The Trip to Kagoshima

(Above: Mt. Sakurajima)
Today was the day Anthony and I made our little day trip to Kagoshima, on the southern tip of Kyushu island. We had been planing this trip for about a week, and decided that today was the day to go. We struck out on our all day adventure around 6:20 in the morning, after giving a rather energetic Shiva his breakfast and medicine. The train brought us to Minami Miyazaki station where we would catch the highway bus to Kagoshima city. We were hoping that the Mister Donuts near by would supply us with our rations for the adventure, but sadly they did not open in time. Once we boarded the bus, we settled down for the two and a half hour bus ride and prepared to rest for the busy day a head.
Once we arrived at our destination, we sought out the Kagoshima visitor information center for directions. After receiving some pamphlets and an all day city bus ticket for only 600yen (including discounts to many major museums visitor sights, we used our poor sense heading skills to try to find the first museum we wanted to visit. After a few moments we decided to give up walking to a museum and took the bus instead, upon which we found we were walking in the opposite direction. Our first destination was the Museum of Meiji Restoration, or the Saigo Takamori Museum. It was a very interactive museum, with lots of information about the beginning of the Meiji restoration. They had a "videogame" where one would walk around in Kagoshima city back in the mid 19th century as a young boy training to become a samurai. They also had a drama/history presentation which talked about Saigo Takamori's history and the other major people in the Meiji restoration. The museum seemed to put a lot of thought into the different displays to make them informative and interesting to many people.
(Below: Anthony with Saigo Takamori and Okubo Toshimichi)


After we explored the museum, we headed to our next destination. It had started to drizzle by this point but because we are good seattlites we paid no heed, at first. We took a picture of the Saigo Takamori statue at our next stop, then headed off to find some nutritional foods. We found a yummy ramen shop to rest in and fill our bellies. When we prepared to leave how ever, we noticed the rain had increased in intensity. We took refuge in a little gazebo in a park near by until the let up a bit and our was about to arrive. We rode the bus to the cave where Saigo Takamori hid. It was a bit smaller then I had imagined it to be... but still neat!


Then after I hopped off at the wrong bus stop, Anthony and I wandered around looking for the Saigo Takamori memorial park. Anthony asked for directions from some people so we were able to find the memorial with out too much problem. The memorial was for all the samurai who had died in the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. It was a beautiful park over looked by Mt. Sakurajima. It also had this nifty looking phone booth!


After we visited the memorial we headed off to the Kagoshima City Aquarium. I must say, Japan has really good museums and aquariums. I have been reading a book lately, and it mentioned that many of the large companies give money to create and build these attractions. Anyway, back to the aquarium! The Aquarium was four stories high, with a fifth smaller landing which served as a place to rest and had a nice view of Mt. Sakurajima. The exhibits all had very informative explanations and a list of species with their names and pictures next to each tank. Through out the aquarium there were also little bits of environmentally conscious writings. It was really moving to see these sorts of things, and they were all conveniently translated into English for us :) They seemed to be aimed at adults to help inform them of current environmental issues, in a nice subtle way.


<---This one was probably my favorite. (bellow: red sea turtle)

And here are some really cute fishies! It was fun to see how excited all the kids were to see the animals.











(bellow: Some cute fishies in the sea annenamies)















(bellow: very large crabs)


After buying Omeyage for everyone, we started off back to the bus station to catch the bus back to Miyazaki. When we arrived at Minami Miyazaki, we grabbed some dinner, and then headed back to the college. After such a long day, I am going to snuggle up with a sleepy Shiva and sleep soundly.

P.S Shiva has figured out how to clime all the way up the screen door and hop on top of my dresser and then walk across the curtain rods... He is a very talented kitten.