Welcome to Sakurajima!  桜島ビジターセンター

Hello from Sakurajima!

The Visitor Center is the first place you should come in Sakurajima.

If you are coming from the ferry terminal, turn right and walk down the ramp to the main road. Keep walking on the main road and you will pass a Lawson convenience store, Magma Hot Springs and Rainbow Sakurajima (in the same building), and you will turn right onto a small road. On the left is the entrance to Sakurajima Visitors Center. It takes about five minutes from the ferry terminal. If you are driving, there is a free parking area outside.

In the Center, there is a small exhibition hall (mini-museum) and a theatre with a 13-minute introductory film. It is in Japanese but you can ask for English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, or Simplified Chinese subtitles. Visiting the mini-museum will help you understand the history and layout of Sakurajima. Make sure you pick up a free map, "Adventures of Volcano and Sea," which will help you find your way around. It also gives good information about things you will see in the area.

The Visitor Center has a small gift shop where you can buy locally produced items. There are a number of unique products, such as towels and T-shirts dyed with Sakurajima volcanic ash, pottery and jewelry made from volcanic ash, products made from the small mikan (Mandarin orange) and large daikon (white radish) for which Sakurajima is famous, and beauty products made from locally grown and processed camellia oil. You can also sample ice cream made locally, including "volcanic ash" ice cream (don't worry, it's not really volcanic ash).

Near the Visitor Center, you can find the free hot springs footbath and enjoy lovely mountain and ocean scenery as you soak your feet in the iron-rich hot spring water. We sell towels if you didn't bring your own! You can also walk the Nagisa Lava Trail, a three-kilometer path which is part of the 1914-15 lava field. On this trail, you can see different sizes and types of lava rock and pumice from the Taisho eruption, and how plant life is taking root on the lava field. Make sure to look out over the bay for a beautiful panorama of Kagoshima City, and behind you for a view of the mountain!

Outside the Visitor Center you can catch a bus, which runs once every 30 minutes, for a scenic tour of several observatories on the west side of Sakurajima. If you want to get off at any observatory, you should get a ¥500 bus pass at the Visitors Center. (The "Cute" pass also works for this bus.) You can also rent bicycles if you want to ride, but they must be turned in by 5:00, so plan to start early in the day!

Sakurajima Visitor Center staff is always happy to welcome you and help you to have a great visit.

Please come see us!