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We were just a tad apprehensive as we walked off the ship in Kagoshima, the southernmost city on the island of Kyushu, as we had a car booked with a driver who spoke no English. Mark had told the guide company where we planned to go so we were hoping for the best. I I had had Holden translate a few key phrases for me just in case we needed them.
Our driver was right there waiting at the exit with our Jumbo Taxi to take us away.
Mr. Yamada, or Yamada-san as we began calling him, was absolutely adorable and turned out to be not only a driver but a great guide as well. And yes, he didn't speak any English but he was excellent with Google Translate on his phone and would talk into it, get the translation and then play it for us. He and I also had a couple of "conversations" with me typing into Translate on my phone and then showing him the Japanese, he'd answer the same way in reverse.
He handed us each his card and Karl told him this photo didn't look anything like him. It turns out it wasn't him but a famous ruler from Kagoshima, we saw the image everywhere.
One of the things this area is famous for is being the place where the industrialization of Japan began. And the birthplace of that beginning was a spot called Sengan-en, a place I had been looking forward to visiting ever since I had done my research.
According to the site's brochure, Japan was the only country in Asia able to replicate the West's industrial revolution of the late 1800s. Sengan-en, with its industrial ruins, and the nearby Shoko Shuseikan Museum, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015. Today we'd only explore the beautiful grounds at Sengan-en.
The key to Japan's efforts to industrialize, including militarily, was the Shuseikan Project, where the lord of the Satsuma Clan, Shimadzu Nariakra, intended to introduce Western technologies. The project began with trial and error experiments. Their first facilities used the familiar waterwheel power, along with technology they could glean from Western textbooks. They attempted to build warships and steam-powered equipment, along with a furnace to make cast iron cannons. Eventually engines and machinery were imported from the West after 1863, which they then improved upon and shared throughout the country from Kagoshima.
Now you'e had the history lesson how about some lovely flowers.
The gardens and plants here were well tended and beautiful.
This is Shimadzu Nariakira who instigated Japan's industrial revolution.
The water to run the factory here came from up above, you can see that bare spot on the hillside where water fell. Some of the lovely old buildings and shrines are in the foreground.
Here's I'm standing in front of what remains of the Reverberatory Furnace building, which was designed to cast cannon from iron. This was probably the most important industrial site in Sengan-en.
The shrine here was built in the 18th century for the mountain and water deities.
At one time the shoreline came up to the bottom of this stone wall. Just atop this spot was a pottery kiln which made the famous Satsumaware Pottery and also the fire-proof bricks needed for the Reverberatory Furnace.
No, I will never get enough of azaleas, or any other flowers.
This was the main gate into the complex in 1895. It is constructed from camphor wood which was taken from the adjacent mountains. The gable roof is done in what's called the Yakuimon style.
At the upper part of the gate is the Shimadzu family crest, you saw it earlier on the portrait's lapels.
The door on the gate was beautiful, as was the detailed carving on another gabled roof.
We were sure the trees were carefully trimmed and pruned to keep these lovely shapes.
Sengan-en has been considered a National Site of Scenic Beauty in Japan since 1958.
LeaAnn and Jane are standing in what's called the Tin Gate, one through which only the lord and his first son were allowed to pass through.
Another lovely carved detail on a roof.
This structure is known as the Jumping Lion Lantern. It's the largest lantern in the garden and was built in 1884. On the top is a Chinese guardian lion with its hind legs in the air.
We kept waiting for clouds to clear from Sakurajima! This was the best shot I got.
There were so many different colors of green here and a large variety of trees. Even the stone walkways were pretty.
The beautiful old home at Sengan-en. We didn't pay the extra to go inside, just enjoyed the exterior.
The Crane Lantern was Japan's first gas lamp. It is supposed to resemble a crane spreading its wings.
This smaller version was located nearby.
Another beautiful spot in the gardens.
In 1814 these characters were carved up on the mountainside. It took 3900 people three months to create them. They literally mean "very large rock" and are a total of twelve feet tall. The white pigment used to paint them was made from crushed shells. It's a Chinese custom to carve characters into rock like this so it's very unusual to see them in a Japanese garden.
Not sure what this is, just that I liked all the green growing on it and the crooked tree in front.
A butterfly among the azaleas.
I could have sat here for a long time listening to the peaceful sound of the water.
Artsy photo of Sakurajima.
Not sure where we lost Chuck, it's usually Karl that we lose when we all take a picture together. LeaAnn is in front with Karl and I, Jane, Cathy, Steve & Mark are behind. These are good people.
Looking back towards Kagoshima.
Another of the Shimardzu family crests on the site.
And some rhododendrons, they were gorgeous here as well.
Just because it was a beautiful spot to take a photo.
The stairway up to more gardens.
The trunk of this tree was such a different color that it caught the eye from far away and was even more lovely close up.
A few bamboo were among the pines, these were descendants of the first bamboo trees in Japan, imported in 1736.
Note the bamboo pipe here.
More water features.
