Journey to Kagoshima

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I’ve gone on another trip ☀️

When considering the destination, I was quite intrigued by Kagoshima. The direct flights from Shanghai were also very convenient. After browsing through other people’s travelogues and beautiful photos, I decided it was the place for me! I’ve never seen an active volcano before, so it was time to satisfy my curiosity.

I had a great time on this trip, enjoying many beautiful sights and getting a bit tanner.

(There are no deer in Kagoshima)

Video version ⬇️ 4K 50FPS

Itinerary

Date	Itinerary
2024.07.23	Shanghai 10:50 AM => Kagoshima 12:50 PM 🌥️ 28°C ～ 31°C
2024.07.24	Kagoshima City - Sakurajima, Senganen 🌥️ 28°C ～ 31°C
2024.07.25	Ibusuki City 🌥️🌦️🌥️ 28°C ～ 31°C
2024.07.26	Kirishima City 🌥️🌦️🌥️ 26°C ～ 31°C
2024.07.27	Kagoshima 13:50 PM => Shanghai 14:50 PM 🌥️ 27°C ～ 33°C

Expenses

The exchange rate has been quite favorable recently.

The 50,000 yen in cash I purchased before my departure cost me 2,333 RMB.

Before Departure

Items	Remarks
Packing	I used To-do List
Overseas travel insurance	“Weibao”
Filling out & declaring entry information for Japan	Visit Japan Web
SIM Card	Airalo
Confirming hotel location	Apple Maps / Google Maps
Japanese Yen Cash
Planning transportation	Departure time/mode of transportation to Pudong Airport, and transportation method after arriving at Kagoshima Airport.

Schedule

Day 1 Departure

The flight was at 10:50 AM. I reserved 2 hours for check-in and customs, so I arrived at the airport by 8:50 AM, which gave me plenty of time for the subway ride to the airport.

I took the subway to 🚇 Longyang Road Station and transferred to the Maglev train.

Arrived at Pudong T1 Terminal.

Go🛫！

Almost There.

The white clouds look so soft!

Arrived, smoothly went through immigration, and took the airport shuttle bus to Kagoshima City.

I put an AirTag in my suitcase, so I didn’t have to wait around at the baggage claim—very convenient.

The airport felt quite similar to the one in my hometown, giving me the illusion that I was back home. Taking the airport shuttle bus, the countryside scenery along the highway further reinforced the feeling of being home. The journey took about 1 hour.

Sakurajima Volcano 🌋.

Upon arriving in Kagoshima City, I needed to get off at Tenkukan TEMONKAN Station. The station name sounds like it could be a dialect from Mandarin.

Arrived at the station and got off.

Tenkukan Pedestrian Street—I’ll skip the shopping for now and head to the hotel to check in first.

Arrived at the hotel (I booked a private apartment, but I’ll refer to it as “hotel” from now on). After the host handed me the keys, I put down my luggage and prepared to rest and enjoy the air conditioning since it was very sunny that day. I opened the balcony, quite a beatiful view.

At this point, I realized my pictures were off. The screenshots from the video were overexposed because the video was in HDR and the pictures were in SDR. You can see the difference between the two images below.

I took new screenshots with QuickTime. After resting for a while, I went for a stroll along the beach.

Preparing to go to Shiroyama Observatory.

一只鬼鬼祟祟的咕咕

The bicycles parked by the roadside were not locked, which gave a relaxed vibe.

You can take the City View Bus from Tenmonkan Station directly to Shiroyama Observatory. The observatory wasn’t hot, there was a slight breeze, and the lush greenery made it very pleasant. It’s free of charge.

I thought it was a seagull, but it made a “caw-caw” sound like a crow, so I’ll call it a crow gull!

这光让我感觉像是PPT

I stayed there for half an hour, and as it was getting dark, I decided to head back down. On the way down, I encountered a black-and-white piglet. I called out a few times, “Mimi~ Mimi~,” and it responded very enthusiastically, coming right up to me, lying down, and rolling onto its back. Its cries were extremely cute. I gently petted it a few times (it felt very smooth and looked well cared for), then I left, leaving it looking quite puzzled. Haha!

好特别的一朵云

I was hungry, so I opened Google Maps to find a nearby place selling pork chops and ended up having pork cutlet curry rice. The pork cutlet was very tasty, with a small amount of fat that didn’t make it greasy but rather added a rich, juicy flavor. It tasted quite different from the pork cutlets I had at Shiqijia in Shanghai. Since my appetite is small, I only ate half of the rice, which might have been due to the hot weather. The waiter didn’t speak English, so I used my phone to translate “delicious,” and we exchanged cheerful “arigatos” before I left.

