We sailed overnight back to the Japanese mainland, aiming for the city of Kagoshima, close to the southern tip. As usual, several of us were out on deck to enjoy the sunrise and our passage into port. Today, though, the ship paused as it arrived in port. Our berth in the port was taken by another ship, whose captain was missing! Several emergency vehicles were visible on the pier, leaving us mystified about the situation. Our bridge crew, and expedition team, pivoted remarkably quickly – and the ship moved around to the other side of the city and docked at the shiny new marine terminal (that is, a cruise-ship terminal). Although a beautiful location, it was farther from the center of town and thus farther from the ferry we were intending to catch. The expedition team did a fantastic job reshuffling all the schedules for the day, and soon we were on a bus to the ferry terminal. It all worked out… read on!
The bus drove right onto the ferry for the short, fifteen-minute commute across a narrow inlet to Sakurajima volcano, formerly an island but (due to a 1914 lava flow blocking the inlet on the other side of the volcano) it is now a peninsula. Sakurajima means “cherry [tree] island”, historically dotted with lush cherry blossoms in the spring. We drove around to an observation point where we had good views from the southeast side of the volcano. Classically shaped, the upper slopes are steep and devoid of plants; most of what is visible is ash, because the mountain spews new ash almost every day. (None was coming out as we watched from the observation point, but there was plenty alongside the path.)
On the way back to the ferry we stopped at a public park centered around a hot spring, which was piped onto shallow channels alongside several benches, allowing us (and other visitors) to enjoy a pleasant foot bath while staring up at the volcano – now puffing a bit of smoke and ash.
After lunch on-board ship, we made a quick trip to Sengan-en garden. Built in 1658 by Shimadzu Mitsuhisa, leader of the Shimazu clan that ruled this region, it was used by the family until the middle of the 20th century. Today the gardens include a beautiful palace, several shrines, many beautiful trees and ponds, a tea house, and a beautiful view of Sakurajima across the bay. We went into a tea house for a demonstration of a traditional tea ceremony, making and drinking matcha tea.
As we sailed out of port, the mysterious ship was still in our berth. We learned from our shore team that the ship’s captain was found in the water near the ship, apparently dead from accidental drowning. Sad.
Anyway; check out the gallery for more photos of the volcano and gardens.
This post is part of a series about our Japan trip; the series starts here.
David Kotz 
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