Cycling around Sakurajima - Japan's most active volcano
I had wanted to visit Kagoshima for a long time but had never made it further into Kyushu than Fukuoka. After watching Hirokazu Kore-eda’s touching film 'I Wish' last year, much of which is set in Kagoshima under the shadow of Sakurajima, I immediately added it to my list for my next trip to Japan.
Sakurajima is Japan’s most active volcano and stands 4 km across the bay from Kagoshima, a city of around 600,000 people and the terminal of the Kyushu Shinkansen line.
It regularly erupts and Kagoshima can get covered in ash. I actually booked this tour late one night in February, went to bed, and woke up to see it erupting on NHK News.
This trip around Kyushu actually begins in Kagoshima, and we will work our way north. We took a one-hour JAL flight from Matsuyama Airport the night before, arriving at the hotel late and preparing for an early start to meet our guide.
The ferry to Sakurajima is very straightforward - a ¥200 fare one way which you pay on the Sakurajima side after disembarking. IC Cards and bank cards are accepted as well as cash.
The ferry runs every 15 minutes during the day - two boats go back and forth. It actually runs 24 hours but with just one crossing every hour during the night.
There was a small Udon noodle bar onboard the ferry - I didn’t see anyone using this in the early morning ferry but on the return journey plenty managed to finish a substantial looking bowl of noodles on the short 15 minute journey.
Onboard one of the boats of the Sakurajima Ferry
Upon arrival at Sakurajima Port, our guide Rento met us just after we paid at the ticket gates. We sat down and signed the form and introduced ourselves in Japanese to get some practice in, but it was mostly English spoken for the rest of the day other than to the other people he introduced us to. He used a 3D physical map of Sakurajima to show us the route we would be cycling - the full 37 km around the volcano.
Rento had an iPad with a presentation on it he used throughout the day to explain and show us information about the volcano and its history.
We took the escalators down out of the terminal and he had our bikes ready outside. Beautiful brand new looking Yamaha electric bicycles, fitted with bottle holders and pannier bags for carrying belongings. We had a quick test of the bikes and fitted our helmets and got on the way.
Our first stop was at one of the many shelters around the volcano - concrete structures to take cover under if the volcano is spitting rocks. There was also a marking of an old hiking trail that went up to the summit, from before a 2 km exclusion zone was established around the top of the Volcano.
Next stop was to Sakurajima Coffee & Bakery where the owner greeted us warmly and we chatted back and forth mixing our limited Japanese and his limited English. He brought us two tasty coffees made from his own special blend that he roasts on site.
As he cleared two large crates of mikan oranges from the porch for us to have a seat, he insisted we took one each with us as a gift. It was at this point I really started regretting not carrying any small gifts with me to Japan for the kind people I meet. On my other trips, I always picked up miniature bottles of Irish Whiskey in Dublin Airport, and they always went down so well when given the right opportunity!
After almost two weeks of trying to travel as light as possible I decided now was the time to start picking up extra bits to take home, and I asked if I could buy some of his coffee beans which he bagged up for me. I have rarely seen it at home, but this sort of small batch roasting on site isn’t uncommon in Japan.
I also spotted a poster in the cafe for Sakurajima honey and I was going to pick up some for my family who are bee keepers, but the jar was over a litre! Even with beekeepers in the family I had never seen such a huge jar of honey. We chatted about the Japanese honey bee and the native Irish Honey bee.
We continued our cycle along the coast taking in the sea, dotted with amberjack farms and mountains all the way across the horizon. Our next stop was for a tea break, and Rento had picked the perfect place for a spring picnic.
We cycled up a sharp hill - I kicked up the assist on the eBike, and parked our bikes. I could see one or two cherry blossom trees almost in full bloom, but as we walked up a few steel steps I realised this was a full grove of beautiful Sakura that we had all to ourselves.
We found a small bench in the middle of the sakura, listening to the hum of the bees. Rento had prepared local green tea, cold brewed and served in beautiful cups made using ashes and hot spring water from Sakurajima. I recently started drinking matcha at home, and one thing I really wanted to pick up on this trip to Japan was a proper bowl to prepare it in. After I admired the cups, he told me about the woman who made them, and that if I wanted he could bring me to her workshop later in the day.
Just before we left the farmer drove by on a little buggy with two friends and we exchanged a “こんにちは!”. They settled on the other side of the grove and began their own picnic.
