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Kagoshima

The southernmost big city on Japan's main islands, sunny Kagoshima (鹿児島) has a personality to match its climate and has been voted Japan's friendliest city nationwide. It's proud of its past as capital of the feudal Satsuma province, which holds an outsize place in Japanese history. Kagoshima's backdrop/deity is Sakurajima, a very active volcano just across the bay. Locals raise their umbrellas against the mountain's recurrent eruptions, when fine ash coats the landscape like snow and obscures the sun like fog – mystical and captivating.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Sengan-en
Kagoshima
In 1658, the 19th Shimazu lord laid out his pleasure garden on this hilly, rambling bayside property of groves, hillside trails and one of Japan's most…
Museum of the Meiji Restoration
Kagoshima
This museum offers insights into the unique social system of education, samurai loyalty and sword techniques that made Satsuma one of Japan's leading…
Nishi Hongan-ji Kagoshima Betsuin
Kagoshima
The current building of this large Buddhist temple near Tenmonkan dates from 1982 and was renovated in 2013. Inside, it's unlike most temples you may have…
Shōko Shūseikan
Kagoshima
Adjacent to Sengan-en, this 1850s building, a Unesco World Heritage site as Japan's first modern factory, has been converted into a museum. Historical…
Reimeikan
Kagoshima
The Reimeikan has extensive displays on Satsuma history and ancient sword-making. It's inside the site of Kagoshima's castle, Tsurumaru-jō (1602); the…
Terukuni-jinja
Kagoshima
This famous shrine is in memory of Shimazu Nariakira (1809–58), celebrated 11th leader of the Satsuma clan in the late Edo period. He is credited with…
Satsuma Students Statue
Kagoshima
This statue and landmark commemorates the students from Satsuma (the feudal name for Kagoshima) who went to study Western technology in the UK in 1865…
Kagoshima City Museum of Art
Kagoshima
The Kagoshima City Museum of Art has a small permanent collection of works by modern-day Kagoshima painters, as well as some 16th-century porcelains and…

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