History / Culture / Tour Spots in Minamisatsuma Area

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Minamisatsuma

Category

Travel / Tourism

History / Culture / Tour

Chiran Peace Museum

4.5

712 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kagoshima Pref. Minamikyushushi Chiranchoukori 17881

This museum collects materials and personal items relating to the special attack unit (kamikaze unit) active at the end of World War II. The museum was erected on the site of a former launch base with the aim of preserving records of the time for future generations and in a prayer for peace. Parties of 10 or more can listen to a storyteller with advance reservation. The museum also provides English, Chinese, and Korean audio guides. A five-minute walk from the Tokkokannon-iriguchi bus stop.

We were on a tour, so I hadn’t read any reviews beforehand, but as we had limited time in the museum I did not hire an audio guide. I wish I had as very few exhibits have an English translation. The...
Kamafuta Shrine (Itate Tsuwamononushi-jinja Shrine)

4.0

112 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Pref. Minamikyushushi Eichoubeppu 6827

A Shinto shrine located in Ei-cho, Minamikyushu City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Officially Itate Tsuwamononushi-jinja Shrine, the shrine is also known as Kamafuta (“Pot Lid”) Shrine. The shrine is famous for its unique ways of worship, which include throwing unglazed pottery pot lids and wearing a pot lid on top of the head to pray for one’s wish to be granted. The shrine is believed to grant worshippers such boons as victory in competitions, better fortunes, protection from misfortune, and luck in war, and as such is even visited by entertainers and famous athletes. From the “Cape of Hope” behind the shrine, visitors can enjoy a view of vast ocean and Kaimondake Volcano.

The shrine seems very new and looks nice. When we arrived relatively early in the morning there was nobody there - which I would highly recommend! Not long into our visit a bus of Chinese tourists...
Hirasaki Shrine

4.0

64 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Pref. Ibusukishi Kaimonjucchou 1366

This former government-supported Shinto shrine is located a 10-minute walk from Kaimon Station on the JR Ibusuki Makurazaki Line. The shrine is dedicated to Ohirume-no-muchi-no-mikoto (Amaterasu-omikami), the supreme deity of japan. Since ancient times, worshippers have come to this shrine seeking blessings of traffic safety and the safeguarding of the fishing industry. Beyond an avenue of cherry trees, a sacred camphor tree, more than 1,000 years old, stands on the grounds, protecting the sanctity of Satsuma’s (Kagoshima’s) most important shrine. The gorgeous main shrine building is red lacquered. Shrine treasures include a maki-e gold and silver lacquerware toiletries case designated a National Important Cultural Property, and ancient documents concerning the Shimazu clan and tablets received from Ryukyu.

開聞岳の方面から池田湖に向かい際に立ち寄りました。この地域を代表する神社らしく、クスノキの説明の看板にありましたが、境内には樹齢 1000年を越える古木も多数あるらしく、その歴史が伺えます。人は少なく快適に見学できました。
Hotarukan Tomiya Shokudo

4.0

62 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kagoshima Pref. Minamikyushushi Chiranchoukori 103-1

This army dining hall was run by Tome Torihama, who was praised as the mother of the Special Attack Units during World War II. The dining hall has been restored, and is now a museum. On the first floor of the dining hall, there are valuable exhibits such as photographs and memorabilia of members of the Special Attack Units, and on the second floor, there are exhibits detailing the life of Tome Torihama.

We were looking forward to visiting this museum, as we had seen a few statues of Tome Tonihama around Chiran, and were familiar with her story prior to visiting. Tome owned a restaurant in Chiran...
Satsuma Denshokan

4.5

61 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kagoshima Pref. Ibusukishi Higashikata 12131-4

A history museum which presents the culture of the Satsuma (Kagoshima) region. The museum building was modeled after the Byodoin’s Phoenix Hall. The museum’s exhibits and exhibitions are designed around the concept of experiencing the history and culture of Satsuma with all five senses. Much of the museum’s collection consists of works of art from China and Satsuma handed down through the ages since ancient times in the region, including gorgeous ceramics decorated with gold. The museum also displays historic texts, medals, and calligraphic works dating to the late Edo period. Visitors can enjoy the tastes of Satsuma in the museum restaurant.

