One Day in Kagoshima

Continuing our whirlwind tour of Kyushu, we departed Kumamoto on the Sakura Shinkansen and arrived at Kagoshima-Chuo station in just over 45 minutes. Since we only had one day in Kagoshima, we quickly dropped our luggage at the hotel and wandered out to explore.

We had reservations at Ajimori, known for Kagoshima Kurobuta (Berkshire pork). The staff seated us in a semi-private tatami room on the second floor since we had preordered a shabu shabu lunch course.

The traditional sunomono (salad with vinegar and seaweed) had a nice rich savory note from a surprise hint of pork. The vinegar helped cut through the richness of the perfectly fried crisp croquette filled with potato and meltingly tender Kurobuta.

The kimono clad staff placed the richer rosu meat in the dashi soup and instructed us to eat it alone without dipping it in the egg. It was rich and meltingly tender and took on the subtle flavor of the broth.

They left us to cook the rest of the meat and vegetables on our own. The fresh egg was a perfect dipping sauce for the pork. When we finished the meat the staff brought fresh udon to cook in the remaining stock. The meal ended with tea and matcha imo yokan, a traditional confection made with sweet potato and matcha tea.

We planned to go to Shiroyama Park for a view of Sakurajima before taking the 15 minute ferry ride to the volcano. Since it was cloudy, I dropped in the visitor center to ask the staff if they thought the volcano would be visible from the Shiroyama Park observatory. The staff suggested that we check the view from the free Sky View observation floor in the newly opened Cen Terrace Tenmonkan complex right next door! It opened in April 2022 when Japan was closed to visitors so it is still relatively unknown. Expansive windows on three sides of the building provide great views of Sakurajima and the city.

The clouds were rolling in quickly, so we took a taxi to the observatory on top of Shiroyama for another view of Sakurajima.

Shiroyama is also the site of the final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion. We walked down the various paths through the woods to try to find the cave where local hero Saigo Takamori took his last stand. Unfortunately the maps on the trails were hard to follow. It started raining so we gave up our search, but the park was worth visiting in any case.

At least we found the statue of Saigo Takamori downtown.

We also spotted Saigo all over the city. He was outside several stores and printed on many souvenirs and local products, including Japanese sake.

Given the weather, we skipped our plan to take the ferry to Sakurajima and wandered around downtown instead. Luckily we were staying near the Tenmonkan shopping area. The covered arcades were welcome on a rainy day.

We were too full for a real dinner following our big lunch, but we managed to find room for the famous original Shirokuma kakigori (polar bear shaved ice) from Tenmonkan Mujaki. The shaved ice was sweetened with condensed milk and covered with an assortment of fruit and jelly. The hojicha (roasted green tea) special was adorable. The nutty flavor of the roasted tea went well with the savory sembei (rice cracker), rich vanilla ice cream, and sweet red beans.

Details

Kagoshima is less than two hours from Tokyo by plane, or 7 hours by Shinkansen (bullet train). It will take one hour longer by Japan Rail pass since the fastest express trains aren’t covered.

We stayed at the Remm Kagoshima. I have stayed in Remm hotels before and they are usually well located and efficiently designed, but the rooms are very small. The only windows were in the bathroom, but glass panels let light into the room. The partial view of Sakurajima was a surprise since I wasn’t expecting to see it at all.

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