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Orange Railway and Kagoshima 2026: All Posts
#0 Index
Eight days in Kagoshima Prefecture along the Hisatsu Orange Railway: samurai streets in Izumi, the sea at Akune, quiet Satsumasendai, and Tenmonkan nights.
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Why Does My Condition Always Feel the Best on the Last Day?
#25 Epilogue
In my recent trips, I failed to wake up properly in the morningand even missed flights or had to switch to later flights in a rush.Since the flight from Kagoshima Airport to Korea operates only once a day,I knew that if I missed it, there would be no backup flight. So last night, I didn’t drink much. Maybe that’s why my eyes opened early on the final morning of the trip.I went to the hotel onsen, warmed up my whole body,and suddenly I felt better than I did at the start of the trip.It was the kind of condition where…
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A Lively, Affordable Local Izakaya
#24 Bunke Mujaki
On my last night in Kagoshima, I was unsure where to have dinner.After thinking for a moment, I decided to visit this place. I had first discovered Bunke Mujaki in 2017, and their kuromiso oden was so delicious that I promised myself to return one day. It sits inside a narrow alley in the northern part of Tenmonkan. Right in front of it is the large chain restaurant Tenmonkan Wakana Honten. That place is a clean, spacious izakaya where you can try many Kagoshima dishes, and the counter seats make it easy to visit alone. But if Wakana is a…
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Shochu Day, a Big Street Festival
#23 Shochu Street 2025
Kagoshima’s biggest festival is the Ohara Matsuri.It takes place every year on November 2–3 in the Tenmonkan area.It is not only the biggest festival in Kagoshima but also the biggest one in Southern Kyushu. If I had known this when planning my trip,I would have stayed longer to see the Ohara Matsuri too.I only realized its timing when I saw red lanterns with the word “Ohara” hanging all over the streets. And the day before the festival,November 1st is “Shochu Day.” It marks the start of the main brewing season for the new shochu of the year.To celebrate it, an…
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A Quiet Residential Street, and a Calm Cup of Coffee
#22 &COFFEE
Japan doesn’t actually have as many cafés as I expected.There were many times when I walked for more than an hour thinking, “My legs hurt… I should rest at a café somewhere.” In Korea, you just stop for a moment, look around,and there are two or three cafés nearby.So maybe Korea simply has a lot of cafés. Anyway, when traveling in Japan, you often have to check the map beforehand if you want to go to a café. And surprisingly, there aren’t many places that pull espresso.Most cafés are hand-drip only.So an iced americano is hard to find, and you’ll…
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My Favorite Tonkatsu in Kagoshima, After All
#21 Juan
I am not someone who eats tonkatsu very often,but since I came to Kagoshima for this trip,I decided to enjoy it properly. A few days ago, I had the tonkatsu at Roppakutei. It was bold and intense,so I described it as “tonkatsu for young people.” Today I wanted something easier to eat and still delicious.This is my second visit to this place.I was already familiar with the style, and I liked it beforehand.The place I want to introduce today is Juan (寿庵). Juan has three locations in Kagoshima.The main store and Tokai branch are a bit far from the center,so…
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Scenes from the Street: Part 4
#20 Near Chuo Park
The largest shrine in Kagoshima is, of course, Terukuni Shrine. And right in front of the shrine runs Terukunidori, stretching north to south. The west side of this street is Tenmonkan.It’s the area I visited every night for drinks,and the one I’ve shown many times across previous posts. On the opposite side of Tenmonkan,meaning the east side of Terukunidori,you’ll find the art museum, the city hall,and also the Yamagataya Department Store. Today I wanted to show you a bit of this side of the city. Yamagataya is the only department store in Kagoshima.It was founded in 1751, which means the…
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The Shochu Bar I Visited for the First Time
#19 Ishizue
Kagoshima and shochu. I keep repeating these words through this whole travel series.You might be tired of hearing it by now.But what can I do?Kagoshima really is the city of shochu. And the reason I travel to Kagoshima is simple —I want to drink shochu. The first time I arrived in Kagoshima was during my Kyushu round-trip in 2017.I took a ferry from Kagoshima to reach Yakushima, stayed there for three nights and four days (it was amazing!!), and then came back to Kagoshima for one night.Back then, I thought Kagoshima was just a small countryside city, so one night…
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:: zzoo’s travels ::
- Orange Railway and Kagoshima 2026 (32)
- Kanazawa 2026 (42)
- Karatsu and Yobuko 2026 (32)
- Mokpo Walk 2025 (20)
- Birthday Trip to Kagoshima 2025 (25)
:: zzoo’s tags ::
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