Discovering Japan: 2008

TRIP TO KAGOSHIMA

Saturday, 22nd November 2008

Two years after his last visit to Japan, Josh was in Japan again! This time he came to see me in Tojo in the far north eastern corner of Hiroshima Prefecture! We spent a few hours walking around Tojo but we decided to focus our sightseeing somewhere the both of us hadn't been to before. At this time of the year it is fairly cold with winter just around the corner and in the end we decided to go as far south as possible but still be on the mainland. The only option was Kagoshima! We set off early from Mukaihara on the Saturday. We took 4 trains to get to Kagoshima arriving around midday.

We arrived at Hakata station in Kyushu and found that our train was named 'DEADHEAD'! The display is written in both English and Japanese the latter showed '回送' meaning 'out of service'. I'm not sure how they ended up with 'DEADHEAD' but I guess things really do get lost in translation!　

Josh with all his luggage on his back and front!

With it being a long weekend in Japan, it was difficult to obtain tickets on the trains we wished to take. Fortunately there were two seats left on the Tsubame express train from Hakata to Shin-Yatsushiro in the 'green car'. For an extra 1300 yen (AUD10), it felt like we were travelling in first class with extra leg room, wider and reclining seats, head-phone jacks and even a complimentary drink during the trip!

Once arriving at Shin-Yatsushiro station, we had three minutes to change trains. The last leg of the trip to Kagoshima saw us ride on the relatively new Kyushu Shinkansen (commenced operation in 2004) which takes you the last 137.6km of the way in 35 minutes on the express service. The normal service that stops at an extra 3 stations takes about 45 minutes. Currently the trip from Hakata in the north of Kyushu to Kagoshima in the south takes around 2 hours & 20 minutes using both trains. Once the whole stretch of shinkansen track opens for use in spring 2013 (Kyushu Shinkansen scheduled date) the trip from Hakata to Kagoshima will take only 1 hour & 20 minutes!!! Since the track is brand new when compared with the existing Tokaido Shinskansen that connects Tokyo with Hakata, the trip is even smoother than the already super smooth Tokaido Shinkansen! Also upon completion of the Kyushu Shinkansen project, you will be able to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Hakodate at the very top of Honshu just below Hokkaido all the way down to the southern tip!

Kagoshima is located right opposite one of Japan's currently active volcanoes - Sakurajima! Upon arrival at Kagoshima Central Station, you can gaze at the almost movie-like volcanic backdrop from the station itself! We had perfect weather on the day so we decided to head to Sakurajima as soon as possible and tour the island!

This is the ferry that takes you across to Sakurajima. The ferry runs 24 hours a day and you can load your car on and off. The trip itself takes between 15-20 minutes. (this picture was not taken on the same day made obvious by the not so perfect weather!)

Josh enjoying a breath of fresh air with Sakurajima in the background.

Josh and myself up as far as you can go legally up the volcano - Yo no hira Observation Deck. There is a observation deck a little higher up but it is now out-of-bounds due to the danger the volcano brings.

Yu no hira Observation Deck
Elevation: 373 metres

This is the view of Kagoshima City from the Yu no hira Observation Deck.

The two hour tour that Josh & I went on takes you right around the island. This photo was taken from the Tabi no sato Volcano Observation Point. You can see some smoke rising out of one of the three mouths. The place doubles up as a shop too and upon arrival the shop keepers have all sorts of goodies & local potato shochu waiting for the bus load of tourists to try and buy! It took us a little while to get through to the outside to check out the view! There are probably some people that get caught up in trying so many products that they forget what they have come for! I ended up buying some brown sugar & peanut snacks and fried sweet potato snack chips!

A local flower

We are now travelling on lava ROAD as the sign says! Luckily the lava has turned into solid rock making it a safe trip! To the left is the sea and you can see the intricate patterns of solid molten rock that has been left behind making it a rather exciting trip!

We had almost gone around the whole island stopping briefly for 10-20 minutes at a few locations - touring Japanese style - and now our last stop at Arimura Lava Observation Point where we got off for a quick walk up to the deck and then assembled for a group photo - a must on a Japanese tour. They said the photo would be delivered to us within a week but Josh was leaving before that so I thought that I would need to send it once I received it. To cut the story short, once we arrived back at my place in Tojo, Hiroshima Prefecture, I checked the mail and there was an envelope with the photos inside! The photos literally beat us back home! (the photo was taken on Saturday afternoon and we arrived back home on Tuesday afternoon).

lava molten rock in the shape of a lion! Use your imagination if you must!

