I liked the calligraphy on the placemat of the restaurant I had dinner at the first evening I spent in Kagoshima. I don’t know what it says exactly, but I know it’s something to do with friendship. Maybe someone who knows Japanese can enlighten me??


Wafer-thin slices of black pork (kurobuta) to be cooked shabu-shabu style. It was delicious!


Sakura-flavoured ice cream with its pale pink colour and faint aromas of sakura was a lovely way to end the meal.


Sakurajima (桜島), the former volcanic island which still has one of the world’s most active volcanoes, imposes a grand presence on the city of Kagoshima. From Kagoshima’s ferry port, it’s a 15-min ride to get to Sakurajima. While in Kagoshima, my mum and I went to an outdoor onsen (known as an rotenburo) that had a view of Sakurajima. It was a great experience to soak in the hot water and be able to enjoy the beautiful view of this volcano.


The world’s largest radishes (daikon 大根) are grown in Sakurajima.


The best tonkatsu I’ve had so far – crisp light batter encasing succulent black pork and paired with mustard. I had this at this restaurant called One Two Three which is located on the 5th floor of the shopping complex called Amu Plaza, next to Kagoshima-Chuo train station. One Two Three specialises in black pork dishes and you can eat practically every part of the pig there.


At One Two Three, I also had this dish where a mixture of vegetables and thin slices of pork were served with dashi soup and you had to add rice into the soup mixture before eating everything together. The soup was light yet tasty and the vegetables and pork added texture and flavours.


Another recommended dish at One Two Three is also their braised spare ribs with burdock. The pork was extremely tender and it, together with the burdock, were bursting with flavour.


Thanks to my curiosity and my constant questioning of the chef at the counter (we were sitting at the counter) on the food he was preparing, we got rather chummy and he offered this dish to me on the house! This has spinach sandwiched in between rolls of pork which is then deep-fried. Yum yum. If you like yaki tori, you can also have grilled liver, tongue, intestines etc.


Apart from black pork, Kagoshima is also famous for its sweet potato. Shochu, which is distilled from sweet potato, is also one of the prefecture’s specialities. Anyway, I love sweet potato, and couldn’t leave without buying these cute pig-shaped sweet potato cakes. These cakes can be bought at any department store in Kagoshima and also at the food souvenir shops at Kagoshima-Chuo train station.
I really enjoyed Kagoshima as the city has a rather relaxed feel. The streets are spacious enough for people to cycle around the city and I’ve always loved cities where people can get around on bicycles. Kagoshima’s beauty is also greatly enhanced by the grand presence of Sakurajima that seems to stand guard over the city. Definitely worth a visit!