KYUSHU TRAVEL DIARYREVIEW KYUSHU TRIPS WE HAVE VISITED

Sengan-en at first glance is a nice Japanese park by the sea with beautiful greenery; lovely Japanese, Chinese and Western buildings; and traditional Japanese and English gardens with a great view of Sakurajima. But as my English-speaking guide explained, Sengan-en’s story is far more than just a park. She described how the first military cannon in Japan was built by Japanese craftsmen following instructions from a book that was written in Dutch. Normally, the park’s kimono-clad guides will take you around and explain things in Japanese, with literature available for you to follow along with in English. Sengan-en has been passed down in the Shimadzu family for over 350 years. In July 2015 Sengan-en and the Shoko Shuseikan building were recognized as World Cultural Heritage Sites related to Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution. There is much to see and do here, so you could easily spend a whole day exploring all the buildings, wandering the gardens, watching demonstrations of tea ceremony, seeing Japanese archery, dining on Kagoshima fare and gazing out over the water to Sakurajima, shopping for interesting souvenirs like cat-related products, handmade glass, sake, tea, pottery, etc. There’s even a short trekking path that offers an amazing view of the city and Mt. Sakurajima. The mild weather in each of the four seasons makes Sengan-en a mandatory stop for any lover of history, culture, and nature.