Wasnt sure what to expect and the tickets were a bit dear (1500 yen per person), but I have no regret entering this outstanding museum. The building is neat, very attractive from within as it is...
Bansei Tokko Peace Museum

4.5

26 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kagoshima Pref. Minamisatsumashi Kasedatakahashi 1955-3

A museum built on the site of the former Bansei Airfield, the last base used by the army for kamikaze fighters during the Pacific War. Opened in 1993, the museum’s numerous exhibits include Japan’s only extant Navy Type Zero reconnaissance seaplane (Aichi E13A), messages left by blood relatives of kamikaze fighters, and articles which belonged to kamikaze fighters as well as portraits. Through testimony provided by relatives and people involved as well as other videos, visitors can learn about the final moments of close to 200 kamikaze fighters, including pilots as young as 17. A memorial service is held in front of the museum’s monument each year in April.

This peace hall manages to convey both the futility of the waste of young lives with a recognition of those bravery of those involved. It’s a tricky balance but in delivering this the museum finds...
Chiran Peace Museum

3.0

17 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Kagoshima Pref. Minamikyushushi Chiranchoukori 17880

"This history museum's theme is one of ""The Blending Waves of Culture"". Its exhibits and theater shows teach about the history and culture of Chiran, where the cultures of Ryukyu and Yamato blended. Additionally, Satsuma's hidden Amida Buddhism, Bukeyashiki Street and Chiran Castle ruins are introduced in detail to visitors. There is also the Chiran Peace Museum nearby, and visitors can purchase a joint admission ticket here."

知覧特攻平和会館を出た私たちは、その西隣にあったこちらの施設、ミュージアム知覧に入って見ました。平和会館やその前庭の像など、特攻関連の施設を見てきたので、こちらのミュージアムもそうだろうと思って何気なく入って見たのですが、違っていました。こちらのミュージアムは、「交錯する文化の波」をテーマに、南九州を紹介する施設でした。音や映像で楽しむシアターがあり、南九州市の武家屋敷や知覧城跡、薩摩の...
Chiran Samurai Residence Garden

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Pref. Minamikyushushi Chiranchoukori 6198

Calling itself Satsuma’s Little Kyoto with stone walls and hedges that zig-zag along the main road, the area features a group of beautiful samurai residences that makes the whole town seem like a miniature garden. Within the spacious district are seven gardens, and although Mori Shigemitsu’s garden is in the style of chisen-shiki (a garden that features a path around a pond), all of the rest are of the Karesansui Dry Garden variety, in which instead of water, rocks and gravel are used to represent a landscape of mountains and water. The gardens bear the influence of Ryukyu (Okinawa) and Chinese garden culture, and have been designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty.
Bonotsu History Center Kishinkan

3.5

3 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Minamisatsuma-shi Bonotsucho Bo 9424-1

This museum is located a 20-minute bus ride from Makurazaki Station on the JR Ibusuki Makurazaki Line. The town of Bonotsu is counted as one of Japan's three greatest harbors and has flourished through trade since ancient times. Visitors to the museum can view historically valuable exhibits, including Buddhist cultural artefacts, with a focus on sea trade goods, tools used in sea trading, and other items connected to trade. Exhibits include a National Important Cultural Property-designated silk painting depicting the eightfold bath of Buddhism and Nirvana, and sacred texts from the Bonotsu Ichijoin Temple designated a Cultural Property by the prefectural government.

