With the advent of the JR Kyushu Shinkansen, travelling to Kagoshima has never been easier. Favorably compared to its sister city, Naples, you can expect mild weather, an active volcano, and - best of all - passionate individuals! Here are five things that should be on your to-do list in Kagoshima.
1. Visit Sakurajima
Board on a ferry at Sakurajima Ferry Terminal and admire the majesty of Sakurajima, an active volcano that erupts multiple times a year as it inches closer and closer to you. Once there, soak in its lush-green spaces and feel at peace with nature.
2. Tuck into Shirokuma
Travelers with a sweet tooth will not be able to resist shirokuma, a type of shaved ice flavoured with condensed milk, fruits and azuki beans. Savour how the natural goodness of fruits is accentuated by the sweetness of milk and red beans!
3. Take a sand bath at Ibusuki
How does it feel to have the greater part of your body covered by warm sand? Like a troop of ants crawling all over your body? Or is it more like lying on a hot bed of coal? You got to try it for yourself to find out.
4. Visit the Chiran Peace Museum
Intrigued to know what was going through Japanese solders' minds during World War 2? The Chiran Peace Museum, dedicated to the kamikaze pilots who flew their bomb-laden planes into American ships, might just give you some answers via the pilots' personal letters and photographs.
5. Eat tonkatsu-don (pork cutlet rice)
Pigs in Kagoshima are fed on a diet of sweet potatoes, so their fat's melting point is higher, thus making for a less greasy and mouth-watering texture. Don't leave Kagoshima without having a bowl of piquant, deep-fried pork cutlet rice!