So, interesting shrine here, one called the Cat Shrine. Here's the story behind it. In the late 16th century, the head of the Shimadzu family, Yoshihiro, was ordered by the famous Toyotomi Hideyoshi to send an expeditionary army to Korea. Yoshihiro took seven cats with him and by looking at their eyes he was able to accurately tell the time of day during the battle. Two of those cats survived the journey back to Kagoshima and were enshrined here.
Here are the cat's eye "clock" times!
People will by these little plaques at a nearby store, write wishes on them, and hang them here.
Closeups of both types. I bought one of the ones on the left for a Christmas ornament to remind me of Sengan-en.
The yoga cats were displayed outside the "All Things Cat" store, at least that what I called it,
as was this pot with the curious kitties.
This device was a water-powered rice husking machine. Water would come through the bamboo pipe at the rear, into a compartment on the wood beam. Once it was full enough it would raise the beam, then empty, letting the cylinder drop to polish the brown rice. Supposedly the arm strikes about once a minute or 1,440 times per day. I'm pretty sure it's actually slower than that because we only saw it strike once in about five minutes.
We did find Chuck so I figured I better get a picture of him with LeaAnn.
On our way out we tried some of these Jambo mochi, pieces of mochi rice cake on bamboo skewers. These have supposedly been a favorite with the people of Kagoshima for over 150 years. They were chewy mochi with a sort of soy sauce covering, gooey, savory, and pretty good.
We also tried these pretty little "orange" cakes. The orange part was a bit like fondant and then the center was more like a marzipan. The flavoring was just a hint of orange. They were good, probably prettier than they tasted though. A nice snack.
Next we were off for the ferry to ride over to Sakurajima. Thanks to eruptions its actually connected to Kyushu but it takes too long to drive between there and Kagoshima, much quicker to take the 20 minute ferry. Yamada-san drove our Jumbo Taxi on and then took us up to the upper decks. On the way back we just stayed in the taxi and napped.
A photo with my cruise sisters, Jane and LeaAnn.
Despite the activeness of the volcano there are a lot of people that live on the island. It usually has a big eruption every 100 years. The last one was in 1914 so they are overdue. On the upper right of the photo you can sort of see where some of the more recent eruptions spewed lava, ash, or rocks.
Mt. Sakurajima has a circumference of 32 miles and is formed of three peaks. the highest of which reaches a height of 3665 feet. Here we're at the Yunohira Observatory, which is about a quarter of a mile from the volcano and the closest you can get to it.
We could see Serenade off in the distance from there,
as well as Sengan-en, where we had just come from.
We saw a lot of what turned out to be fish farms in the waters around the island.
Lots of beautiful pine trees in this area, still nice and green, unlike those on the south side of the island which have become infested with Bark Beetles.
You can see ash from an eruption down the side of the mountain. We figured the observatory would be right in the path of anything that came that way!
A floor photo looking at the volcano from the top and Jane balancing on the volcano.
As we traveled the island we found these pretty little oranges at one of the stops. Karl had some the delicious orange juice, it really was refreshing.
On the south side of the island is the Arimura Lave Observatory where you can walk among some of the Taisho Lava from the 1914 eruption.
There are some really interesting formations here, and ash from more recent eruptions that is on the walkway, piles next to the walkway, and on the rocks themselves.
So many interesting formations that I just kept taking photos.
I liked this one where you could see the sea through it.
You get an idea here how close this observation point is to the sea.
All kinds of coins left here on the "wishing rocks", asking the mountain for help.
The structure in the center here is a volcano shelter. They are located throughout the island, at least 33 of them, mostly along the roadside. Here you can also see the devastation the Pine Beetle is causing. When Karl and I saw the trees we suspected that was what was happening, it looked so familiar to the ones we see at home. Sure enough I learned from Yamada-san that it was beetles and that they are a big problem.
A couple more views of the sea. The walkway here meanders for quite a ways but we didn't have the time to go far on it.
The south peak of Sakurajima is shown here,
A photo next to the formation that we thought looked like
a lion when you looked at it from this angle.
This was just me being scared of Sakurajima erupting after I noticed
these hard hats stored under a nearby bench. Safety first people, always good to be prepared!
These next three are photos of photos that were in a shop we stopped at. This one is of the volcano smoking,
while this one shows one of the more violent eruptions,
and this one is more Fuji-esque with snow on the top.
Here's a little better photo of the areas affected by the various eruptions, the purple was from the 1914 one.
Karl and I are standing at the site of a buried shrine gate in Kurokami, at least all that's left that is above the ground.
The gate was originally nine feet tall so you can see how much ash fell here in 1914.
The trees at the shrine behind the gate are some of the oldest on the island. Surprisingly, they have regenerated after their destruction by the eruption.
Here's a photo showing how high the ash piled up.
This volcano shelter was more typical of the ones we saw along the roadside.
You couldn't get a whole lot of people in one of these but hopefully it would keep at least some people safe.
After our return ferry trip Mr. Yamada took us through a bit of Kagoshima so that we could see some of the lovely cherry blossoms. It was a thorough and thoughtful thing to do.
We were all sad to say goodbye to cute Yamada-san who had definitely exceeded our expectations and helped us have a wonderful day in Kagoshima!
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