Tarumizu to Jigenji - Kagoshima
Travel Reports by mfedley | view profile of mfedley |
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January 7, 2020 - Tarumizu to Jigenji - Kagoshima
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After spending the night in Tarumizu on the West Coast of Kagoshima, I decided to drive to Kanoya and then drive past Kagoshima to Jigenji. I was originally worried that the main sites I would visit today would be my least promising of the trip - but it strangely ended up being one of the most impressive. My first stop was the Arahiratenjin shrine.
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The Arahiratenjin shrine is what I would call a rest stop - but it would look spectacular when the sun sets and there seems to be a rather calm beach with restrooms at the car park.
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My next stop was the Kanoya Air Base Museum which tells the story of aircraft in the Navy. There are a good number of older aircraft outside which are also worth a look at as well.
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The museum includes a lot of original artifacts and is spread over two floors. The first floor tells of how the air force grew after WW2 along with other more interactive exhibits. However - it's the second floor that brings people to this museum. The first area talks about the navy's air force up until around 1935 and includes a lot of original artifacts. The second room where no photography is allowed focuses on the kamikaze pilots that left from Kanoya airbase. There is also a picture of each known person that left - which must go into the thousands. Unexpectedly - English information was rather strong.
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Unfortunately the second floor was the better part of the exhibition and I misunderstood that only the zero plane could include photos - not the entire room as there was some really interesting things to view. This site was worth it alone and strangely it's not well known.
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I then visited a small train museum located not too far from the airbase. It was free and was more aimed at a local audience. Another major attraction in the area is the Kanoya Rose Garden which I would have visited if it was a warmer month.
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My fourth stop for the day was the Uenohara Jomon Site - a museum and archaeological site with the oldest known proven habitation in Japan. It's been said that there have been humans here for over 9500 years - as this is the age of some of it's pottery.
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This absolutely huge site has a museum (320 yen for entrance) which explains it's history in great detail in Japanese - but reasonably in English.
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As this site is still being excavated, they continue to collect, tag and store what they find. There is starting to be quite a bit though.
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The holes are excavated former residences. It does feel a bit like Astrix a bit though with the recreated homes.
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My next stop was Amami no Sato - which can be described as part garden, part museum and part silk factory based in a hotel and wedding reception. It costs 400 yen to enter and I was the only person I was in this large and sprawling location.
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When I started to stroll around the gardens - I was amazed by the number of gardeners but lack of tourists. Then I noticed English/Chinese/Korean translations which tends to suggest that this place is on the tour bus circuit but it is set up for that.
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The museum section was slightly underwhelming but strangely taught me more about the culture of Amami than when I visited there a few years ago.
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For me - the highlight was the large strolling Japanese garden which unfortunately did not have the same borrowed scenery as Sengan-en. This garden has a golf range in the background. Sengan-en has Sakurajima volcano.
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This is a pretty big bet to make - but I see this as the second best major (in size) garden in Kyushu.
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There was also a large area where people still worked on making silk by hand - along with examples of their best work in the form on kimonos.
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My last stop for the day was Hirakawa Zoo which costs 500 yen to enter. I arrived at 3:30 and thought that 90 minutes would be plenty of time to see everything. On this occasion - I actually struggled to see everything.
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If you visit this zoo - I suggest you just follow the recommended course with is roughly 3 kilometers long. Most animals looked happy and conditions were better than at most zoos. I'd call this my second favorite zoo after Asahikawa Zoo in Hokkaido.
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I am not the best with moving objects - but there were lots of very photogenic animals today. There was also few people in the park which was a plus but it was a Tuesday afternoon in winter.
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If you have ever wondered why more zoos don't have Koala's - it's because it's difficult to grow their food. They also seem to have a bit of a baby koala boom at the moment.
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I was expecting today to be my least favorite day on my trip - strangely it's been my most favorite as the sites have really been different and have also been standouts. For tomorrow - I'll be driving to Ibusuki via Chiran.
Further information:
Arahira Tenzen Shrine (http://www.pref.kagoshima.jp/ao01/chiiki/bariafuri-oosumi/arahiratennjinn.html)
Kanoya Airbase Museum (https://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/kanoya/toukatu/18siryoukann.html)
Kanoya Train Museum (https://www.e-kanoya.net/htmbox/soumu/railway_memorial.html)
Uenohara Jomon Site (https://www.jomon-no-mori.jp)
Amami no Sato (https://www.amaminosato.jp/guide/)
Hirakawa Zoo (http://hirakawazoo.jp/lang/en/)
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