1350 円的六白黑豚咖喱饭

The first day of sightseeing concluded, and I bought milk, bottled water, and bread at Familymart before heading back to the hotel to rest.

Day 2 Sakurajima, Sengan-en

Woke up at 7 AM to fantastic weather—blue skies and white clouds. After freshening up and having breakfast, I set off for the ferry to Sakurajima. The ferry was just a few hundred meters from the hotel, so it took only a few minutes to walk there.

This is the boat I’ll be taking later (I didn’t know it was the one I’d be boarding at the time, just taking a snapshot for the record, haha).

I bought the Kagoshima CUTE One-Day Pass. The 9:25 AM ferry (which runs every half hour) departed for Sakurajima, with a journey time of about 15 minutes.

The shimmering surface of the water.

Watching Kagoshima City grow smaller and smaller in the distance.

Perhaps because it was still early, there weren’t many tourists.

Arrived! The multilingual signs are very visitor-friendly.

Took the sightseeing bus.

Ubird Observatory, a small pavilion with a sign nearby explaining its history. If you visit Sakurajima, I wouldn’t recommend getting off here, as the bus intervals are 30 minutes. There’s a lava trail here, but I didn’t walk it due to the intense sun.

I got back on the bus and went directly to Yunohira Observatory, which is the final stop on the sightseeing bus route.

Got off the bus and took out the telephoto lens to snap some photos.

A very rugged mountain, giving the impression that parts of it might collapse at any moment.

Here’s a panoramic photo.

The observatory offers free WiFi. There are seats by the windows where you can eat and rest. The facility also sells goods and food at prices comparable to those in the city, and supports WeChat Pay/Alipay.

Sakurajima Volcano is an active stratovolcano located in Kagoshima Bay in southern Japan. It’s one of the most active volcanoes in the world, known for its frequent eruptions. The volcano is actually a complex of three peaks: Minamidake, Kitadake, and Showa Crater.

After finishing the visit at Yunohira Observatory, I took the bus back to Sakurajima Port. I didn’t get off the bus and continued on to the Sakurajima Tourist Center (with the one-day pass, I could do this without paying for a new ticket; otherwise, I would have needed to buy a new fare). From there, I walked to the Sakurajima Lava Park.

Black rocks on the beach.

The weeds seem to have been left unmaintained for a while.

It was too hot, so I ducked into the museum at the tourist center to cool off with the air conditioning. The museum has signs encouraging visitors to take photos and share them on social media.

Meow.

The visit to Sakurajima ended, so I took the ferry back to Kagoshima Port and headed to Sengan-en.

The weather is indeed great, but it’s really hot as well.

Without an umbrella, I might have melted!

This looks like it was used in ancient times to thresh rice.

Happy little kids.

The park visit concluded, and I took the sightseeing bus back to the city.

Puddings on the Lawson store shelf.

Went to MUJI to buy a small fan.

Found it, and it cost 1,290 yen.

Dinner was Kagoshima ramen.

Yiyangqianxi, is that you?

Stopped by a convenience store and then returned to the hotel.

As night fell.

Day 3 Ibusuki

Woke up at 6 AM, starting another beautiful day.

You two sitting so close together really don’t mind the noise, do you?

Took the train from Kagoshima Chuo Station to Ibusuki.

My train comes.

A tired passenger.

The train is in motion.

Only a few passengers.

Look like Hawaii。

Cozy😌。

Arrived at Ibusuki Station, where there’s a free foot bath right in front of the station.

Waiting for my bus.

Please press the bell if you need to get off.

The scenery along the way was also quite nice.

Farmland.

Arrived at Nagasaki Nose National Park.

Mount Kaimen is a dead volcano. The weather is really nice, clouds on the top of mount look like a hat.

White waves🌊。

Ryugu Shrine.

Took the bus back to the sand steam hot spring.

Sand steaming is under the shed.

The price of sand steam + hot spring is 1500 yen. I felt very comfortable after the steam and then the hot spring.

Took a rest.

It’s almost 4 o’clock and I haven’t had lunch yet (not counting snacks and drinks), so eating ramen can be considered dinner.

It just rained.

The manual ticket window closes at 3pm, I’m a bit envious.

Most of the shops in Ibusuki were closed at this time, so there was nothing much to see, so I took the bus back to Kagoshima Chuo Station.

Train’s comming!

When we returned to Kagoshima Chuo Station, the weather had changed.

Daily convenience store time, Japanese fruits are really expensive! Especially watermelon.

Sakurajima “disappeared”.

End of today’s trip.

Day 4 Kirishima

I woke up at around 5 o’clock in the morning, got up and saw that it was sunrise time, so I watched it quietly for a while.

Golden.

