Under the Volcano

Kagoshima is the last city on the mainland as you head south through Japan, and the jumping off point for exploring the southern islands. It's known as the Naples of Japan, with its very own Mount Vesuvius, called Sakurajima, across the bay. The volcano always smokes, and frequently shoots out ashes that rain down on the city. It's a pretty impressive sight to see this active volcano looming over the city, when it's not cloudy. Unfortunately the rainy season had caught up with us, so we couldn't see a thing. We had planned to bike around the volcano, which wouldn't have been much fun in the pouring rain. Masami's old P.E. teacher lived nearby, however, and she offered to take us on a car tour.

We went to an archaeological site and museum of the Jomon, Japan's prehistoric people. The site dates back 9500 years, so it consists of house foundations, cooking pits and pottery shards. The museum was pretty new and impressive. They had a village reconstruction, and we got to dress up like Jomon. Masami particularly enjoyed the videos of Jomon cooking school, cooking soup, eating raw fish with sticks. It seems Japanese cuisine hasn't changed much in the last 10,000 years. Check out the picture of Theo with the Jomon facial hair.

It was still raining, but we decided to give Sakurajima a shot anyway. We zoomed around the mountain, getting carsick, getting lost. We did see the cement torii (shrine entrance) that had been buried by a lava flow. We stopped for lunch at this place that was famous for making vinegar. (Everywhere in Japan is famous for something.) There were long lines of hundreds of clay pots of fermenting vinegar. We got a little tour, although we didn't do any tasting from the pots. They had an interesting way of sampling, which I saw another group do. The guide would scoop a cup of vinegar out of a pot, then use a turkey baster to drop some into the palms of people's hands. Then the people would lick their palms. It was funny watching the grimaces that the vinegar produced in the women. We did get some sweet apple cider vinegar in a shot glass to drink. I'd have to say it's an acquired taste. The lunch was good, although everything had vinegar in it, even the strawberry sauce for the ice cream. 

The highlight of the day, although I wouldn't have imagined it, was taking a bath. The time had come, as it does every trip, to get naked with a bunch of Japanese guys. I have learned to use the little "modesty towel"to shield my privates from prying eyes, after a few embarrassing situations where I'd walk into a bath and realize I was the only one without one. It's bad enough being the only gaijin around, but you know those dreams where you're the only naked person in the crowd? Well, that's pretty much it. But I've learned to cope. Taking a bath is a major tourist attraction in Japan, and people will travel all over the country to take a bath in certain places. I've never really quite understood that. A bath has always been just a bath for me, but Masami and Theo love them, so I go along. This one, Furusato Onsen, was probably the nicest one I've ever been to. It was an outside hot spring bath carved out of rock next to the ocean. It's no exaggeration to say that taking a bath in Japan is a religious experience, and here there was actually a shrine in the bathtub. A massive tree grew over the shrine, with exposed roots covering one wall. It was coed, and we had to wear cotton robes. The bath was not too hot, as they often are, maybe because of the rain. Theo and I stepped out into the ocean to cool off. 

There was another bathroom that was single sex, and we tried that out, too. We got dressed, walked to the other bathroom, then got undressed again and walked into the bathing area. I was a small room with a regular tub with about 25 naked guys in it. I opened the door and 50 eyes turned toward me. I started to step into the tub, then thought I'd better take another shower (you always take a shower before you take a bath in Japan), because I didn't want anyone thinking I hadn't taken one. Maybe the water in the other bath was considered dirty. Anyway, I just knew I was doing something wrong. The tub was way too small for 27 people, so we got out pretty quickly. 

The next day was rainy again, and we had some time to kill in Kagoshima. Sakurajima was still nowhere in sight, so we went to the aquarium. It was great. They had levitating dolphins, giant killer crabs, and sardines packed into tanks like Japanese people in a subway car. It was a good way to kill some time until our ferry ride to Yakushima, a Japanese world heritage site, famed for its ancient cedars. It  was a trip I was really looking forward to.