Fun things to do in Kagoshima-ken

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Adjacent to the Senganen Garden one can find the machine factory which was part of the easteem of the Shimazu clan to bring in modernity to Japan. Today it has been turned into museum and exhibits armory, photos of articles and more used during the Shimazu family's 700-year rule.

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Sengan-en Garden, also called Isoteien, is a Japanese style landscape garden, which is beautifully located at the foot of a wooded hill along the coast near Kagoshima.
The garden, built in 1658, is a fine specimen of Japanese landscape gardening. It contains former residential buildings and a beautiful view of Sakurajima Volcano and Kinko Bay. The garden belonged to the Shimazu, the family clan which ruled Kagoshima for almost 700 years until the end of Japan's feudal age in 1868.

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This is one of Japan's most active volcanoes and can be reached via a ferry and car to the view point. It is a composite with the summit split into three peaks, Kitadake (northern peak), Nakadake (central peak) and Minamidake (southern peak) which is active now. The surface of the island is about 77 square kilometres and since the last major eruption connected with the mainland.
Sakurajima is part of the Kirishima-Yaku National Park, and its lava flows are a major tourist attraction. The area around Sakurajima contains several hot spring resorts. One of the main agricultural products of Sakurajima is a huge basketball-sized white radish called sakuradaikon.

Pewter roofed gate is the gate that originally created as the entrance to Sengan-en.

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Sengan-en is the most famous garden in Kagoshima-ken, made by Shimazu lord in the 19th century at the beautiful bayside Kinko bay.

The garden contains many historic artifacts that tell of its long history;
-Pewter roofed gate
-Manor house
-Crane shaped Stone Lantern
-Bogakuro pavilion
-Senjingan Garden
-Kyokusui Garden
-Konan bamboo forest

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Sakura-jima is an active volcano and a former island of the in Kagoshima-ken.
The north highest peak rises 1117m above sea level.
The mountain stands in the part of Kagoshima Bay which is also known as Kinkô Bay.

In 1914, a great eruption occurred, burying the straits with lava, and connecting the former island to the Osumi Peninsula, so that Sakurajima is no longer an island.

The volcanic activity still continues, dropping large amounts of volcanic ash on the surroundings.
Earlier eruptions built the white sands highlands in the region.

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This is a nice, easy climb that you can accomplish in a couple of hours if you're an experienced climber, or take a day to do if you're travelling with small children.

I climbed it with a group in early October -- the weather was really nice still and we had a good view of the surrounding area when we made it to the top.

We had two children in the group -- a 6 y.o. and an 8 y.o who kept walking ahead of the group. To think we were worried about them!

While climbing make sure you have water and food enough to last you for the duration of your trip, there are no facilities of any kind along the trail.

If you can climb on a really clear day you can hope to see Yakushima and Tanegashima to the south!

Mt. Sakurajima, our friendly neighbourhood volcano.
To get there, take the ferry from the Sakurajima Ferry Port -- about 500yen for a pedestrian -- ferrys run 24hours/day
Car rates are a bit more pricey -- and they depend on the size of your vehicle.

Once you're on Sakurajima consider walking around or driving to the Sabo museum where there are various exibitions related to the volcano, eruptions and the ways to deal with ash and rocks that avalanche down the mountain periodically.

There are quite a few onsen (hot springs) on Mt. Sakurajima. One I would especially recommend is "Furusato Onsen", an open air bath that lets you enjoy the view of Kinko Bay while soaking. Bathing is mixed-sex, probably because bathers wear white robes (yukata)