Ibusuki, Chiran, Makurazaki Travel Guides

The Ibusuki, Chiran, and Makurazaki areas offer tourist attractions such as Kinpusan (Mt. Kinpusan), Ibusuki Hot Springs, and Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots, tourist events such as Fukiagehama Sand Festival, Mendon, and Kawabe Nijichiichi Market, and local gourmet foods such as Karukan, Kagoshima ramen, and chicken rice.

Ibusuki is one of Kyushu's representative hot spring resorts. Located in the south of Satsuma Peninsula, it is filled with a tropical mood. If you come to Ibusuki, you should definitely try "suna-mushi" (sand steaming). It is a unique bathing method in which visitors are buried in sand heated by hot spring water, and it is popular for its smooth skin.

At the Sunamushi Kaikan Sunaraku, a drop-in bathhouse, you can enjoy it at the beach at low tide, or in a special area during high tide or when it rains.

At the archaeological museum "Jiyuukan COCCO Hashimure," visitors can try their hand at anguine weaving or making stone ornaments, and at "Flower Park Kagoshima," a 36.5-hectare site with subtropical plants from around the world, visitors can enjoy the view of Kinko Bay and flowers as they please.

Chiran, where samurai residences still remain, has been selected as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. The Chiran Buke Yashiki Garden offers a tour of six dry landscape gardens and a pond garden with a pond.

You can also taste local cuisine in the samurai residence at Kojo-an. Enjoy local specialties such as sake sushi and ryobo mochi (rice cakes) cooked with local sake in a tatami room. In addition, there are also restaurants where you can enjoy Satsuma cuisine such as sashimi of kibinago (dried young sardines) and slow-cooked pork bones of Satsuma Kurobuta (pork belly).

For tea time, the tea room attached to the "Satsuma British Museum Tea World" is recommended. The museum introduces the history of Satsuma from the perspective of England, with which Satsuma had friendly relations, and you can enjoy an authentic afternoon tea.

Makurazaki Station on the JR Ibusuki Makurazaki Line is the southernmost station on the Japanese mainland. Makurazaki is the center of the bonito pelagic fishing industry, and there are many bonito flakes factories in the city. When viewed from high ground, the smoke rising from the factories looks like the steam from a hot spring.

At the Makurazaki Fish Center, you can try your hand at making dried bonito flakes and shaving bonito flakes from straw. At the "Satsuma Shuzo Hanawatogawa Distillery Meiji Kura," you can tour a shochu (distilled spirit) factory that preserves the traditional methods of production.