Day 12 Kagoshima, Japan

When I thought about this cruise around Japan my first thought was the Japanese gardens.  I have always been drawn to their almost formal appearance and looked forward to strolling around these gardens.  So far we had not had many opportunities to do this instead we have seen many Shrines and Castles and Museums. 

Today, on one of the last tours around Japan, our tour bus took us into the highlands above Kagoshima to the Chiran Samurai Village. This ancient village, built in the 1600's,  was recognised by the Japanese government in 1981 as having significant heritage value and seven gardens within the village have been opened to the public.  Only one of the gardens features water, most being "dry" gardens, but they are all beautifully maintained.  Chiran is an agricultural area and is well known for its green tea.  We were given a tea-tasting on our walking tour.

The village has a shallow water "stream" running through the middle of the town, beside the road, and there are huge Koi living in those drains.  The main street is lined with trees that have been shaped using topiary. 

After our walking tour of the Samurai Village we were taken to the Chiran Peace Museum.  This museum is dedicated to the Kamikazi pilots of World War 11.  These pilots knew that they were not going to return as they flew their planes to sudden death.  It is hard to imagine what they must have been thinking but most were told it was for the "greater Japan".  The gardens around the museum are, once again, beautifully maintained and I watched as two women with their straw brooms were sweeping up leaves.  There is no rubbish on the ground anyway in Japan.

There are lots of statues on display in the museum grounds and I was particularly moved by this one that shows a mother looking across at her Kamikaze Pilot son, knowing that she would never see him again.

We arrived back at our ship in time for a delicious lunch at Prime 7 restaurant and after lunch we sat out on our balcony that overlooked the port of Kagoshima.  Kagoshima lies in the shadow of an active volcano that is called Sakurajima.  There was a lot of smoke pouring out of it.  I don't think I would want to live this close to an active volcano.