Kagoshima is one of my top five favorite places in Japan. The sweet potato shōchū, its proud history, the relaxing hot springs, the food (pork-heavy) that’s umaka, the beautiful women, of whom my wife is one, and the volcano Sakurajima all make the prefecture worth visiting.
Sakurajima (lit. “Cherry Blossom Island”), a strato-or conical volcano located just across Kinkō Wan (bay), is considered Japan’s most active volcano, with 20 small eruptions occurring every month.
The volcano is featured in the city’s manhole design, along with the slightly odd slogan “Magma City”. Above the volcano, it says “Anata to wakuwaku . . . “ (Excited with you . . .)
Volcanic ash is everywhere.
We had a similar problem in Portland back in the 80s when Mount St. Helen’s blew her top.
Volcanic ash collection site. The ash is sometimes used in reclamation projects.
The manhole covers for the sewage feature a kiriko design. Satsuma kiriko is a type of cut glass craft that was manufactured by the Satsuma Clan from late Edo to early Meiji, so from the mid to late 1800s.
This manhole features the crest of the Shimazu family which ruled Satsuma during the Edo Period.
A fairly common fire cistern.