Sakurajima-koikechō

New-to-us Port #54.

Although we arrived at our berth in Kagoshima at 7:00a, the first shuttle to the city center — about 30 minutes away — wasn’t until an hour later. We easily made that shuttle and joined the surprisingly few passengers ready to set off for a day of independent sightseeing.

At the shuttle drop-off, we confirmed our plan to use the City View Bus to get around the city today. This is a bus that links many of the sites of interest to tourists, but locals also use it like any other public bus. When we told the tourist rep at the stop that we wanted to go to Sengan-en first, she directed us to stop #3, the closest stop for the bus heading in that direction.

Once on the bus, we opted to purchase the all-day pass from the driver. Mui was about to put the passes in his wallet when a fellow rider stopped him from doing so. She showed him how to scratch off the appropriate spots on the passes to display the date of purchase and activate it so that the next bus driver would not question the validity.

The ride to Sengan-en was 20 minutes long, putting us there right around 9:20a. Helpful staff members directed us to the vending machines to purchase our admission. We decided to buy the combo ticket, which gave us access into the house as well as the grounds. All set, we stepped up to the gate, showed our tickets, picked up a map, and took a couple of candies from the box the attendant held out to us.

Sengan-en is a Japanese-style landscape garden that, along with the house on the grounds, belonged to the Shimadzu clan. The estate was built in 1658 by the 19th head of the clan. The scenery is said to have been the inspiration for selecting this particular spot. The house has been rebuilt and expanded over the years since it was first constructed. It has hosted such dignitaries as Edward VIII of the UK and Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

After a quick coffee break, we went directly to the house, wanting to explore inside before it got crowded. At the entrance to the house, we took off our shoes and put them in numbered cubbies. Then we went inside to wander around the beautiful home that was built in the mid 1880s. This was our first time inside a Japanese home and we were struck by the simplicity of the design.

Eventually, we made it out into the grounds. Beautifully landscaped, lush green, and with the“borrowed scenery” of Kinkō Bay and Mt Sakurajima adding to the charm of the grounds. I have since figured out that “borrowed scenery” means incorporating background landscape into the composition of a garden. This is apparently an important element in traditional East Asian garden design.

We could have easily spent more than the three hours we took to enjoy ourselves at Sengan-en … even had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the bay and the volcano. But our time in port was was short and I was hoping that we could enjoy a bit more of Kagoshima before needing to take the shuttle back to the ship.

It was really too late to take the ferry across the bay to Sakura Island to see the lava fields of Mt Sakurajima. So, we listened to the descriptions given as the City View Bus approached various sites to see which one we wanted to visit next. Spotting a stone bridge that looked quite picturesque, we hopped off at stop #14 — Ishibashi Memorial Park.

At the end of the Edo Period (late 19th century), a local lord had five bridges constructed to span the Kōtsuki River. These bridges were called Gosekkyō, which literally translates as “five stone bridges.” Back in the day lords and their sumurai were required to alternate living in Edo — current day Tokyo — with living on their feudal lands. They used these bridges to o travel to/from Edo. Unfortunately, during heavy floods in 1993, two of the bridges collapsed. The remaining three were relocated and restored at the Ishibashi Memorial Park.

We had a mere 30 minutes before the next City View Bus arrived at our stop. Visiting all three bridges would have required more time than we had. Thus, we had to be satisfied with seeing just one of the bridges … the Nishidabashi … which is the largest of the three bridges. Limiting ourselves to one bridge allowed us to wander the grounds and also visit the museum that has exhibits showing the step-by-step process of constructing these bridges, and how they were moved to the park.

Another short ride on the City View Bus returned us to the city center. This time we got off at stop #18. Spotting a covered market that was sure to yield some food options, we walked in that direction. We were wrong. Yes, there were a couple of pastry shops and an Italian restaurant, but we wanted something a little more fitting for Japan. No worries, we decided a meandering walk around the city instead, with no specific destination in mind, would have to suffice as our time in Kagoshima was quickly dwindling.

All in all, another successful day of DIY sightseeing in Japan. A day that we wrapped up with a quiet stroll around the garden at the port before embarking Insignia.Read more