Kyushu – Kagoshima 鹿児島県 – Living for Experiences

After spending two nights at Nagasaki, time to bid farewell. We drove back to Hakata, Fukuoka to return the rental car and took the Shinkansen to Kagoshima. It was my first time taking Shinkansen. Unfortunately, I could not comment much about the experience except very comfortable that I slept throughout the journey or perhaps I was just exhausted.😉

Kagoshima Prefecture (鹿児島県, Kagoshima-ken) located on the southernmost tip of Kyushu and the northern half of the Nansei Shoto, the island group that stretches from Kyushu to Taiwan. Kagoshima Prefecture’s former name is Satsuma. It played a crucial role in realizing the Meiji Restoration and during the Meiji Period.

Below is a monument that we saw when we stepped out of the Kagoshima Chuo Station. In 1865, defying the Tokugawa Isolation Law, 17 courageous young students from Satsuma, now Kagoshima, were smuggled to Europe and America to learn advanced Western technology and returned to become the driving force in the modernisation of the feudalistic society.

From the Kagoshima Chuo Station, we made our way to the Toyota Car Rental Office. We input the postal code to the Google map to locate the Office. Google led us to a shopping mall instead. After asking around, we managed to find the Toyota Car Rental Office located behind the Exxon Mobile Petroleum Station. Now we appreciate why the staff at the Toyota Car Rental Office at Fukuoka Airport advice us to key in the phone number of the destination instead of the postal code.

The staff of Toyota Car Rental oriented us with the rental car and showed us how to use the GPS. While helping us to key in our destination which was the hotel we were putting up, he said to us that we have booked ourselves at the most luxurious hotel in Kagoshima.

When we reached the hotel, we could not help but agree that it is indeed the top hotel in Kagoshima. The hotel is on the hilltop, right next to the Shiroyama Park and a short drive from the city centre. The view from the hotel is amazing.

After checking in and without further delay, we grabbed our cameras, left the room and walked to the open area on the west of the hotel to take pictures of the golden hour. The view was breathtaking.

Shiroyama Park 城山公園

We explored the vicinity and found the Shiroyama Park. There used to be shops on the side of the open carpark but now the place is rundown except for two drink vending machines. We continued exploring and reached the Observatory area. The view was captivating, I could not wait to visit Sakurajima on our last day at Kagoshima.

Shiroyama Park 城山公園(Shiroyama Kōen) extends over Mount Shiroyama, with an elevation of 107 meters, the mountain formerly served as the site of a castle fortification, which led to its name. Shiroyama literally means “castle mountain” in. The castle’s former grounds at the base of the mountain now serve as the site of the Reimeikan Museum. The park is most famous for its Shiroyama Observatory with spectacular views over downtown Kagoshima, Kagoshima Bay and Sakurajima.

After taking some pictures and enjoyed the evening breeze. We made our way back to the hotel which is just five minutes walk away.

Kagoshima City Aquarium

On our second day at Kagoshima, we went through our itinerary and did another search on the web to plan on where to visit. After searching, it seems like there are not too many things to do unless we plan to drive for a few hours to other parts of Kagoshima. As my friend loves animals and coupled with bad weather, it was raining the whole day, we decided to stay indoor and visited the Aquarium.

First, we watched the performance by the dolphins. I thought I would enjoy the performance as dolphins are very lovely but I felt uneasy as they seemed to be suffering just to keep humans entertained.