My first few days in Kyushu were staying at an AirBNB in Hayato, Kirishima. After all the travelling, jetlag and initial culture shock, I needed to relax and adjust some more. Luckily, this is a very peaceful place to do it. The house is a lovely, traditional older house, the kind that are disappearing pretty rapidly across Japan. Tomoyuki-san, my host, is very keen to preserve and maintain the place, having spent much time and money renovating it into a guesthouse.
Between my Japanese and Tomoyuki-san’s English, we manage to communicate fine (and even have some deeper, slightly drunken conversations about current events and history). My room is Japanese-style, with tatami mats and an onsen footbath right outside on the decking – ideal for having a soak with a cup of tea and listening to the wind chimes. Hmm? Cycling? What cycling? *slurps more tea*
Heading out to Kagoshima City
Kirishima has much in the way of local hot springs (the bath at the guesthouse even has a third tap to draw up the springwater), as well as hills and mountains to go hiking. To the southwest is the city of Kagoshima, where I go for a daytrip via local trains. There’s a lot to see and it’s hard to fit it all into a few hours, with many gardens, museums and statues. Most of the sights are based around a few key Satsuma-clan individuals from the mid-19th century, and their roles in the Meiji Restoration. Notably, Saigo Takamori, who has several monuments across the region dedicated to his memory.
After some wandering and a museum visit, I make time for a bowl of ramen, before hiking up the hill to the city’s famed viewing point, Shiroyama Observatory. It’s very busy, even at 5pm, and has the most other foreign tourists I’ve seen all trip. Unfortunately, it’s a slightly muggy day, so you can’t see much of Sakurajima across the bay. But it’s still worth the trip. It seems a shame not to see more, such as the local castle and other historical monuments from the Meiji era, but it’s getting dark and the return to Hayato takes an hour.
After resting up in this area for a few days, enjoying the food and getting used to communicating, I pack my things and head out on the bicycle. After a full week since work finished and I started packing, I’m ready to bikepack…
A Japan-enthusiast from the UK, with a particular interest in history and the language, as well as cycling, writing and rock climbing.
