Kagoshima, Japan–Sights and Thoughts

February 15, 2017 Paul Groves





Day 42 of 111. Kagoshima, Japan

We visited Kagoshima and the Sakurajima Volcano. We took a ferry over to the island volcano and could see puffs of smoke rising from the peaks. The island is also the home of the huge white radish! Cool stuff.

Sengan-en Garden was built as the second residence of the powerful Shimadzu family. The residence overlooks Kinko Bay where our ship is docked and Sakurajima is plainly visible. The symbol of the family is the circle and cross and could be seen on walls, the main gate, and now even on manhole covers. The gardens are beautiful with many ponds, waterfalls, and shrines. Nariakira, the 28th head of the Shimadzu family helped modernize Japan by bringing in modern industrial technologies producing cannon and glassware and other useful items.

On our travels through Kagoshima, there were interesting sights. The safety barriers were held up by cute bunnies. The use of brightly colored plastic at the car dealerships was eye-catching and different that in the US. At the Sengan-en Garden there were blossoms, but I did not know what they were. It is too early for cherry blossoms and they are too pale to be plum blossoms. They were pretty, however. The manhole cover had the Shimadzu family crest on it.

Of course, it bears notice that there are Eastern-style and Western-style toilets to choose from. In some of the higher-tech stops, the seats are warmed and water jets will clean you if you push the right buttons. I’ve even heard that music plays in some of them, but I did not experience any of those… yet.