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Kagoshima |
 Kagoshima Prefecture (鹿児島県, Kagoshima-ken)
- A prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū island. The
capital is the city of Kagoshima.
Kagoshima Prefecture is located at the southwest tip of
Kyūshū and includes a chain of islands stretching further to
the southwest for a few hundred kilometers. The most
important group is the Amami Islands. Surrounded by the
Yellow Sea to the west, at least since 1879 by Okinawa
Prefecture in the south, Kumamoto Prefecture to the north,
and Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, it has 2,632km of
coastline (including the 28 islands). It has a bay called
Kagoshima Bay (Kinkowan), which is sandwiched by two
peninsulas, Satsuma and Osumi. Its position made it a
'gateway' to Japan at various times in history. While Kyushu
has about 13 million people there are less than 2 million in
this prefecture.
The prefecture boasts a chain of active and dormant
volcanoes, including the great Sakurajima, which towers out
of the Kagoshima bay opposite Kagoshima city. A steady
trickle of smoke and ash emerges from the caldera,
punctuated by louder mini-eruptions on an almost daily
basis. On active days in Kagoshima city an umbrella is
advisable to ward off the ash. Sakurajima is one of Japan's
most active volcanoes. Major eruptions occurred in 1914,
when the island mountain spilled enough material to become
permanently connected to the mainland, and a lesser eruption
in 1960. Volcanic materials in the soil make Sakurajima a
source for record 'Daikon' radishes, roughly the size of a
basketball. Many beaches around the Kagoshima Bay are
littered with well-worn pumice stones. A crater lake in the
southwestern tip of the prefecture, near the spa town of
Ibusuki, is home to a rare species of giant eel.
 Kagoshima Prefecture corresponds to the ancient Japanese
provinces Osumi and Satsuma, including the northern part of
the Ryukyu Islands. This region played a key role in the
Meiji restoration(Saigo Takamori), and the city of Kagoshima
was an important naval base during Japan's 20th Century wars
and the home of admiral Togo Heihachiro. More recent
incidents are the sinking of a North Korean spy ship (100
ton class) in 2001 by the coast guard, which was later
salvaged and exhibited in Tokyo. And the body snatching and
abduction of an office clerk from a Kagoshima beach in 1978
by agents from the same country. This became known only
recently under the Koizumi administration.
Seventeen cities are located in Kagoshima Prefecture:
Akune
Amami
Hioki
Ibusuki
Ichikikushikino
Izumi
Kagoshima (capital, Core city)
Kanoya
Kirishima
Makurazaki
Minamisatsuma
Nishinoomote
Ōkuchi
Satsumasendai
Shibushi
Soo
Tarumizu
Information source: “Kagoshima Prefecture.” wikipedia.org. Article
date: 1 Mar. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Mar. 2008 <Kagoshima Prefecture>. |
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