DAY 69 - Kagoshima, Japan

March 6, 2024

Kagoshima is at the southern tip of Japan, kind of a mountainous terrain with a volcano right by.  The local tour guide says he often feels a burn from ash on his face because it smokes continually. And at the end of the daily weather forecast they will also give the wind/ash advisory for the day.  The last real eruption was about 18 months ago.

But the main reason for our visit here is to see a museum at an old Japanese airfield  that was used during World War II.  This airfield was where the Japanese kamikaze pilots were trained and where they departed from on their final flight.  The museum housed many artifacts from the time, including several airplanes, but it was mostly displays of the pilots, their last days and copies of the letters written home the night before their final flight.  The kamikaze pilots were only used for a short time very near the end of the war as the Americans came closer and an invasion of Japan was imminent.  It was a sad and emotional visit.

A memorial garden

The barracks where the pilots stayed on their last night.

We were asked to not take pictures inside due to the privacy of the families of the pilots.  But it was ok to photograph this aircraft that was pulled out of the ocean after its mission,

More friendly school kids in uniform!

Our second stop of y was at an old street and homes from the time when the Samurai ruled Japan.  Many of the homes had traditional Japanese gardens in the yard. And we finished the day with a small cup of tea.  

On our drive back past the rice fields, we got a much better view of the volcano!