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KAGOSHIMA |
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With a population of nearly 500,000, KAGOSHIMA curls round the west
shore of Kagoshima Bay, a mere 4km from one of the world's most active
volcanoes. Sakurajima 's smouldering cone constitutes the city's most
obvious and compelling attraction, but Kagoshima contains a few sights
of its own which justify a day's exploration. Foremost of these are its
classical garden, Sengan-en , which uses Sakurajima in the ultimate
example of borrowed scenery, and several excellent museums of local
history and culture. The best are devoted to Kagoshima's mid-nineteenth-century
hey-day when Saigo Takamori, amongst other local heroes, played a major
role in Japan's modernization.
The City
Kagoshima's handful of central sights are gathered round the informative
Reimeikan museum at the foot of Shiroyama. Next, you can either walk or
take a tram south to the banks of the Otsuki-gawa, where there's a
gimmicky but entertaining Museum of the Meiji Restoration . A few
kilometres north of town, the Sengan-en area is of interest not only for
its traditional garden, but also for a museum celebrating the
modernizing zeal of the enterprising Shimazu lords. All these sights are
served by the City View bus , but you'll need to catch a ferry over to
Sakurajima itself. A circuit of the volcano includes lava fields and
observatories, but it's also worth stopping off at Furusato village to
soak in a superb, sacred hot spring.
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