Travel Blogging X

At sea, enroute to Osaka, our destination port: Yesterday we visited Kagoshima, which has a dramatic setting on a bay across which rises a still-active volcano. At the southern end of the south-most of Japan's four main islands, Kagoshima would like you to believe it is tropical.

To that end they've planted palm trees at the cruise port. In summer it may be quite warm, yesterday it was gray, overcast, and cool without being cold. Luckily it did not rain. 

We did a shore excursion to two museums, a temple, a garden, and the mountaintop where the last samurai died. Our guide had a masters degree from a British University and her English was good. 

The Japanese esthetic was much on display at the temple, it is nicely understated and highly distinctive. Tomorrow we fly home Osaka to San Francisco nonstop, we will literally arrive in SF earlier than the time we depart Osaka, on the same day and date.