Kagoshima

Japan

Kagoshima (鹿児島) is the capital of Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan.

Kagoshima is a historical city watched over by the looming bulk of Sakurajima (桜島), an active volcano that regularly dumps ash over the city and erupts a bit every now and then to remind people it's still there. The home of near-mythical samurai hero Saigo Takamori (see History), it's full of sites related to the Satsuma Rebellion.

Sengan'en Garden

  • Sakurajima. Kagoshima's temperamental (and active) volcano can be reached by ferry in a matter of minutes. Face your fear and get up close and personal - just don't wear too much white, as the ash will leave you looking slightly grey. Yunohira Lookout is a two-hour hike or 15-minute drive from Sakurajima harbor and gives you a good view both to Kagoshima harbor and Sakurajima volcano. There are also a couple of other lookout points, where you can take a closer look at the volcano. Because Sakurajima is essentially an active volcano, remember that tourists are forbidden to go within 2 km of the crater.
  • Tsurumaru Castle. Once the castle of the Shimazu clan who governed the Satsuma domain till the Meiji Restoration, it was destroyed during the Satsuma Rebellion. The only parts remaining today are the wall and the moat. Since it's around so many sights and monument around Kagoshima, it's a nice sight to see and it contains the Reimeikan.
  • Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture. Beautiful museum with nice expositions retracing the origin and evolution of the first habitants of the southern Kyushu area till the Meiji restoration. Generic information is available in English but for more details about the differents pieces contained in the exposition, a Japanese reading friend should be brought to fully enjoy all the information available.
  • Museum of the Meiji restoration. 09:00-17:00. A museum about the Meiji restoration and its relationship with the local history. An excellent audio-guide in English is available for free. In the basement, projections (25 min) and robot animations (20 min) relating this period are presented hourly, with English translation though the audio-guide. Allow between 1.5 and 2 hours. adults ¥300, children ¥150.
  • Sengan'en Garden.
  • Kagoshima City Aquarium.
  • The Nanshu Cemetery.
  • Kagoshima City Museum of Art.
  • Nagashima Museum. Art museum that contains works of Marc Chagall, Auguste Rodin, and Kuroda Seiki.

Sakurajima. Kagoshima's temperamental (and active) volcano can be reached by ferry in a matter of minutes. Face your fear and get up close and personal - just don't wear too much white, as the ash will leave you looking slightly grey. Yunohira Lookout is a two-hour hike or 15-minute drive from Sakurajima harbor and gives you a good view both to Kagoshima harbor and Sakurajima volcano. There are also a couple of other lookout points, where you can take a closer look at the volcano. Because Sakurajima is essentially an active volcano, remember that tourists are forbidden to go within 2 km of the crater.

Tsurumaru Castle. Once the castle of the Shimazu clan who governed the Satsuma domain till the Meiji Restoration, it was destroyed during the Satsuma Rebellion. The only parts remaining today are the wall and the moat. Since it's around so many sights and monument around Kagoshima, it's a nice sight to see and it contains the Reimeikan.

Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture. Beautiful museum with nice expositions retracing the origin and evolution of the first habitants of the southern Kyushu area till the Meiji restoration. Generic information is available in English but for more details about the differents pieces contained in the exposition, a Japanese reading friend should be brought to fully enjoy all the information available.

Museum of the Meiji restoration. 09:00-17:00. A museum about the Meiji restoration and its relationship with the local history. An excellent audio-guide in English is available for free. In the basement, projections (25 min) and robot animations (20 min) relating this period are presented hourly, with English translation though the audio-guide. Allow between 1.5 and 2 hours. adults ¥300, children ¥150.

Sengan'en Garden.

Kagoshima City Aquarium.

The Nanshu Cemetery.

Kagoshima City Museum of Art.

Nagashima Museum. Art museum that contains works of Marc Chagall, Auguste Rodin, and Kuroda Seiki.

Sunamushi or sunaburo is a hot spring and sand bath combined. "Bathers" are covered in hot sand. It can be found at Ibusuki Onsen, about an hour south of Kagoshima.

  • Amuran. A large Ferris wheel.

Amuran. A large Ferris wheel.

Tenmonkan shopping arcade Tenmonkan shopping arcade (天文館通り, Tenmonkan-dōri) has a plethora of shops, where you can satisfy your consuming needs.

  • Satsumaimo-no-Yakata, +81 99-239-4865. Several hundred types of sweet potato products.
  • Jelly Beans, +81 99-216-8800. The shop is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, but if you call in advance and let them know you are coming they will try their best to open it up especially for you on Sundays and Mondays! The store is open 10:00-19:00.. The only specialist English bookstore in the prefecture, with a nice second hand section as well.
  • Amu Plaza Kagoshima.

Satsumaimo-no-Yakata, +81 99-239-4865. Several hundred types of sweet potato products.

Jelly Beans, +81 99-216-8800. The shop is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, but if you call in advance and let them know you are coming they will try their best to open it up especially for you on Sundays and Mondays! The store is open 10:00-19:00.. The only specialist English bookstore in the prefecture, with a nice second hand section as well.

Amu Plaza Kagoshima.

See Kagoshima prefecture for listings of regional dishes.

Kagoshima is known throughout Japan for its sweet potato shochu, or imo-jochu (芋焼酎). While shochu is often compared to vodka, it first goes through a fermentation process. In Kagoshima, almost all restaurants have imo-jochu, and some have hundreds of different brands. Even the Shinkansen platforms at Kagoshima-chuo station have a bar/shop with more than 100 varieties of shochu.

In Kagoshima, the most common way to drink shochu is mixed with hot water, or oyu-wari. This releases the fragrance of the shochu, and also reduces the alcohol content to be on-par with wine. Because Kagoshima is the center of manufacture, many factories offer tours and have small shops for tasting and purchasing the locally made shochu.