I had an unlimited travel Japan Rail Pass and a plan - to see as much of the diversity of Japan as I could in the short time I had. So I booked a hostel and ticket on the Shinkansen to the end of the line - as far south as I could go - and to see the what Kyushu had to offer. My destination, Kagoshima, a few hours away and I had no idea what to expect.
I arrived late evening and by this time it was well into the dark of night. My hostel was not too far from the main train station - just a tram ride and short walk around the corner near the harbour and water front. After checking in I went for a casual stroll through the city and stopped for dinner at an Izakaya - a kind of local bar/pub that serves food and drinks; very local. I got chatting with some locals over Suntory whisky and yakitori (BBQ skewers of meat, fish and vegetables). After a drunken stroll I make it safely back to the hostel and my bed for a fantastic nights sleep.
The morning held some beautiful surprises, I wake to blue skies out my window which set me in a chipper mood, at least until I left the hostel out the front door and there, right in front of me, was a volcano, casually laying across the bay. It was erupting.
I made a point of going back into the hostel, just to ask if it’s acceptable to panic and I get a very lackadaisical response to the akin of - "uh not again".
It turns out this volcano, Sakurajima, erupts over one-thousand times a year, but never very fierce. It mostly equates to lots of smoke and lots of ash being deposited all around town that the locals sweep up in a never ending quest.
I only had a day and would have loved much more time - but there was still lots of Japan left to see. I spent the day around the city, enjoying the good food and museums. Before jumping on a late train to Fukuoka, a stopping point on my way back into Honshu and the Japanese Alps.
Photos of the awesome volcano and other sights of Kagoshima are on my Flickr account, as always: https://www.flickr.com/photos/14859193@N07/sets/72157637175991953/