We visited Bounotsu Kishinkan History Museum to learn the local history. The admission fee is 300 yen. The museum is located on the sea front with a picturesque view of the port which became the...
Ryugu Shrine

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Pref. Ibusukishi Yamagawaokachogamizu 1581-34

A Shinto shrine located a 15-minute drive from Nishi-Oyama Station on the Ibusuki Makurazaki Line. The shrine is located on Cape Nagasakibana, the birthplace of the legend of the Palace of the Dragon King; the shrine is dedicated to Toyotama-hime (Oto-hime). The shrine is visited by many worshippers who seek its purported blessings, which include luck in finding love, peace and prosperity in the home, thriving business, and maritime safety. The main shrine building is modeled after the Palace of the Dragon King, and its red lacquered exterior is set off by the blue of the sky, engendering a tropical atmosphere befitting southern Japan. The shrine is famous for its unique “seashell prayer” method, which involves worshippers choosing a seashell and writing their wish on it before placing it in a large jar.
Futatsuya Traditional House

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Pref. Minamikyushushi Chiranchoukori

A “futatsuya” is a traditional, southern Kyushu style of home architecture consisting of a main building called the “omote” and a separate, secondary “nakae” building used for cooking. In Chiran, an additional, smaller building was built between the two, resulting in a distinctive “L” shape called “Chiran style futatsuya.” Chiran style futatsuya are valuable examples of historic local architecture, and today there are only three such Chiran style futatsuya still standing—two in an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings and one in Minamikyushu City. Visitors to the area can also view a relocated and restored Chiran style futatsuya in the Chiran Samurai Residence garden.
Ibusuki Archeological Museum Jiyukan Cocco Hashimure

Leisure / Hobbies

Kagoshima Pref. Ibusukishi Junichou 2290

This archeological museum is just a 10-minute walk from the JR Ibusuki Station, adjoins the nationally designated historic spot that primarily exhibits the Ibusukibashi-Muregawa remains. Here, in the No. 1 exhibition hall is a historic theater that reenacts the conditions under which the ruins were discovered and a reproduction of eruption of the Aira Caldera. In No. 3 exhibition hall one can observe a day in the life of a village from 1500 years ago through a light and sound display experience. Magatama, archaic bead, making workshops are offered and if desired, you can request that a museum teacher (exhibit guide) accompany your tour.
Imaizumi Shimazu Family Cemetery

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Ibusuki-shi Iwamoto

The Imaizumi Shimazu family is one of the branches of the Shimazu clan created to assure its unbroken succession. This cemetery is the final resting place of the successive heads of the Imaizumi Shimazu family and their wives starting from its first head, Tadasato. You can feel the stately dignity of the feudal lords who ruled this land from the 14 graves and more than 100 stone lanterns that line the cemetery. The cemetery includes the graves of Atsuhime's father and older brother. No members of the Imaizumi Shimazu family have been interred here since the end of the Edo period.
Toyotamahime Shrine

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Ibusuki-shi Iwamoto 750

"This shrine located around 200 meters northwest from JR Imaizumi Station enshrines Toyotamahime, a Shinto deity also known as ""Demejinsa."" The shrine grounds are protected by a pair of Deva king statues created in 1695. The statues were later be gifted to Kodaiji Temple, the family temple of the Imaizumi Shimazu family, in 1757. However, the temple was destroyed during the Buddhist persecution of the Meiji period. Today, the statues watch over the shrine from their original location."
Satsuma Bansei Shomeikan

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima

This shochu museum is located a 40-minute drive from JR Ijuin Station. The museum adjoins the new factory of Bansei Shuzo, a shochu brewery which began fully fledged operations in 2006. Visitors can watch the production process involved in making traditional Satsuma shochu, and even taste the brewery's products. Using replicas and other methods, the museum explains in an easy-to-understand way the history of sweet potatoes (a chief ingredient for making shochu), the various varieties of sweet potatoes, and how sweet potatoes grow. The museum's shop carries practically every product made by Bansei Shuzo, as well as limited edition items not sold anywhere else.
Minamisatsuma City History Museum Kimpo

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Minamisatsuma-shi Kinpocho Ikebe 1535

This museum is located a 30-minute drive from the Taniyama Interchange on the Ibusuki Skyline. The town of Kinpo is located on the west coast of the Satsuma Peninsula and, since ancient times, has flourished as a trade port and home base for the activities of its seagoing people. Focusing on trade and exchange, the museum introduces the history and culture of Kinpo in an easy-to-understand way through a full array of exhibits, models, and videos. A sand statue of Konohananosakuyabime, a figure from Japanese mythology, stands near the entrance.
Kiyomizu Magaibutsu

