Kagoshima City

For transportation in Kagoshima, I recommend buying a one-day or two-day tour (including ferry, tram, and bus). You can take the City View Bus directly to Sengen-en Garden. Have lunch on the second floor of the garden (the black Wagyu beef shabu-shabu set for 3800 yen is amazing!) for a direct view of Sakurajima and Kinko Bay. The restaurant on the first floor has afternoon tea with Shirokuma shabu-shabu; you can wait 3-4 hours to explore properly. It's truly beautiful and totally worth it! The cat shrine is so cute! If you have time, check out the museum about the Shimazu clan lords, who used their backyard for shipbuilding, reactors, and hydroelectric power generation—a truly inspiring example of foresight and action. They were willing to experiment, accept failure, and keep moving forward. The one-day pass includes a gift, so remember to redeem it!

The nearby observatory shopping area is lively, but the parking lot is quite far away. The hotel is new and the rooms are nice, but the breakfast is basic and has limited variety. I recommend having breakfast at the cafe across the street.