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Kirishima Kinkowan NP, Kagoshima
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In 1914, Sakurajima’s lava filled the roughly 400-m-wide Seto Strait, joining the former island to the Ōsumi Peninsula. It also buried Karasujima, a small island just offshore.
Sakurajima daikon has been grown here for over 200 years. One Guinness-recognized root weighed 31.1 kg and measured 119 cm around; its sweet, firm flesh is prized in oden and buri-daikon.
At Kurokami Shrine, only the top beam of a 3-m torii remained above the 1914 ash and pumice. The village mayor chose not to dig it out, preserving the gate as a warning for future generations.
About 1.5 km northeast of Sakurajima, Shinjima rose during the 1779 An’ei eruption. It once held about 250 residents, emptied in 2013, then welcomed a couple back in 2019.
Sakurajima’s Seto village built Shōhei-maru, Japan’s first domestically built Western-style warship, in 1854. The 27-m vessel carried 10 cannon; its shipyard now lies under 1914 lava and loquat trees.
A Sakurajima komikan weighs just 40–50 g and measures under 5 cm, yet some trees over 100 years old yield hundreds of kilograms. This tiny citrus is a Kagoshima GI-protected specialty.
The 3-km Nagisa lava walk crosses more than a young lava field: groundwater wells up through the shore, creating brackish habitat for the rare milky fiddler crab (*Austruca lactea*).
Across the bay in Kagoshima City, residents collect Sakurajima ash in free city-issued “Kokuhai” bags; sweepers and water trucks clear roads. Volcanic ash even has a dedicated civic cleanup system.
Before the 1914 blast, falling well water and felt earthquakes led some islanders to evacuate. Others remained after the local observatory reportedly answered that no eruption was happening.
Local tradition says Satsuma lord Shimazu Yoshihiro brought the small orange back from the Korean Peninsula during the Bunroku and Keichō campaigns. It’s an old origin story, not a verified record.
At Higashi-Sakurajima Elementary, pupils grew the namesake daikon and sent it to auction—a signature school project linking children with the island’s farming traditions.
