Sakurajima, the volcanic island, which actually isn’t an island. Anymore.
The prefecture of Kagoshima is shaped like a horseshoe with Sakurajima right in the middle of Kagoshima Bay, but it is connected to land on the eastern side. I wondered how the people of Kagoshima could get away with calling it an island, though it does play a pretty convincing one. It’s accessible from Kagoshima City by only a 15 minute ferry ride. I hung off the side of the ferry to get it perfectly framed.
I arrived at the ferry terminal and started walking towards the visitor’s center to see what the island had to offer. The island has several resorts, natural onsen, scientific observatories, hiking trails and plenty of scenic photo spots for traveling families to pose at. Just outside of the visitor center is an ashiyu or foot onsen. I picked a spot and soaked my feet for a while, enjoying the nice weather and the monolith of a mountain behind me.
As I sat there, a mother and her three daughters came and sat just to my left. I overheard them talking about sumo. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the little girl just across from me begin to lean forward. She looked at me and in a soft whisper as if not wanting to be heard at all says, “doko kara kimasuka?” I told her Tokyo to their surprise. I found out that they were a local family that lived in the city but were enjoying an afternoon at Sakurajima. The mother told me that her girls are learning sumo and offered a demonstration from her seven year old daughter.
After taking a few pictures together they offered to show me around the visitor’s center, where we saw a video of Sakurajima and many dramatic scenes of it erupting, which happens on a near constant basis. Despite its activity people somehow still live here. School children walk to school with helmets on everyday. The mother offered me a ride back to the city as they were leaving to get home for dinner, but I decided to hike and explore the island a little further.
I hiked through winding paths surrounded by craggy boulders and pine trees. Each bend, led to gorgeous view after gorgeous view. I fell in love with this place right there. That sense of adventure, waking up in a new place each day, having everything you need on your back, and being ready for anything, flooded over me. This is why you do it. To find gems like this. I marched on to the next scenic spot with a plaque. I read it and saw a diagram of how lava flow expanded the island over the years. And I finally learned how its now inaccurate name makes sense. In a massive eruption in 1914, just over a 100 years earlier, it became connected to the peninsula on the east.
My last stop of the day was to see the sculpture “Portrait of a Scream”, which was crafted from lava rock to commemorate an all night concert that saw 75,000 people come to Sakurajima. This being significant as the normal population of the island is 6,000. The park where the concert takes place now provides a nice rest stop and grassy fields with a view of Kagoshima City across the bay. Satisfied with my little hike I headed back to the ferry terminal.
The sun just began to set as I departed on the ferry departing Sakurajima. We headed directly into the light guiding us back to the city. I had one thing left on my check list in Kagoshima and that was yatai for dinner.
2 thoughts on “Sakurajima”
My favorite so far. So interesting how it is now connected to the land. Pictures are spectacular!
Very interesting narrative. I liked the part about the constantly erupting volcano and how school children wear helmets when they walk to school. The sculpture made of volcanic ash was creative and amazing.
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