Kagoshima

Kagoshima is the southernmost major city on Kyushu, a bayside capital often compared to Naples for its palm trees and its volcano. Sakurajima smokes in plain view across the water, close enough that locals check the ash forecast along with the weather, and the city takes the drama in stride.

Ferries cross the bay for a closer look at Sakurajima's lava fields and foot-of-the-volcano villages. Sengan-en, the landscaped villa garden of the Shimazu lords who ruled here for centuries, borrows the volcano as its backdrop, and the Meiji Restoration history of native son Saigo Takamori fills the museums.

The kitchens are known for kurobuta black pork and sweet potato shochu, poured generously in the entertainment quarter. Boats leave the port for the ancient cedar forests of Yakushima, and the sand baths of Ibusuki lie down the bay. The shinkansen ends here, making Kagoshima Kyushu's southern terminus.