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Photo: Sakoppi, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Once the castle of the Shimazu clan who governed the Satsuma domain till the Meiji Restoration, it was destroyed during the Satsuma Rebellion. The only parts remaining today are the wall and the moat. Reconstruction of the castle's gate was completed in April 2020. The Reimeikan is located inside the gate on the former castle grounds.
Kagoshima Castle was an Edo period flatland-style Japanese castle located in the city of Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Its ruins have been protected as a National Historic Site since 2023. Kagoshima Castle was listed as one of Japan's Top 100 Castles by the Japan Castle Foundation in 2006.). It is more popular known in Kagoshima as Tsurumaru Castle (鶴丸城)
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黎明館,Reimeikan
Beautiful museum with nice expositions retracing the origin and evolution of the first habitants of the southern Kyushu area till the Meiji restoration. Generic information is available in English but for more details about the different pieces contained in the exposition, a Japanese reading friend should be brought to fully enjoy all the information available.
城山公園
Mountain park in Kagoshima. You can see the panoramic view of Kagoshima including Sakurajima from the observatory.
Io World
1500¥ for adults (September 2025) 5 floors of exhibits. Of note, has 7 dolphins, 2 seals, and a whale shark. Closes 6pm.
維新ふるさと館, Ishin-furusato-kan
A museum about the Meiji restoration and its relationship with the local history. An excellent audio-guide in English is available for free. In the basement, projections (25 min) and robot animations (20 min) relating this period are presented hourly, with English translation though the audio-guide. Allow between 1.5 and 2 hours.