I have been trying to use the very useful information posted in another topic with date 21/2/2024, but if I understand correctly it seems that I cannot arrive to Ebino Kogen before 12:56 pm if I take the combination of the bus from Kirishima to Maruo (10:43-11:08) and then Maruo to Ebino Kogen (12:30-12:56). Also, if I understand correctly the Kirishima bus does not operate during the weekend? (I would like to begin on a Sunday). If I take the bus from Kagoshima airport the earliest on a Sunday seems to arrive to Maruo at 13:24, if I understand correctly, which is too late to catch a bus to Ebino Kogen.

I also prefer to avoid renting a car for many reasons, one reason being that I would prefer to end up at Haraigawa rather than returning to Ebino Kogen.

So I was wondering if it is possible to get a taxi from Ebino city (which would be convenient, as it seems that I can get there by bus from Kumamoto) or from Kirishima train station? If yes, any idea how much this would cost? And would I need to book in advance? Does one also need to pay the return fare for the driver to return to Ebino city?

Also, I assume that hitchhiking may not be a reliable option in Japan? Would people stop to pick up two people?

Regarding the second day. It seems that the 9 am bus from Ebino Kogen does not go to Takachiko-gawara anymore? So I would need to get down at the entrance of Shinyu-Onsen and go to Takachiko-gawara on foot?

One more question, is there a link to the bus schedule from Haraigawa to the Takaharu JR train station? Does this bus still exist?

Thank you and sorry for the long e-mail.

Ebino kogen Located in kirishima , miyazaki prefecture.so if you buy SunQ bus pass 3 day 8000 yen,you can visit miyazaki,kumamoto, kagoshima prefecture unlimited timefor 3day

Perhaps, here is the latest information.
https://www.city-kirishima.jp/kirikan/kanko/leisure/busmap.html
Buses seem to run from Kokubu station（国分駅,Kokubu-eki) on Saturdays and Sundays as well.
https://www.city-kirishima.jp/kirikan/kanko/leisure/documents/jikoku1....
I think this is also useful.
https://www.city-kirishima.jp/kirikan/kanko/bus/renzan.html
Note that there are several bus stops in Maruo (the numbers seem to run from 1 to 4). You can roughly see the location on Google Maps.

There are some parts that cannot be translated into English, but this hiking route may also be useful.
https://kntf.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/KAG_01.pdf
Buses leaving Ebino Kogen（えびの高原） at 9:00 arrive at Takachiho-gawara（高千穂河原） at 9:29 (daily).
The bus from Kokubu station I wrote earlier seems to go through Kirishima-Jingū Station（霧島神宮駅,Kirishima jingu-eki） as well.
https://www.iwasaki-corp.com/wp-content/uploads/4b19c07310042d26b25172...
Bus from Haraikawa（祓川） to Takaharu Station（高原駅,Takahara-eki) or Kobayashi station（小林駅,Kobayashi-eki） (weekday service)
https://www.town.takaharu.lg.jp/uploaded/life/41607_1685362_misc.pdf

When I look at the timetable of Miyazaki-kotsu, it says that the time will change from April 1st, but the buses in Haraikawa don't seem to change.
https://www.miyakoh.co.jp/rosen/timetable-rosen.html

Thank you very much haro1210! Now I have to see if I can make this work...

I just wanted to give an update. I went to Ebino Kogen and everything worked perfectly! In detail: Train from Kagoshima to Kokubu JR station, then bus to 霧島いわさきﾎﾃﾙ, then connecting bus to Ebino Kogen (we were advised to change at 霧島いわさきﾎﾃﾙ instead of Maruo because in Maruo we would have to change a bus stop). There is a day bus pass for 1100 yen that you can get at Kokubu JR station, which seems to be cheaper than paying for both buses separately.

On the second day we took a taxi from Ebino Kogen to Takachiho-gawara early in the morning instead of the 9 am bus to make sure that we had enough time to reach Haraigawa for the bus. The taxi cost 4200 Yen, which I found very reasonable. The visitors center at Ebino Kogen booked the taxi for us on the previous day.

From Haraigawa we took the bus to Takaharu JR station. We had arrived early at Haraigawa, but discovered a nice soba restaurant close to the bus stop and had lunch there. Haraigawa is a small hamlet and in May it was beautiful, with flowers in almost every garden.

The only problem was that we had to wait for more than an hour at Takaharu JR station and also for around an hour at Miyakonojo JR station. But overall this gave us the chance to travel with the local train between Takaharu and Miyakonojo and enjoy the countryside. A small price to pay for such a beautiful region. Maybe it makes sense to go by taxi from Haraigawa to Kirishima to avoid the loop through Miyakonojo, but we did not explore this alternative.

Overall Kirishima Park in May was a wonderful experience (the weather also helped because we were very lucky and we had two sunny days).

Thank you again haro1210 for the information! I don't think that I would have made it without your tips!

Thank you very much for writing about your actual experience! It is extremely useful!

Thank you for sharing the information.
I'm glad you enjoyed your trip!
I think this info will be useful for people who are going to Ebino Kogen from now on.