Welcome to Kagoshima!

PLACES OF INTEREST:
Sakurajima, Ibusuki, Uenohara Jomon Site, Tanegashima and Yakushima

FESTIVALS IN KAGOSHIMA:
Minami Satsuma-no-jugo-ya Gyoji (September 22) is a festival which celebrates the viewing of the harvest moon in September, an age-old tradition in Japan.

Toshidon(December 31) Toshidon is a year-end festival which takes place on December 31st in Kagoshima prefecture.

Kagoshima City, located on Kinko Bay (Kagoshima Bay) at the southern tip of Kyushu, is the capital of Kagoshima Prefecture and considered Japan’s gateway to the south. Since ancient times, it has been a center for trade and exchange between China, Korea and Southeast Asia. Its history dates back some 9,500 years (the early part of the Jomon period) as evidenced by the ruins of Uenohara – the most significant archeological site of its kind in Japan.

Kagoshima Prefecture consists of the City of Kagoshima, the surrounding area as well as the northern Ryukyu Islands north of Okinawa. Most famous are Tanegashima, now home to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Yakushima - one of Japan's natural treasures. Like most of Japan, Kagoshima is blessed with both mountains and the sea, however, because of its southern latitude, it also enjoys a temperate climate to the north and a subtropical climate on its islands to the south. It is rich in hot springs, natural preserves and a pristine coastline. It is home to Sakurajima, Japan's most active volcano, located just 2.4 miles from the City of Kagoshima across Kinko Bay. The region is famous for a variety of agricultural products such as green tea, the 'satsuma' sweet potato and the over-sized daikon (horseradish) grown in the volcanic ash at the base of Sakurajima, as well as a wealth of local crafts and regional cuisine.

Kagoshima's history in rich with historic events. In 1543, firearms were first introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders who landed on the island of Tanegashima. Then, in 1549, the Jesuit missionary Saint Francis Xavier arrived in Kagoshima first introducing Christianity to the nation. Because of its long standing tradition of trading with the outside world, Kagoshima played a significant role during the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912) in helping to re-establish international relations following three centuries of 'sakoko' (closed door policy) during the Tokugawa regime.

Today the Port of Kagoshima is a popular port-of-call among several of the world’s leading cruise lines and the region continues to conduct trade on a global scale. Kagoshima City maintains active sister city relationships with Naples, Italy; Perth, Australia; Changsha, China and Miami, Florida.

SAKURAJIMA
Rising to a height of nearly 3,700 feet, Sakurajima faces downtown Kagoshima across Kinko Bay. Sakurajima is home to numerous hot spring resorts, a small farming community and the Sakurajima Tourist Center from where visitors can hike a short distance up the side of the volcano. Daily eruptions create clouds of volcanic ash which settle on the island and are carried as far away as Kagoshima City. There is regular ferry boat service from the Port of Kagoshima to Sakurajima and the ride takes about 30 minutes.

IBUSUKI
Ibusuki, located in the southeastern part of Kagoshima, is a seaside resort famous for its hot sand baths. Bathers dress in cotton kimonos and are covered up by the steaming sand along the shore which is continually heated by underground lava flow. Ibusuki is also home to Kyushu’s largest lake, Ikeda-ko which is a crater lake formed by the eruption of Mt. Kaimon-dake in 1914.

UENOHARA – JOMON SITE
In 1966, ancient pit dwellings dating back 9,500 years were discovered in Uenohara, Kagoshima. The site, the oldest and largest yet discovered in Japan, has revealed considerable information about the beginning of Japan’s Jomon period. In addition to the ruins exhibit, Uenohara Jomon-no-mori also has a museum, a hands-on interpretive center and is surrounded by a native forest.

TANEGASHIMA
The island of Tanegashima, located almost 50 miles south of Kagoshima, was where fire arms were first introduced to Japan in 1543. Local residents soon mastered European metal crafting techniques and started producing cutting implements including scissors, for which Tanegashima is still famous today. Tanegashima is home to Japan’s premier space exploration launch facility – the Tanegashima Space Center. In 1969, the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) established its headquarters at Tanegashima. In October of 2003, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) and NASDA were merged into one independent administrative institution, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Japan’s first satellite, “Kiku-1” was launched from Tanegashima Space Center in September 1975 and to this day, it remains Japan’s most active launch facility.

YAKUSHIMA
Yakushima Island is one of Japan's most treasured natural wonders. It lies 37 miles south of Kagoshima, Kyushu's southernmost prefecture, and is one in a chain of hundreds of islands which stretch to the south for nearly 600 miles to Okinawa. Yakushima is known for its aesthetic beauty and unusually diverse ecosystems.