Visit Kagoshima if you visit Japan

Visit Kagoshima if you visit Japan

kagoshima is such a distinct place to visit in Japan its iconic volcano Sakurajima plays a part in its history and modern culture as a coastal city resulting in somewhere that is so different to what you might expect from a place like Tokyo or Kyoto as a Japan travel writer this is one of my top three favorite places to visit in the country it has that kind of tropical atmosphere to it without just being a beach resort destination so I knew it would be the perfect place to bring my family and I’m going to show you just what we did with two nights there kagoshima is the last stop on the Shinkhan line from Tokyo but today we’re going by plane which takes about 2 hours [Music] [Music] the museum itself goes through the region’s history going back to ancient festivals and samurai culture and the castle’s heyday unfortunately videos aren’t allowed inside but what I can show you is the beautiful outside which has some old residences and what I consider the best view of the volcano i just love this shot with the gate so the volcano is one of Japan’s most active volcanoes and it frequently emits ash and causes earthquakes this is just a part of daily life for the people of Kagoshima but if you’re planning a trip there you should make sure that you check the weather news before and during your trip just as a precaution as of recording the last time the main crater erupted was in 2023 but the smaller craters can erupt multiple times a month and actually the volcano used to be an island of its own until an eruption in 1914 when the lava overflowed and connected it to the peninsula of course the volcano itself has long been an icon for Kagoshima and is depicted in a lot of artworks too given this volcanic activity it may not be too much of a surprise that there are a lot of islands surrounding Kagoshima too and they dot the sea between Kagoshima and Okinawa these are called the Amami Islands and although I don’t have time to visit them during this trip there is actually a little preview of the islands in Kagoshima called Amami Nosato [Music] and Amamino Nosato is like this big area with like a tropical garden area and a Japanese garden area and a place where you can learn about the island craft of Oshimatsumi which is a silk made with a special mud dying process [Music] side note Amamino Nosato also has one of the most beautiful women’s bathrooms ever surrounded by all of these tropical plants so do keep an eye out for that on your visit [Music] a lot of Japanese gardens recreate famous landscapes in a kind of miniature form and at Amami Noato then the main focus is the miniature form of Mount Kaimon which is sometimes known as Satim Fuji because of its shape which looks a bit like Mount Fuji and if you go inside you can learn about the silk dying process and normally there are a lot of people working on the silk but because it was so close to New Year then it was just this one lady i feel really bad i hope she had a good break [Music] afterwards and there’s also a shop but it has a surprising lack of Amami Oshima craft items if I’m totally honest then further out of the city center is Sangen which really is a must if you’re going to Kagoshima because it’s this former residence on these huge grounds with even a couple of restaurants and shops to it and I really like the residence especially on a sunny day like this because it has this open courtyard area and a lot of open areas to it which is just gorgeous [Music] at the residence you can walk through and learn about the Shimazu clan who owned it and ruled the southern Kyushu area [Music] it’s also another great spot to see the volcano because they use Sakurajima and the bay in what is called borrowed scenery which is basically a way of using the existing landscape to complement a garden’s design so basically cheating but I’m not [Music] mad before exploring the grounds I’m having a meal at the restaurant Okate where they were even able to provide a vegan meal for my brother which isn’t always the case i myself got a tonkatu set which came with locally produced pork called kurobita and everything was really tasty and it came with a side of Sakurajima views [Music] there is even a small cat shrine on the grounds which has a slightly odd history because the Shimazu family owned seven cats which they took to war and the shrine is dedicated to the two cats that made it back so now you can pray for your cat’s health there and perhaps you can pray for them to be as strong and sturdy as the two cats that survived literal war [Music] but my favorite thing about Sangan is the different workshops that you could [Music] do i will say I did have to do a fair bit of translating for my family whilst they were doing these but they do have worksheets available in English as well here I’m working on a Satama kit glass which I think turned out pretty well but if you’re worried about communication my brother did a simpler keychain which is also [Music] Satamakor and I think that’s pretty cute too there are also a bunch of souvenir shops including a place where you can buy Satamakuro glass made by professionals and a dango place and dango is like chewy rice balls on a stick covered in a sweet and sticky sauce and my brother was obsessed with them if you’re interested in doing this trip for yourself then I’ll put the itinerary for this Kagoshima trip in the description below and I’ll see you next time

Come with me to explore some of the highlights of Kagoshima, a southern region of Japan accessible by 2-hour flight from Tokyo!

Itinerary (includes links to volcano forecast):
https://mindtrip.ai/inspiration/two-days-kagoshima/in-5nWsYSXY?refId=u-G8mTuGFo

Music:
Sunday Morning by Maarten Schellekens
Into Battle by Maarten Schellekens
Classicals.de – Schubert – 4 Impromptus, No. 1 – D. 935, Op. 142

Image:
Route 220, Former Seto strait-2 by Sakoppi