Took the bus to Kagoshima Chuo Station and then took the train to Kirishima.

Train’s comming!

Rice in farmland.

It took about 50 minutes to arrive at Kirishima Jingu station.

A small station.

It’s still early, so I just wandered around. This place makes me feel more rural.

There is a foot bath in front of the station. The water here looks clearer. Soak in it and wait for the bus.

Let’s get on the bus and go.

The bus service was limited and I only went as far as the Kirishima Jingu stop.

Tall trees.

After visiting Kirishima Shrine, I headed to Shinsuikyo, which is what I wanted to visit the most today.

The black pig pattern is a bit cute.

Humid climate.

There was no one around, and it was in a forest valley, so I was afraid there might be snakes 🐍.

Cool.

I’m hungry, so I’m going to find some lunch.

Huh? Chicken sashimi? I can’t accept that.

I wanted to eat at this restaurant, but the store was preparing it.

Changed a restaurant and ate this.

Buy some snacks.

I bought the ticket back to Kagoshima from the self-service ticket machine. The staff window at this station closes at 12 noon and is closed in the afternoon.

Back to Kagoshima Chuo Station, do some shopping.

Dinner: Udon noodles. Da-mee-da-mee, eat now.

Another cup of Macha.

Blues Time

Day 5 Return

I slept until 8:30, got up, washed, had breakfast, packed my luggage, tidied the house, and left.

The good weather puts me in a good mood.

We had lunch on the 3rd floor of the domestic terminal at Kagoshima Airport. It tasted good and the curry sauce wasn’t so much that it felt like rice in soup, which was great!

I bought two boxes of raw chocolate at the duty-free shop and went home~

New Experience

Apartment

It exceeded my expectations. I originally wanted to stay at Shiroyama Hotel for one night and stay in chain hotels for the rest of the day (to save money), but when I searched for hotels, I saw that the reviews of the apartment I stayed in were very good, so I thought of giving it a try. The apartment has complete facilities in the house, and you can even cook, with electrical appliances, kitchenware, and bowls. The location is not too remote, and it is not far to walk to the bus and train. If I have the opportunity to go to Kagoshima again, I might stay here again.

Experience in the Japanese countryside

Ibusuki feels like a small town to me, while Kirishima feels like a small village. Of course, I have only been to a limited number of places, so this is just a “feeling”.

Free WiFi

Most airport shuttle buses, airports, and tourist attractions have free WiFi with decent speeds.

English proficiency of local people in Kagoshima

The average English level of the Japanese people I met during my 5 days and 4 nights was lower than when I went to Osaka last year. Now translation is very convenient and it is not a problem.

Landscape

Day 1 Kagoshima: City view
Day 2 Sakurajima and Senganen: Geological park and garden view
Day 3 Ibusuki: Sea view
Day 4 Kirishima: Nature reserve view

In just a few days, the content of each day’s tour was different, fresh and satisfying.

Wide Range Zoom Lens

The equipment I brought was: Sony A7C2 camera + Tamron 28-200mm zoom lens, which I rented on the “Neisha” app. I wanted to buy this lens, but I wasn’t sure if I needed it, so I rented one to experience it first. The rental period was 300 yuan for one week, excluding shipping costs.

The conclusion drawn from practice is: I may not be willing to take this set out for travel.

It used to be quite light when paired with a 35mm F1.8, but with this Tamron lens it becomes quite a burden hanging around the neck when traveling.

Most of the images in this article are taken from 4K 50FPS video clips shot with my iPhone 15 Pro Max using the Blackmagic Camera. For documenting travel, I think this image quality is more than enough. The main difference between the videos shot with the Blackmagic Camera and those shot with the built-in Camera App is that Deep Fusion is not used in the calculations, which makes them look fake and flat.

The feeling of spending money

I brought 50,000 yen in cash this time, 30,000 yen for the apartment, and the remaining 20,000 yen was spent over the past few days. I haven’t used cash in China for a long time, and it feels more like I’m spending money when I use cash. Many stores in Kagoshima support WeChat and Alipay, and even if they don’t, you can use VISA cards, which is not inconvenient. VISA cards can also be used on buses and trains.

Fewer tourists

It feels like a small tourist destination, which may be because direct flights have just been resumed recently. Even during the off-get off work hours, there are not many people on the bus/tram. What a cozy city.

～～～～～～

Thanks to AFF Profits from Readers

The SIM card used for this trip is still Airalo. Thanks to the referral code posted in the previous Japan travelogue, I received a cashback of about $20. This time I bought a 30Days 5GB SIM card for free. New readers who travel abroad are welcome to use my referral code LYNAN1476, and you and I can both get a discount of USD💲3.