Travel Guide Kagoshima

Kagoshima has often been compared to Naples. And indeed, the city, twinned with the Italian city, has a number of similarities with its sister city, including the proximity of the sea and the volcano. But this resemblance stops there! The Sakurajima volcano rises up in front of the city, enveloping it with its plumes of smoke and ashes. The fief of Satsuma fell in the 12th century into the hands of the Daimyō Tadehisa Shimazu, son of Yoritomo Minamoto, and this family proved to be energetic and curious. Far from Edo, Kagoshima would perfect its reputation for independence while fostering ties with foreigners. In 1549, Takahisa Shimazu welcomed Francis Xavier. Fifty years later, his son brought back Korean potters who would ensure the province's artistic reputation. The Daimyō would organize piracy in the Ryūkyū and China Seas. The Shimazu tried to invade all of southern Kyūshū, but were kept at bay by Hideyoshi Toyotomi. In the 19th century, the Shimazu took a stand in favor of the emperor, but remained hostile to trade with foreigners. In 1863, Admiral Kuper had the city bombed in retaliation for an assassination committed on one of his men by Japanese from Kagoshima. After the Meiji restoration, Marshal Takamori Saigō, who was part of the government, decided to retire to Kagoshima, because he was hostile to the opening of Japan to the West. He formed a dissident school and led the Satsuma Rebellion in 1877. He seized Kagoshima and then Kumamoto, but, repulsed at Hyūga, he retreated to Kagoshima where he committed seppuku at the Shiro-yama. A punitive expedition set fire to the city.