Where to stay in Kagoshima

Main station: Kagoshima-Chuo Station. You can pick Kagoshima as the city you stay in on this site.

Areas to stay

• Kagoshima-Chuo Station
  Hotels near Kagoshima-Chuo Station (Google Maps)
• Tenmonkan
  Hotels near Tenmonkan (Google Maps)

Day trips from Kagoshima

• SakurajimaKagoshima · within 20 kmAn active volcano that puffs ash almost daily, 15 minutes by ferry from Kagoshima city.
• TenmonkanKagoshima · within 20 kmKagoshima's main downtown, a grid of covered shopping arcades with local food such as black pork, ramen and 'shirokuma' shaved ice, plus a busy nightlife quarter.
• Shiroyama ObservatoryKagoshima · within 20 kmA 107 m hilltop lookout in central Kagoshima facing Sakurajima across the bay. Saigo Takamori sites from the 1877 war are nearby.
• Reimeikan MuseumKagoshima · within 20 kmThe prefectural history museum on the site of Kagoshima (Tsurumaru) Castle's main compound, strong on the Satsuma clan and the Meiji Restoration era.
• Kagoshima City Aquarium (Io World)Kagoshima · within 20 kmA bayside aquarium facing Sakurajima with about 800 species from the seas around Kagoshima, including a whale shark in the big Kuroshio tank.
• Shoko Shuseikan Museum (Former Shuseikan)Kagoshima · within 20 kmA museum on 800 years of the Shimazu family and the modernization drive of the Satsuma domain in the late Edo period. It occupies the former Shuseikan machine factory, a World Heritage component.
• Sengan-en GardenKagoshima · within 20 kmA lord's garden that 'borrows' Sakurajima volcano as its hill and the bay as its pond.
• Yunohira Observatory (Sakurajima)Kagoshima · within 20 kmThe highest point on Sakurajima open to the public, at 373 m on the north peak. The crater slopes rise right behind you, with the bay and city below.

Distance is a straight line from the station, not travel time.

See this month's day trips →

Onsen towns nearby

• Ibusuki Sand Bath (Saraku) Kagoshima
  Lie in a yukata on the beach while staff cover you with sand warmed by hot springs, then rinse off in the onsen bath.
• Kirishima Onsen-kyo Kagoshima
  A cluster of mountain hot springs at 400–900 m on the slopes of the Kirishima range, centred on Maruo, Hayashida and Iodani, with many types of water, footbaths and inns of every size.

All onsen towns by month →

From the airport

• Kagoshima Airport (KOJ): Airport limousine bus (Nangoku Kotsu / Kagoshima Kotsu), about 38 min to Kagoshima-Chuo Station.

Getting around

• Kumamoto 50 min · Kyushu Shinkansen (Mizuho/Sakura)
• Miyazaki 2 h 5 min · Ltd. Exp. Kirishima
• Osaka 1 h 15 min · flight KOJ → ITM
• Naha 1 h 25 min · flight KOJ → OKA
• Tokyo 1 h 50 min · flight KOJ → HND

Fastest regular service on the official timetable. A flight time is the scheduled time between the airports; add the trip to the airport.

Next city

• Kagoshima → Kumamoto (50 min) → Fukuoka (30 min) → Hiroshima (1 h)
• Kagoshima → Miyazaki (2 h 5 min) → Oita (3 h 10 min) → Fukuoka (2 h)

Example routes along these connections; the time of each leg is in brackets.

Use Kagoshima as your base →