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Minamikyushu-shi Kawanabecho Kiyomizu 3882

"This historic site, located a 10-minute drive from the Kawanabe Interchange on the Ibusuki Skyline, is the largest of the many Buddhism-related historic sites found in the Kawanabe area. The site consists of some 200 Sanskrit characters, gorinto five tier stone pagodas, hokyoin memorial pagodas, and Buddhist images carved across a 20-meter-tall, 400-meter-wide cliff along the Manose River. The site's large ""dai"" gorinto, believed to have been created in the late Heian period, is 12 meters tall, making it the largest in Japan. The site's Sanskrit characters inscribed in circular ""moons,"" which date to the mid-Kamakura period, are said to be some of the best of their kind in the country not only in terms of their size but also the beauty of the characters."
Tome Kannon

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Minamikyushu-shi Chirancho Kori 104

"This small Kannon temple, a 20-minute drive from the Chiran Interchange on the Ibusuki Skyline, is located in Chiran, the site of the southernmost kamikaze base on the mainland of Japan during World War II. During the war, Tome Torihama, the proprietress of the Tomiya Shokudo restaurant (now the Tomiya Ryokan inn) was adored by many of the kamikaze squadron's members and was known as the ""Kamikaze Mother."" In honor of the men who left to die in the attacks, Torihama prayed each day to a statue of Kannon which this temple now enshrines. Today, the inn strives to keep the establishment looking as close as possible to the way it did when it was run by Torihama; all are welcome to worship in the temple, which is located in the inn's main building."
Satsuma Eikokukan Tea World

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Minamikyushu-shi Chirancho Kori 13746-4

This museum, a 15-minute drive from the Chiran Interchange on the Ibusuki Skyline, presents the connections between the former Satsuma Province and the United Kingdom during the late Edo period through English historical sources such as the Illustrated London News. After the museum's original Yume-fuki black tea won gold in the UK's Great Taste Awards in 2007, the facility enhanced its exhibits concerning tea. Visitors can enjoy English afternoon tea in the museum's English-style tearoom. The museum also has a shop selling confections, teas, and English knickknacks.
Makurazaki Nanmeikan Cultural Resource Center

Travel / Tourism

Kagoshima Makurazaki-shi Yamatecho 175

"This art museum is located on a small hill in downtown Makurazaki City a seven-minute walk from Makurazaki Station on the JR Ibusuki Makurazaki Line. The large wooden facility is designed with a nautical theme; the main building is shaped like a boat anchor, and benches are wave-shaped. ""Nanmei"" means ""the ocean sprawling to the south."" The museum's standing exhibition primarily consists of paintings by artists connected to the local area. The museum also holds special exhibitions such as a wind-themed art exhibition, and an exhibition of pieces which won awards in the International Art Exhibition in Makurazaki. The museum also offers a fantastic view of the East China Sea and the facility is a popular destination among locals not only as an art museum but also as a space for taking walks."

Kagoshima Minamisatsuma

Travel / Tourism History / Culture / Tour

Reference/Local/Exhibition/Literature Museum Shrine Castle / Ruins of Castle Historical Monument Temple Church Ruin / Grave / Ancient Tomb Memorial Hall Cultural Property Event Hall / Public Hall Art Museum Museum / Science Museum Other Historic Site/Building

Kagoshima Areas

Over 100 active volcanoes across Kagoshima make it one of the Japan's most exciting prefectures. The prefectural capital, Kagoshima city, looks out to one of the prefecture’s most spectacular volcanoes, Sakurajima, an island of its own that can be visited and seen close up or admired from afar, with the promise of breathtaking sunsets complete with frequent puffs of smoke and ash. Down the Satsuma Peninsula, the most southerly part of mainland Japan, waterfalls, sand onsen, and fascinating history await, while Kagoshima's abundance of satsuma imo (sweet potato) provide a wholesome snack as well as one of Japan's favourite drinks - shochu.