※ This series is still in progress.
※ I’ll update the links as each post goes up.
※ Once everything is posted, I’ll delete this notice.
▶ Dates: July 23–30, 2026 (7 nights, 8 days)
▶ Where: Izumi, Akune, Satsumasendai, and Kagoshima, in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan
:: Prologue
#1 Prologue — This Time, a Different Kagoshima
:: DAY 1, 2
#2 Getting to Izumi — Late Flights Have Their Good and Bad
#3 Yumezen Izumi — First Night in Izumi, and a Bit of Happenstance
#4 Izumi-Fumoto History Museum — Samurai Town on the Northern Edge of Satsuma
#5 Izumi-Fumoto Samurai Residences — Stone Walls, and All That Green
#6 Ajidokoro Uomatsu — Not Oyako-don, but Oyako Steak Gohan!
:: Street scenes
#7 Izumi — Street Scenes: The Crane Town, Off-Season Quiet
:: DAY 3
#8 Getting to Akune — Taking the Orange Railway to Akune
#9 Shioya Hostel — Clean and Well Looked After
#10 Tobashira Natural Park — Akune Became My Summer Sea
#11 Minato Restaurant La Bonne Journée — Harborside French Lunch in Akune
#12 Sunset Road — West of Kagoshima, the Sun Sets
#13 Downtown Akune — Night in a Small Port Town
:: Street scenes
#14 Akune — Street Scenes: Blue Sky, Empty Streets
:: DAY 4
#15 Getting to Satsumasendai — Orange Railway, Along the Sea
#16 Nitta Shrine — 322 Steps, a Shrine Above
#17 Super Hotel Satsumasendai — Free Breakfast, Free Onsen, Free Booze, and …
#18 An Evening in Satsumasendai — My First Chicken Sashimi, and… Well.
:: Street scenes
#19 Satsumasendai — Street Scenes: Streets of a Quiet Small Town
:: Interim wrap-up
#20 Hisatsu Orange Railway — Summer, Sea, Train, and Kagoshima
:: DAY 5
#21 SHIROYAMA HOTEL kagoshima — Halfway Through the Trip: Arrived in Kagoshima
#22 Kuroda, Maruichi — Lunch in Kagoshima Means Tonkatsu
#23 Furendo Ando Bado, Torimu — Humble Local Lunch Spots
#25 Nagashima Museum — Museum on the Hill, Overlooking the City and the Sea
#26 Kaniya — Local Izakaya — Kindness Makes You Smile
#27 Kiritsu, S.A.O — First Night in Kagoshima? Shochu, of Course
:: Street scenes
#24 Daytime in Kagoshima — Street Scenes: Kagoshima with Summer Sun
#28 Sakurajima — Street Scenes: Kagoshima’s Signature View
:: DAY 6
#29 Kagoshima Aquarium — On a summer trip, indoors is the answer
#30 Kagoshima cafes — The cafes I went to in Kagoshima to cool off
#31 Akane — I went to see the Meizanbori canal and fell for the mood of this izakaya
:: Street scenes
#32 Kagoshima — Street scenes: Part 3. Meizanbori
:: DAY 7
#33 Kagoshima City Museum of Art — Back at Kagoshima’s “city” art museum after a long time
#34 San-ei — Kagoshima home cooking with over 90 years of history, second visit!
#35 Tenmonkan shochu bars — The big three shochu bars of Tenmonkan
:: Street scenes
#36 Kagoshima — Street scenes: Part 4
:: DAY 8
#37 Epilogue — Wrapping up the Kagoshima trip
