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…

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…

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…

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…

The reason — or maybe the trigger — for this trip was simple. It was my birthday. I didn’t want to spend it alone at home.There is a certain charm in spending a birthday alone while traveling,but spending it alone at home feels only lonely, nothing else. Today is my birthday. Right after checking into the hotel,the first thing I did was book a restaurant for tonight. Choosing where to eat tonight was the most important decision of this trip.I spent a lot of time searching, reading reviews, and checking photos. When you sort Kagoshima restaurants by Tabelog rating,the top…