鹿児島 Kagoshima

There wasn't much time to spend down in Kagoshima but just seeing the active volcano Sakurajima and getting ash dumped on me all afternoon was enough. Apparently the volcano's been spewing a lot of smoke and ash lately and the city had little piles of gritty black soot everywhere. It used to be an island but a 1914 major eruption turned it into a peninsula and buried parts of the place in lava flows.

I'm not sure living next to something like that would be good for your health...It would clear up but then the wind would change and you could just see this grey cloud coming towards the city and within 15 minutes or so you'd start getting grit in your eyes and mouth...

There are continuous ferries that take only 15 minutes to get over to the volcano which has a number of developments and small town areas around it. At 150 yen it costs less than a streetcar ride in Kagoshima. Kagoshima, like Fukuoka, seems like a more balanced city with open areas, parks, playgrounds, etc.