The next stop was to a buried torii gate - a 3 metre gate which was buried by ash from the 1914 eruption, leaving only the very top visible now poking out of the ground. Once I saw it I realised I had seen this site on a tv show years ago - probably an NHK travel show as I tend to do a lot of Youube couch travelling when at home. This was the first big evidence I saw that Sakurjima is constantly changing the shape of this former island, but the next stop was even more dramatic. On a small rest stop off a main road, with steep cliffs towering across from us, we were standing in the very spot where Sakurajima connected to the Ōsumi Peninsula following that same 1914 eruption.
This road was busy, unlike all the others we had been on so far as it’s the only road connection to the rest of the mainland, it’s also large to accommodate evacuation if needed. The ferry is still the quickest way to Kagoshima as you have to drive around a huge bay to reach it from this side of the volcano.
We were now getting as close as you can to Sakurajima, and we cycled down the road to a viewing plaza which has great panoramic views out of the bay. All day I couldn’t believe how few people I had seen, and even here at the best viewing spot there were only five or six other people around.
A short cycle down the road, and up another steep hill I was thankful to have an eBike for and we arrived at a new guesthouse. The house is beside a disused school which has been converted into a community centre.
Earlier in the day I had asked Rento about how many schools are on the Sakurajima - there are still several up as far as middle school, but high school students now have to take the ferry to Kagoshima to attend school there. I’ve heard about some other creative uses of former schools across Japan, from art-pieces to boutique hotels and hostels.
Over lunch we spoke about the population decline in Japan. Just after leaving the house we passed two abandoned hotels, as well as two still open that look like they’d seen better days. It’s sad to see such a beautiful place with such unique scenery and hot springs, the numbers just aren’t coming like they used to but it's an amazing place well worth the effort to get to.
We ate three kinds of homemade onigiri (wakame, plum, and shiso), cabbage salad and miso soup, with some dried sweet potatoes for dessert. This was the third meal of the week on an island (counting Sakurajima as an island for this!) where all the vegetables in the meal had come from that same island. It really had me reflecting on how back home in Ireland, a large island where we import so much of our food we could grow and it can be difficult or cost prohibitive to produce or buy local produce. I felt lucky and connected to the places I was visiting to have these meals.
The second last stop of the tour was to a 1000 year old tree. It looked exactly how I imagined the forests in Yakushima to be - a place not too far from here that I have wanted to go to for a long time, but will have to wait for another trip.
Our final stop before heading back to the ferry port was at the pottery workshop mentioned earlier.
Another one of the NHK shows I had watched recently was about Steve Jobs and his love of Japan. It talked about how he would shop for ceramics when in Kyoto, and would pick up the pieces and feel them with his eyes closed, the touch and feel of the object being as important as its aesthetics to him. I tried to channel a bit of this as I handled some matcha bowls, and we picked out two.
The pottery maker spoke to us in Japanese and I could pick up on a few words - we had picked out two bowls from the more wabi-sabi selection of pieces. Across the room were the more 'perfect' pieces, while beautiful I had already become attached to the personality of the ones we'd picked.
I had decided not to bring my mirrorless camera with me for the day, not knowing what the conditions would be like, and I was honestly happy I didn’t. The camera would have been fine - it was a warm if slightly cloudy day, but I enjoyed not having to get it in and out of my bag over and over again on the bike, and the interactions with the people I met were more natural without an intimidating camera around.
I was really glad to have booked the tour as eBikes were definitely the best way to get to see the volcano from every angle, with a guide you can get up as close as is allowed, and with the added local and volcanic knowledge!
Sakurajima is well worth visiting, and I couldn't believe how few people we saw all day. It's the perfect example of how tourism in Japan is too focused on certain areas - the ferry, the roads, the local businesses on Sakurajima are all ready to take on more visitors and yet we saw barely anyone all day.
Places visited
🚲 Volcano Life Journey - Rento's brilliant eBike tour. Booking directly is always the best way to support a small tour business.
☕️ Sakurajima Coffee & Bakery - Kai's coffee shop where we drank delicious coffee and had great chats.
🏡 Isogaku Guest House - the guest house we stopped for lunch in. They are offering really interesting short stays full of experiences like farming, kayaking, fishing and more. It sounds like a great way to experience rural Japan, I'm going to try to make it back here again for a stay!
🍵 Ougaku Tougei - the fabulous pottery maker we visited, not far from the ferry port.