Welcome to the first installment of Hyatt’s Highlights, a semi-monthly series
focusing on the history, culture, sites, food and much more of this beautiful
southern prefecture. By sharing all I can about Kagoshima, I hope to
encourage others to come visit and experience it for themselves.
First, let’s deal with the technical information before we move on to lesser
known items.
What is Kagoshima?
Kagoshima prefecture is the southern-most prefecture of mainland Japan. It
is located at the south-west tip of Kyushu and is mainly comprised of two
peninsulas, Satsuma and Osumi. There are also 28 smaller islands which
stretch further southwest for about 300km. In all there are 49 municipalities,
17 cities, 28 towns, and 4 villages, home to almost 2 million people. Most
people live in the capital city, Kagoshima city, which has a population of
nearly 700,000.
Like the rest of Kyushu, Kagoshima prefecture is mountainous and very
volcanic. Tending to prefer flat open ground for rice cultivation, Kagoshima’s
people produce commodities suitable to the uneven landscape. Of these the
sweet potato is most closely associated with Kagoshima, but others include:
giant white radishes, baby oranges, and animal husbandry. Less edible but
no less famous are its glass and ceramic products.
Though some might view living in the midst of so many volcanoes as a bit
precarious the people here revel in it. After all, it is the blessing of the
volcanoes which give the prefecture its rich soil and its many relaxing hot
mineral spas. Unique to Kagoshima are the natural hot sand spas located in
Ibusuki.
Despite the fact that it is very mountainous, snowfall is a rarity and visitors
might even describe the climate as tropical. The bountiful rainfall, fertile soil,
and tropical temperatures mean that nearly all areas outside the cities are
overflowing with flowers and greenery. Indeed even the stone walls of
people’s homes become thick with moss, ferns, and creeping vines.
Kagoshima city is situated along the coast of Kinko Bay directly west of the
volcano Sakura-jima. This proximity to the ocean means that fishing is also a
major part of life here. In all of Japan there are approximately 2,927 fishing
ports. Kagoshima has the fifth largest number of fishing ports (out of 47
prefectures) with 138 official fishing ports. It also boasts a 7th place position
in the total number of registered fishing boats at 8,015. In one year alone,
over 100,000 tons of fish (not to mention other sea foods) was brought into
just one of Kagoshima’s main ports.
No, what is “Kagoshima?”
Okay, you say, enough with the stats. What I want to know is “what is
Kagoshima?” Well, I agree. In order to understand a place and its people it’s
important to understand their minds. One of the best ways is to understand
the language (Incidentally, Kagoshima has its own dialect of Japanese called
“Kagoshima-ben” which I’ll discuss in a future article). So, let’s take a minute
and try to understand why Kagoshima is called “Kagoshima”.
What’s in a name?
There are several theories as to how Kagoshima got its name. I will share
with you four of the most generally accepted explanations. In order to
understand two of the four theories, it is important to first understand the
meaning of the three Chinese characters (Kanji) used to write Ka-Go-Shima.
The character read as “Ka” refers to “deer”, the “Go” refers to “child”, and
“Shima” means “Island”. So, one might translate “Kagoshima” as “Deer Child
Island” or perhaps better as “Fawn Island”. You should also understand that
the use of the word “island” does not mean Kagoshima is an island. It is not.
The use of “island” is figurative, demonstrating the sense of distance Meiji
Era people felt Kagoshima was from the “civilized” cities of Tokyo and Kyoto.
This is definitely unfounded in that many of Japan’s most important
personages are from Kagoshima. However, the people of Kagoshima have
and continue to be distinctive in many ways to the mega-urban parts of
Japan leading them to also feel that they are an “island” on and island.
Furthermore, the people of Japan, including Kagoshima residents,
constantly refer to Kagoshima as “inaka” meaning either “countryside” in the
positive sense or “the backwoods” in a less flattering sense. Aside from the
fact that Kagoshima is more rural than Japan’s mega-cities, I do not feel that
it is in any way deserving of being called “inaka”. Kagoshima is a thriving
city, with a population nearly equal to San Francisco and I don’t think
anyone would refer to San Francisco as “backwoods”. Also, calling
Kagoshima “inaka” means ignoring its enormous but oft forgotten
contribution to Japanese mainstream politics and history.
Theories
1.As the name indicates, Kagoshima was associated with deer. The first
theory quite simply is that there was a great abundance of deer in
Kagoshima. So, it was fitting to call it Fawn Island.
2.Closely associated with theory #1, the second is that on an old map of
Japan, the old Kagoshima area has somewhat the shape a sleeping fawn.
3.The third possibility has nothing to do with deer or the figurative use of
“island”, but everything to do with Kagoshima’s volcano Sakura-jima.
The name Sakura-jima means “Cherry blossom Island”. Since it’s
eruption in 1914, Sakura-jima hasn’t been an island. Nonetheless, when
the government was renaming prefectures the volcano was still the
greatest part of an island in the middle of the bay. Well, this explains the
“island” part. But what about the “Kago”, huh? Like all languages,
Japanese is evolving. In earlier times, the word for volcano was “Kagu”
(it is now “Kazan”). I bet you can guess where this is leading. “Volcano
Island”, or “Kagu-shima”, slowly changed to “Kagoshima”. One might
also argue that people still thought of Kagoshima as the figurative island
with a great many volcanoes, and so “Volcano Island” is again based on
people’s image of the region.
4.The final theory is about neither deer nor volcanoes, so it lacks
subscribers. But I believe it deserves contemplation because it is simple
and direct. Before modern boats and ferries churned and chugged across
Kinko Bay, the area was full of the old Japanese wooden boats with a
boatman swinging the rudder back and forth for propulsion. These old
boatman were called “Kako”, referring to their job. The great number of
“Kako” working the waters between the mainland and the islands leant
people to call the area “Kako Shima” (remember “shima” is “island”).
Over time “Kako-Shima” became “Kagoshima”.
I leave it to you to accept any or none of these theories. Frankly, most
Japanese people (even in Kagoshima) have almost no idea about the naming
of Kagoshima or any other prefecture. This is unfortunate.
I hope that you will join me again for my next installment of Hyatt’s Highlights.
There is so much more to explore and learn about this marvelous corner of Japan.
