Snapshots: Circling and Framing a Volcano

Sakurajima dominates the view across the bay from Kagoshima, southern Japan. It's one of the world's most active volcanoes, regularly raining ash on the city. Surfaces can feel gritty, accumulations of dust are a hazard to cyclists.

Hotel rooms with a view of Sakurajima fetch a premium. Directions are expressed relative to the volcano; e.g., "walk towards Sakurajima." It's a common element in public art.

Yesterday, I cycled around the volcano.

My Kagoshima: Kirishima Volcanic Group Practicalities

From Karakunidake.

From Takachihonomine Ridge.

There's nothing like a decent hike after a long series of flights.

I previously posted how to get from Kagoshima Airport to a hotel on the edge of the Kirishima Volcanic Group of Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park. The hourly bus from the airport takes you to the Kirishima Iwasaki Hotel in 47 minutes. If you arrive in the morning, there's time for a hike in the afternoon.

This post gives specifics about where to stay, bus service to trailheads, and trails.

My Kagoshima: Getting Around the Region

Navigating Japan is not for the faint-hearted. Most overseas visitors arrive in Tokyo, only to enter a world of alphabets they cannot read, streets with non-consecutive house numbers, and train stations that are the world's busiest.

In my previous My Kagoshima posts:

I emphasized the need to "chunk it."

Kagoshima Prefecture is a manageable chunk of Japan that is as far as you can get from Tokyo by bullet train (910 miles, 1,464 km). 

I picked out three areas in Kagoshima Prefecture: Kagoshima City, Yakushima Island, and Kirishima (the Kirishima Volcanic Group section of Kirishima-Kinkowan National Park). 

I described how to get to Kagoshima Prefecture from the USA. 

I left you at Kagoshima Airport or Kagoshima City's main train station (Kagoshima-Chuo). Either way, the arrival is manageable: Kagoshima airport has 10 gates, Kagoshima-Chuo has 14 platforms.

In this post I describe how to get from the airport or train station to the three areas of Kagoshima I selected.

My Kagoshima: Arriving

My 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 journeys to Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan.

My Kagoshima: Chunking the Map

I'm filled with questions when I look at a map of a place I have never visited.

How do I chunk up a manageable journey through this place? How do I get there? Which areas do I visit? Where are the hiking trails? Where are the trailheads? How do I get around? How do I find a room?

I once stared at a map of Japan and, like most newbies, focused on central Japan. Most visitors stick to this part of the island of Honshu. They visit Tokyo and points south, 4 hours or less by bullet train, Kyoto, Hiroshima. Easy, populous, over-loved.

The first time my partner and I stopped in Japan, we used Kyoto as a base for exploring: a good plan for first-time visitors.

Since that first trip, I've found I can go to just about any corner of Japan and find a great place for the solo hiker. I find good trails, decent and inexpensive places to stay and eat, reliable public transport, civility and safety.

If I could visit only one region of Japan, it would be Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of the main islands.