I made it to Satsumasendai around 5:30. Just before the bridge that crosses into town there was the Royal Business Inn. $50 including free Japanese breakfast. Deal. By the time I checked in and packed the bike into the bag it was dark. What I could gather from the map is that there was an area right across the river from the hotel where all of the restaurants and bars were located. Interesting because it was not the usual situation where the train station is where everything is happening.
As usual I was running on about a 12% charge for my phone battery so I could basically just do a quick walk through of the hood and check out what I bookmarked on the phone and then make a decision. This town was unlike any other town I had visited. Not much to look at and very dark. What gave it an even more grittier feel was that many restaurants did not open to 10 p.m. There were about 25 izakayas in 4 square blocks. I was trying not to drink very much on this trip so an Izakaya was not calling out to me. Finally ended up finding a ramen shop. At this point my phone was dead so no Google translate to read the menu. Picked from looking at the photo and got Tonkatsu ramen. No fried pork in tonkatsu ramen just a more hearty pork broth. It was very good. Just the cook,the waitress, a couple of other guys eating, and a small group of teenage girls. At least one of them must have been the waitress' younger sister. I could hear them whispering back and forth if any of them spoke English. They probably wanted to know why I was there. I told them I spoke a little Japanese but this just resulted in a lot of giggling and them getting embarrassed. It was pretty funny.
On the way back to the hotel I saw group of about 50-75 guys hanging around outside of a store front. Across the street there was another group about the same size. It appeared they were preparing for some kind of event. Whatever was going on was obviously not that night but I guess to prepare they needed to drink a lot for team building. When I got back to the hotel I checked it out and turns out Satsumasendai is home to the Japan's largest tug o war! It was happening that weekend. It was Wednesday. Dang it. The rope weighs 7 tons! Check it out
https://www.kagoshima-kankou.com/for/events/51897 Here's a couple of funny business hotel shots
and a super cool car
DAY 7 SATSUMASENDAI to KAGOSHIMA 40 miles
Had the free Japanese breakfast at the hotel which was pretty good. I never pass it up if it's free . Sometimes it's an extra cost which can involve being served. Rarely do this because it takes up too much time but if you are not in a rush the paid version is usually really good.
Put the bike back together and hit the road. Today's ride to Kagoshima was pretty short which gave me a fair amount of time to explore the city. Tried to visit a pottery village just outside of Satsumasendai but it was only open on weekends. After that it was a nice ride inland through some hills. Stopped at a roadside station on the way that had a big farmer's market. Had some soft serve.
Kagoshima is on a bay. In the middle of the bay is an island with the active volcano Sakurajima. The citizens often carry umbrellas to keep from being dusted with ash. There are also street sweepers that vacuum up. It's a unique and historical city . Checked out the Meiji Restoration Museum. Very interesting. In the basement they have a 30 minute show with robot versions of important historical figures. No photos allowed. I was surprised that most of the visitors at the museum were young people who were actually taking the time to watch all of the videos in the exhibits. The other tourist activity in Kagoshima is to visit the birthplaces and former homes of a couple of dozen important historical figures. Many of these spots are marked with bronze statues of the person.
The historical figure that seems to be the most famous and liked is the samurai Saigo Takamori who is also known as the last Samurai. Yes, this is the guy the movie starring Tom Cruise is based on. When you see a photo of Saigo and read about him it's kind of ridiculous that Cruise was chosen to play him. Anyway, everybody loves Saigo. I even visited a shop called Kagomania that has all kinds of humorous t shirts, hats etc with cartoon drawings of Saigo. He was a remarkable fellow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saig%C5%8D_Takamori I had a booked another business hotel by the train station but could not check into 4pm. Most every hotel I stayed at the check out time was 10 a.m and check in was 4pm. I guess that 6 hr window gives them time to really clean the rooms. After I visited he museum I spent the rest of the time riding around Kagoshima getting an idea of the layout of the city and where I might want to walk later in the evening. Rode down to the harbor where you can catch the ferry to Sakurajima.
Around 3:30 I rode over to the hotel and disassembled the bike, put it in the bag, and checked in at 4. They are really strict about check in time I tried at 3:50 and was told I need to wait 10 minutes. Rules are rules. Like usual took a shower, changed clothes,and tried to get a charge on the phone. Around 5 I set out for the observation at the nearby Shiroyama park to get a good view of the city and Sakurajima. It was about a 15 minute walk to the trailhead.
Big tori gate for the temple at Shiroyama park.
Start of the trail up the hill. More like a road closed to traffic. Many people were out doing their evening run or walk.
observation area and of course vending machines. One with ice cream!
view of the Sakurajima and city
pretty sizable city
By the time I walked down from the observation deck it was starting to get dark. Being that Kagoshima is known for Kurobuta there was only one logical choice for dinner. One of top Tonkatsu restaurants Kawakyu was a few blocks from the hotel. Reviews said pricey 4000 yen or $27 but worth it if you wanted to eat Kurobuta Tonkatsu. It's funny what is considered pricey there. My phone was almost dead so I made a mental note where it was located. I apologize for the lack of food porn photos. Here's a link to a photo of the interior of the restaurant.
https://img.retty.me/img_repo/l/01/2791910.jpg and one of a tonkatsu dinner there.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZyxyG5jD36sNptu3A As you can see it is a no frills restaurant. I did not get to sit at the raised platform and tatami mats. I think that is usually for larger groups or families.
This restaurant was challenging because the menu was all in Japanese. No English version, no photos on the menu, and the wait staff did not speak or understand any English. I did alright. At most of the Tonkatsu places the menu options are for a few different kinds of pork (Kurobuta will be the most expensive on the menu) an option to double your portion to 2 cutlets and an add on option of a big fried prawn. With my ability to read hiragana/katakana and through the process of elimination I was able to figure out what was what on the menu. The funniest part was I wanted a beer and I could read the word biru in katakana on the menu but the waiter acted like he did not know what I was talking about. Biru onegaishimasu was not gonna cut it. I had to say the full sentence "I would like to drink this beer in this size". I guess it would kind of be the same situation ordering in English but this waiter was making me work for it.
Kawakyu takes the number two spot for best Kurobuta on the trip. Don't get me wrong it was delicious and no doubt one of the best Tonkatsu places in Kagoshima. Japanese people get really psyched for the Tonkatsu. There was a family sitting across from me and you can tell the husband was super excited about his meal. It was a big deal. When it came out he was clapping his hands and smiling ear to ear. He then got the phone out an snapped off some photos. After that all the preparation to eat took an additional five minutes to get things just right. For this meal I watched closely and took note of what he was doing. When I get to the tour winner I will describe the process.
It was an excellent meal. Not too much to do in Kagoshima at night. I walked around a bit through the train station and then headed back to the hotel to watch some funny TV shows.
