Page 279 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

SAKURAJIMA
VOLCANO
A dramatic eruption
of Sakurajima in 1914
deposited three billion
tons of lava in the
narrow strait between
the mountain and the
peninsula, thus joining
the island to the main-
land. One of Japan’s
foremost writers, Endo
Shusaku, is said to have
had himself lowered
by helicopter into the
smoking crater of
Sakurajima, the model
for his 1959 novel Crystal-clear waters at a rock-dotted
Kazan (Volcano). beach on Amami Oshima Island

On an artificial island in the pay their respects to him in a The Oshima Tsumugi Mura is
harbor is the Kagoshima cave on Shiroyama Hill where an artisan village set aside for
Aquarium, with species from he committed ritual suicide. the production of tsumugi, a
local waters and the coral delicate handwoven silk fabric
reefs around the Nansei Sengan-en used to make kimonos.
islands, southwest of Kyushu. " ⌂ 9700-1 Yoshinocho
Also worth seeing is the City § (099) 247-1551 # 8:30am–
Museum of Art, with its 5:30pm daily 21
displays of Satsuma ceramics.
The city is also associated Kagoshima Aquarium Chiran
with Saigo Takamori (1827–77), " ⌂ 3-1 Honkoshinmachi 知覧
who led the ill-fated Satsuma § (099) 226-2233 # 9:30am– ! A7 ⌂ Kagoshima
Rebellion. Japanese visitors 6pm daily
Prefecture @ from
City Museum of Art Kagoshima n (0993)
" ⌂ 4-36 Shiroyamacho 83-1120
# 9:30am–6pm Tue–Sun Tucked into the green folds of
∑ city.kagoshima.lg.jp/ tea plant ations and wooded
artmuseum hills, exquisite Chiran was one
of 113 castle towns built to
pro tect the feudal lords of
20 Satsuma. Seven preserved
samurai houses and gardens
Amami Oshima Island on Samurai Lane can be
奄美大島 visited with a single entrance
ticket. Sata combines a dry -
! D2 ⌂ Kagoshima landscape garden, an expanse
Prefecture k From of white raked sand, and
Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka,
Kagoshima, Naha mountains used as “borrowed
g From Kagoshima to Naze scenery.” Hira yama is com-
posed almost entirely of
∑ kagoshima-kankou.com/ hedges, clipped into the
for/whatsnew/area/
amami-island illusion of undulating hills
blending seamlessly with a
Subtropical Amami is home to backdrop of mountains. A
a wealth of flora and fauna. hill above the village was the
The coral reefs and offshore site of a World War II training
islets of Setouchi, in the south, ground for kamikaze pilots.
are part of a pro tected marine Cherry trees are dedicated
park offering excellent diving, to 1,026 men who flew their
snorkeling, and boat trips. fatal missions from Chiran.
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