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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 theme of this trip is actually a “birthday trip.”And today is my birthday. I already booked a pretty expensive restaurant for dinner tonight. So for lunch, I wanted something light and easy to digest.After drinking a bit too much last night,I thought it’d be better to soothe my stomach firstso I could enjoy dinner […]

Whenever you talk about Kagoshima,you can’t avoid talking about shochu. And when you talk about shochu in Japan,you can’t avoid mentioning Kagoshima. That’s how deeply connected this city is with shochu —“Shochu means Kagoshima, and Kagoshima means shochu.” So for a Kagoshima trip, shochu is essential.It’s one of the biggest reasons why I travel to […]

I often travel to Japan,but strangely I don’t eat sushi much during trips.I’m not sure why — it just happens that way. Maybe because many good sushi restaurants require reservations,while I usually decide where to eat on a whim.So I end up in izakayas for dinner and drinks, rather than sushi counters. I also tend […]

When people think of Kagoshima, the first thing that comes to mind is kuro-buta — black pork. I usually prefer to eat it as shabu-shabu, but there’s another famous Japanese dish made from pork: tonkatsu. If you search for restaurants while planning a trip to Kagoshima,you’ll soon notice that the most common type of restaurant […]

It had been a while since I travelled, and maybe because of that, on the first night of the trip I drank much later than intended. Thanks to that (or because of that?), the second day of the trip became a full rest day. I soaked in the hot spring, and lay on the bed.I […]