Page 255 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

K YUSHU  253

garden, an expanse of white
raked sand, and mountains
used as “borrowed scenery.”
Morishige is a stroll garden with
a pond representing the sea
with islands. Hira yama is
composed almost entirely of
hedges, clipped with precision
into the illusion of undulating
hills blending seamlessly with a
backdrop of mountains. A hill
above the village was the site of
a World War II training ground
for kamikaze pilots. Cherry
trees are dedicated to 1,026
young men who flew their
fatal missions from Chiran.

d Amami Oshima
Island
Amani Island
Kagoshima prefecture. * 76,000.
Sakurajima volcano across the strait from Kagoshima k g from Kagoshima to Naze.
∑ city.amami.lg.jp
Japanese visitors pay their Kazan (Volcano). One peculiar
respects to him in a cave on sight is the Kurokami Buried Subtropical Amami is home
Shiroyama Hill where he Torii Gate, the protruding lintel to a wealth of flora and
committed ritual suicide. of a stone Shinto gate, a fauna. The coral reefs and
casualty of the 1914 eruption. offshore islets of Setouchi, in
Y Sengan-en the south, are part of a pro-
Tel (099) 247-1551. Open daily. & tected marine park offering
s Chiran
 Kagoshima Aquarium excellent diving, snorkeling,
Open daily. & Chiran fishing, and boat trips.
The Amami Oshima Tsumugi
P City Museum of Art Kagoshima prefecture. * 13,000. @ Mura is an artisan village set
Open Tue–Sun. & ∑ city. from Kagoshima. n (0993) 83-2511. aside for the production of
kagoshima.lg.jp/artmuseum Tucked into the green folds of tsumugi (also known as Oshima
neatly manicured tea plant- pongee), a delicate handwoven
a Sakurajima ations and wooded hills, silk fabric used to make
Volcano exquisite Chiran was one of kimonos. It can take up to one
113 castle-towns built to
Sakurajima Volcano year to produce sufficient silk to
pro tect the feudal lords of make a single kimono. Halfway
g every 15 mins from the pier near Satsuma. Seven preserved down the east coast, two rivers
Kagoshima stn. samurai houses and gardens form a saltwater delta, which
on Samurai Lane can be visited supports the world’s most
A dramatic eruption of with a single entrance ticket. northerly mangrove forest.
Sakurajima in 1914 deposited Sata combines a dry -landscape
three billion tons of lava in the
narrow strait separating the
mountain from the peninsula,
thus joining the island to the
mainland. The rich volcanic soil
produces the world’s largest
white radishes, giant specimens
growing to a diameter of 1.5 m
(5 ft). Such is the fascination of
the cone that 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 1960 novel One of the seven perfectly maintained samurai gardens in Chiran

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