Kagoshima, Japan

Kagoshima, with a population of 600,000, originally founded in 1889, is the capital city of Kagoshima prefecture (state) located on the island of Kyushu. It has been nicknamed the Naples of the Eastern world for its bay location (Aria Caldera), hot climate and iconic Sakurajima volcano.
Our guide today was Summy. Despite her Japanese accent, she spoke particularly good English.
On our way, she explained that the major industries in Kagoshima are agriculture, particularly white radishes that can get up to 30kg ! sweet potatoes and fish farming. She also outlined the differences between Sake, which is a rice wine and Shochu which is a liquor distilled from grain or brown sugar. Sake has an alcoholic content of approximately 15% whereas Shochu is 25%. This compares to Canadian whiskey at approximately 40%.
She also talked about the Shinto religion. Shintō consists of the traditional Japanese religious practices as well as the beliefs and life attitudes that are in accord with these practices. Shintō is more readily observed in the social life of the Japanese people and in their personal motivations than in a pattern of formal belief or philosophy. It remains closely connected with the Japanese value system and the Japanese people’s ways of thinking and acting. The word "Shinto", in Japanese, means the "way of the gods" and defines the existence of a myriad of gods. The quasi-infinite number of Shinto deities in Japan is sometimes estimated at 8 million. This number includes natural phenomenon, such as waterfalls or rocks with a specific shape, as well as primary elements such as the sun, the wind, and the earth. If my understanding is correct, for major celebrations in this life, they go to the Shinto Shrine, but for death and funerals , they go to the Buddhist temple ,because Buddhists believe in an human afterlife. In the ships daily bulletin, Passages, the notes for today said that "the Japanese culture is unique and conservative. There are numerous unwritten rules based on the premise of being polite and respectful to other persons. Acts such as lewd dressing, loud talking and eating while walking in the street are frowned upon". Well, I don’t know about the loud talking part because it seems to me that when they’re talking, they always seem to be shouting as though they’re mad at each other.
For our first stop today, we went to the Sengan-en Garden. It is a remnant of the villa of the Shimazu clan, the rulers of the Satumo Domain, from the Edo era until the Mejii Restoration in 1868. Construction began in 1658 and is described as a botanical oasis. There were trails wandering about with waterfalls and ornamental trees. After browsing the garden, we went through the Shuseikan Museum on the site of the Shimazu clan, showcasing fine Satsuma glass, ceramics and farm tools. Three of our pictures show a colourful Samurai Warrior's suit of armour, a small wooden Buddhist shrine and a very colourful gold and black lacquered, single person carrier called a Butsudan. Even the Museum building is significant as it was the first western style stone building in Japan with arches. As is the Japanese custom, there was a handsome young couple in the garden having their pre-wedding pictures taken in their traditional robes. This garden was used for the filming of a Japanese television series called Segodon, that follows the life of Takamori Saigo a hero of the Meiji Restoration, born to a poor, low-ranking samurai family in the Satsuma domain in present-day Kagoshima Prefecture.
Following this tour, we went in our bus on a 24/7 car/ bus/passenger ferry that, after 15 minutes, landed on the island of Sakurajima with a population of 5,000, which is the site of Mount Sakurajima. The volcano, at 3,665 ft constantly emits, smoke and ash, at times thousands of feet into the air. The observation platform sits at the top a hilly lava field from a 1946 eruption. The path up to the observation deck was strewn with gigantic black, volcanic rocks.
We then took the bus back to the ferry and back to the ship and were still able to have a late lunch at 2:00pm. After that, we indulged ourselves a bit out by the pool to enjoy the 76° weather.
The owner of Regent Seven Seas Cruises is a survivor of breast cancer and for each segment of our trip, she designated one day as a “pink” day as part of breast cancer awareness month. At the special 6:30 PM cocktail party in the atrium, decorated with pink balloons, we were encouraged to wear pink apparel and sip themed cocktails. There was a pink martini offered and out of respect for the occasion I tried it. I don’t know what it was made of, but it was disgusting.
The entertainment that night put on by the production company was called My Revolution, and featured hits from the “British Invasion” with hits from Lulu, the Kinks, and of course the Beatles.Læs mere