Let’s check out Kyushu’s biggest lake, a samurai town, Kagoshima city, and Japan’s most active volcano in Kyushu’s Kagoshima Prefecture
Spooky organ music:
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Main Intro
0:50 Kagoshima’s Intro
1:05 Hot Steam Sand Bath
2:13 Mt. Kaimon
2.30 Lake Ikeda
2:51 Lake Monster Issie
3:34 Town of Chiran
4:05 Samurai District Tour
9:27 Kagoshima City
10:51 Saigo Takamori
11:49 Kagoshima Bay Ferry
12:31 Driving to Sakurajima
13.30 Arimura Observatory
14:16 In The Next Episode
E [Applause] Hey guys welcome to iusi city in kagoshima prefecture in this city there is the world’s one and only tunami buo or natural hot steam sand bath the health benefits of these sand baths are said to be 3 to four times greater than those of regular Hot Springs so I decided to give
It a try in preparation for today’s video after 10 minutes in this hot sand I’m feeling revitalized and ready to show you guys Kushima well it’s a gray rainy day but let’s see what kushima has to Offer welcome to the southernmost prefecture on the island of kushu our first stop in KAG osima prefecture is at a mountain that’s actually a volcano let’s go check out this mountain Mount kimon was formed by volcanic activity about 4,000 years ago this now dormant volcano has had 12
Major eruptions with the last one taking place way back in the year 885 Mount kimon is 92 4 m above sea level and is the southernmost volcano in cusia the lake in front of this volcano is called Lake Ika it’s a Caldera that was formed by all that volcanic activity
Years ago Lake Ika is a famous Lake today for a couple of reasons one being that it’s the largest lake on the island of kushu another because it’s believed that in this 233 M deep lake There lives a monster starting in 1961 several people claimed to have spotted this lake
Monster known today as isi this creature is said to be over 5 m long with a serpent likee body and Plesiosaurus like flippers oh and razor sharp teeth not quite the cute character we see here it’s a pretty nice Lake but it’s too bad we couldn’t spot isy swimming in it today Now let’s head to a town that was once home to Japan’s military nobility known as Samurai the town of Chan has a samurai residence District but since it’s a historic Zone we can’t park in the main District area which means the parking fee is 200 yen
Here but if I take this paper slip to the local cafe then I can get a free cup of tea pretty nice system let’s check out these Samurai houses Samurai were an officer cast in Japan from the late 12th century until the late 1870s they were retainers of the Dao
Owners of large amounts of land Samurai had high Prestige and were extreme L respected Warriors back in the day as such the higher ranking Samurai would often live in nice residences in towns such as this one some of the houses in this District are 250 years old the samurai who built
And lived in this District were from the SAT family they were the samurai retainers of the shimazu Lords who controlled the Satsuma province which is the Western half of of kagoshima prefecture today come and check this Out the samurai residences scattered along this nearly half mile stretch of road is a great way of seeing what old Japan was like most of these Samurai houses are still being lived in today so we can’t see them all but we can still check out quite a few along this road are seven
Traditional styles of houses that were built they’re all semi for IED with large entrance gates to the property and have Japanese style Gardens that give each house privacy and helped to give Samurai a view of visitors before the visitors could view them it said these Gardens were built by
Masters from Kyoto which helped give this area the nickname of little Kyoto even though they were completely made by hand these Gardens were designed in a way to give the feeling of untouched nature that resembled Japanese landscape paintings and created a peaceful environment for the samurai living here no two gardens are exactly alike each one has its own unique atmosphere walking through these Gardens
Feels as if I went back in time to feudal Japan it’s fun to think what it must have been like for the samurai walking here back in the day S and I also came across this statue of a river monster found in Japanese folklore known as Kapa they’re humanlike beings depicted with webbed hands and feet and usually share some physical characteristics with turtles but I’ve never seen such a sexy one as this one of the last houses on this road
Has a thatched roof roof and its doors are open so we can get a clear look at how the inside Looks here’s another thatched roof House look at all those tatami mats pretty cool they smell really good too and and here’s the final Samurai House of the day I like the fish pond here having these koi fish in it helps give this Garden an even more peaceful atmosphere walking back through the town
I noticed something hanging on a fence in the distance let’s go see what it is these are Japanese radishes called donon they’ve been hung on this fence to dry out and may end up being pickled eventually dried radishes may also be put into other dishes when they’re dry
They’re said to contain more nutrients and can last longer than regular Japanese radishes there’s something interesting in this water here next to the road take a look at this I’ve never seen koi fish chilling on the roadside like this before this town definitely has has its own unique charm besides the samurai
District the town of chidan is also famous for green tea did I get a glass you bet and it was real tasty too there’s one more thing I learned about this town after my visit here it was the departure point for kamikaz pilots during the last few months of World War
II there’s a Peace Museum here today that talks all about this history history if you’re interested Chon’s a pretty neat Town quiet and historical with a Charming atmosphere I’m glad I could show it to you guys today we are on our way to see Japan’s most active volcano called
Sakurajima we can catch a glimpse of it in the distance between the trees here but before that I’m hungry let’s stop by kushima city and get a bite kushima city is the largest city in kagoshima prefecture with a population of just under 600,000 people there are
So many famous things about this city it was a busy political and Commercial Port City from the 1600s up until the 1860s it’s said that Japan’s Industrial Revolution started here and there are a number of famous people who are either from here or connected to the city in
Some way I unfortunately can’t cover it all but let’s have some lunch and I’ll tell you about one of the more prominent figures connected to kushima City my lunch today in this historic department store is sashimi steamed egg custard simmered fish assorted veggies white rice and miso soup another popular
Dish at this restaurant is anake yakisoba which is fried noodles in a sweet thick sauce this dish is loved by kagoshima people most of this food is sourced from right here in kagoshima so it’s nice and fresh it was overall really great meal I’d give the dish I had a
Solid n out of 10 now that I’m full let’s go over a bit of History before we head to today’s Final Destination one of the most influential Samurai in Japan’s history is a man named saigo takamori born in kagoshima prefecture he helped lead Japan’s Magi restoration which was the foundation of
Modern Japan he’s considered to be a hero of modern-day Japanese history and one of the last true samurai Ken watanabe’s character in The Last Samurai is said to be based on saigo takamori I come to this place so my ancestors I never remember today there’s a statue to
Celebrate saigo takamori in the city of kagoshima that’s not too far from where he made his final stand against Japan’s Imperial Army this bronze statue of saigo takamori took 8 years to complete and was made by the same sculptor who made the famous Hachiko dog statue in Shibuya
Tokyo as I said before our next and final stop today is at Japan’s most active volcano in order to get there we’ll take the local car fairy let’s head up to the top deck and check out the view it takes about 15 minutes to ferry across this section of kagoshima bay
We’ve reached the other side now we’ll drive off this Ferry and get as close to sakurajima as Possible This Observatory is in the lava field that was created when sakurajima erupted in 1946 all around us all those unusually shaped ous rocks were once lava pretty wild the number of eruptive explosions here has more than doubled since the 1980s but the scale of each eruption has fortunately been much smaller in recent
Years today we can see a bit of smoke rising from sakurajima but thankfully nothing more than that well I hope you guys enjoyed today’s tour of kagoshima prefecture with all of its beautiful nature and Rich history it’s another prefecture I’ll definitely never forget that’s it for today I’ll see you
Guys in the next episode where we’ll explore Miyazaki prefecture’s picturesque Oceanside Shrine and stunning Gorge with beautiful water waterfalls all while eating some tasty dried mangoes M that’s good until then take [Applause] [Applause] Care N