This is the Sakurajima Youth Hostel, a beautifully run-down concrete building which we had the privilege of staying at for two wonderful nights! We almost decided to cancel the second night there and stay at a cheap hotel but after giving it a few hours we decided it wasn't that bad after all! We met a few people there, mainly a guy from Tokyo who was in Kagoshima by himself leaving his family at home! He had photos of his family with him and he introduced them to us. He even spoke fairly good English which was a surprise. I think he mentioned that he was born somewhere close to Kagoshima although I may have mistaken it for another family member.

The sunset over Kagoshima

Sunday, 23rd November

Today, we took a one hour bus ride to the mountain village of Chiran. It is a pleasant place to visit for the day to take a walk through the huge Chiran Gardens which houses a few Samurai Houses - each of them complete with their own miniature garden. Chiran is also the site of the Chiran Air Base where Kamikazi pilots said goodbye to their families for the last time before taking off in their aircraft to be sacrificed in World War II. There is a peace museum on site which commemorates the hundreds of innocent men that died following orders. There are hundreds of letters written by the pilots which are on display in the hall. There are computers that store English translations of the letters for visitors to read through in the museum.

There are seven house gardens to have a gaze at but I have chosen a couple to show.

Shigemitsu Mori's Garden
(using the explanation in the pamphlet) the garden is arranged so that the pond and shaped rocks lead to an imaginary landscape with a nearby mountain and peninsula

Ryoichi Hirayama's Garden
This garden uses no water but uses the Hahagatake mountain range in the background with trimmed bushes in the middle forming three peaks and the front bush trimmed more smoothly to show give it a realistic look.

Products made from potato or sweet potato are not rare in Kagoshima Prefecture. Here we found sweet potato ice-cream which was very tasty despite the cold!

We decided to have 'yakitori' (barbecued chicken) for dinner and went to a specialty restaurant where you can sit around the kitchen and watch your yakitori being cooked!

Just like yakiniku (barbecued meat) in Japan, you can get heart, kidney, chicken gristle, chicken skin, chicken joints, etc as well the usual breast chicken that most people enjoy eating!

Japanese onigiri (rice balls)

on the plate from the left is cheese wrapped in bacon, chicken meat balls, chicken thigh & breast chicken.

we had to try something rare and unusal so we tried chicken heart! It wasn't bad actually and I would eat it again! The middle was still a bit red around the kebab stick but was tasty nonetheless!

barbecued mushroom

Monday, 24th November

We left the final day for sightseeing around Kagoshima. We relied on taking the Kagoshima tourist bus but spent ages trying to work out where the bus stops were and which direction they ran in so unfortunately we didn't get as much as we would have liked to have done but we did manage to spend a few hours in the magnificent Sengan-en (Iso Garden). The guide book says that it was constructed in 1658 during the Edo period which the Shimazu family used as a second home. They ruled the area of Satsuma. Apparently Kinko Bay and Sakurajima have been used in the overall landscaping and design of the gardens.

This is the original seimon - front gate to the estate. On the edges of the roof you can see the family crest which is a cross inside a circle.

matsu - pine trees

a 5-storey tower amongst pretty flowers

goten - traditional mansion for the successive lords of the Shimazu clan. It was constructed in 1884 and represents one thrid of the original mansion.

The view from the mansion. It has its own garden inside the surrounding gardens that the mansion is built within. The natural view of Kinko Bay and Sakurajima blended into the gardens make it an inspirational and impressive place to enjoy the beauty and peace and quiet that it offers.

once again you can see how the backdrop of the bay and Sakurajima have been blended in skillfully into the garden.

peace and tranquility

Japanese work and safety regulations in action - this must be one of Japan's most dangerous occupations!

Takamori Saigo - a low ranking samurai of Satsuma (now known as Kagoshima prefecture) who played a big part in the areas history.

Kagoshima has four sister/friendship cities. Perth, Western Australia seems to be one of them which surprised me when I saw a picture of my hometown! The four cities form a gate around a park and the Perth sits as the south gate. The other three cities are Napoli - Italy, Miami - USA and Changsha - China

the south gate - Perth

Tuesday, 25th November

To save time we flew back to Hiroshima but first we needed to get to Kagoshima airport which ended up being an hour's bus ride on the highway! The weather wasn't too bad in the morning so I was expecting a pleasant flight however, the final minutes of the flight were fairly rough with turbulance and I almost got sick but I managed to take some cool shots during the flight!