< Shimabara | Japan (Autumn2005) | Shimonoseki >
Kagoshima
2005.Sep.13 - 2005.Sep.15
The journey from Shimabara to Kagoshima
is surprisingly short. I would have imagined going to Kagoshima
from Kumamoto would take much more than only one hour. Upon arrival, visibility was good and when I went down to the port after finding a place to stay, I got a good view of Sakurajima,
surely one of the reasons I love this place. Sakurajima
is one of the most active volcanoes in Japan. On fine days a cloud of steam and ash can often be seen rising from its top and the weather forecast in Kagoshima sports information about possible ash-fall; depending on this information you might want to put your loundry outside for drying or not. In terms of sights I actually found Shimabara to be more interesting and especially much more convenient. But of course, one can not beat Sakurajima.
The day after my arrival had been rather cloudy, so I did not go on the Sakurajima tour that day. But the next day was acceptable. Still some 
clouds around the top of the volcano, unfortunately, but fine otherwise. The tour was very interesting and surely it was much better getting around like that than by public transport, which is not all that frequent everywhere. I already had done some strolling around on foot, but the whole peninsula is far too big for getting around like that. Even with a bicycle it might be too big. But it is a very interesting place for sure.
A fact I find rather interesting is that people have long stopped asking me whether I do understand Japanese. When strangers approach me and ask me something, they usually want to know how long I have been in Japan, without first asking me whether I do understand Japanese or not. The other night, when I went to the onsen at the hotel, a guy which surely has never heard me talk Japanese or anything, asked me in the dressing room how long I've been living in Japan. When I asked him why he thought I was living in Japan he told me that, from the way I was using onsen and behaving, he could tell I must have been living in Japan for a long time. Seems my fondness of Japan is showing through my white skin. As I always say: "Inside I'm Japanese, but my outside looks like a foreigner."
< Shimabara | Japan (Autumn 2005) | Shimonoseki >