Iso-teien Garden

Iso Teien is located in the city of Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture. Its formal name, Sengan-en, was taken from a place in China on which the garden is modeled. Iso Teien was created by Shimazu Mitsuhisa, ruler of this region, as his villa in 1658 , and was expanded into its present form in 1848. The garden has a grand view that encompasses Kinko Bay in the foreground, and the towering volcano Sakura-jima beyond the bay, shooting out smoke. A gas lamp in the shape of a stone lantern, the first in Japan, may also be seen in the garden.

Kagoshima-jingu Shrine

Kagoshima-jingu is in Hayato-cho, Kagoshima Prefecture. It is an old shrine said to have been built by the first emperor, Jinmu. The local place name -- Kagoshima -- is believed to have come from this shrine. The deity enshrined is Amatsu-Hidakahiko-Hohodemi-no-Mikoto and his consort, Tamayori-Hime. The shrine was strongly protected by the Shimazu clan, the daimyo of this region. The two suits of armor dedicated by Shimazu Takahisa, lord of the area in the 16th century, have been designated Important Cultural Properties by the Japanese government. The gigantic camphor tree in the shrine grounds is said to be 800 years old, and has been preserved with much care as a sacred tree, within which the spirit of a god is believed to dwell.