As of 1 January 2010, the city had an estimated population of 605,855 and a density of 1,107.49 persons per km². The total area is 546.71 km². In 2003, the city had an estimated population of only 554,136 and density of 1,911.41 persons per km². The total area was 289.91 km².

Kagoshima is approximately 40 minutes from Kagoshima Airport, and the city features large shopping districts and malls, is served by trams, and has many restaurants featuring Satsuma Province regional cuisine: kibi (a kind of tiny fish), tonkatsu (caramelized pork, as opposed to the breaded version encountered elsewhere in Japan), smoked eel, and karukan (sweet cakes made from steamed yams and rice flour). A large, modern aquarium has been installed on the old docks overlooking the volcano. The Sengan-en (Isoteien) Japanese garden is just outside the city.

The St. Xavier church is a reminder of the first Christians who came to Japan.

One of the best places to see the city (and the active volcano across the bay) is from the Amuran Ferris wheel on top of Amu Plaza Kagoshima, the shopping centre attached to the main Kagoshima-Chūō Station.

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History

Kagoshima was the center of the territory of the Shimazu clan of samurai for many centuries. It was a busy political and commercial port city throughout the medieval period and into the Edo period (1603–1867) when it formally became the capital of the Shimazu's fief, the Satsuma Domain. The official emblem is designed Shimazu's kamon to shape of the character "市"(shi, means "city"). Satsuma remained one of the most powerful and wealthiest domains in the country throughout the period, and though international trade was banned for much of this period, the city remained quite active and prosperous. It served not only as the political center for Satsuma, but also for the semi-independent vassal kingdom of Ryūkyū; Ryukyuan traders and emissaries frequented the city, and a special Ryukyuan embassy building was established to help administer relations between the two polities and to house visitors and emissaries. Kagoshima was also a significant center of Christian activity in Japan prior to the imposition of bans against that religion in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Japan's industrial revolution is said to have started here, stimulated by the young students' train station. Seventeen young men of Satsuma broke the Tokugawa ban on foreign travel, traveling first to England and then the United States before returning to share the benefits of the best of Western science and technology.[citation needed] A statue was erected outside of the train station as a tribute to them. The city was officially founded on 1 April 1889.

Kagoshima was also the birthplace of Tōgō Heihachirō. After naval studies in England between 1871 and 1878, Togo's role as Chief Admiral of the Grand Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Russo-Japanese War made him a legend in Japanese military history, and earned him the nickname 'Nelson of the Orient' in Britain. He led the Grand Fleet to two startling victories in 1904 and 1905, completely destroying Russia as a naval power in the East, and thereby contributing to the failed revolution in Russia in 1905.

The city covered deep in ash after the 1914 eruption of the Sakurajima volcano which is seen in the distance across the bay

The 1914 eruption of the volcano across the bay from the city spread ash throughout the municipality, but relatively little disruption ensued.[1]

On August 6, 1993, a heavy torrential rain and debris landslide, following hit flood in around area, include Ryugamizu area, which 49 persons lives in natural disaster.[citation needed]

Points of interest

Festivals

The Kagoshima Ohara Festival is the most famous festival in Kagoshima. It began in 1949 and is held annually on November 2 and 3. Among the festivities is a public traditional dance held at the main street in the Tenmonkan area, drawing as many as a thousand dancers.[citation needed]

kagoshima — |kägə|shēmə adjective Usage: usually capitalized Etymology: from Kagoshima, city on the south coast of Kyushu, Japan : of or from the city of Kagoshima, Japan : of the kind or style prevalent in Kagoshima … Useful english dictionary