DAY 7

Tuesday 4th May

Kagoshima

Woke up to the sound of heavy rain. Not good. Our aim was to get the tour bus around Sakurajima Island, which required an early start to catch the ferry.

At 9:00 a.m. the ferry left port. Rain rattles onto the metal decks and Sakurajima remains shrouded behind thick low cloud. The ferry operators attempt to lighten our spirits by playing the most god-awful muzak at us as we cross. (Sound follows you everywhere in Japan- be it on the train, the ferry, passing a pachinko parlour, outside supermarkets, even when waiting to cross roads- there will always be a brain-numbing ditty to accompany it. Some are good, like the traditional Japanese-sounding tune played when we cross the road outside Kyoto station. Some are very bad, like the game-show style ferry music to Sakurajima- a tune so astonishingly twee that it makes Belle & Sebastian sound like Rammstein.)

The crossing was brief and uneventful. Sakurajima looms nearer and nearer, until eventually we dock, pay our dues and leave the terminal. Our plan was to take the 9:30a.m sightseeing bus, but after considering the state of the weather, the prospect of taking dozens of identical grey-smeared photos doesn't appeal to us and so we give it a miss. We spent an hour or so traipsing around the lava- coated coastline, constantly either pulling up or pushing back the hoods on our jackets. It's not long before we decide that there's not a lot of fun to be had on a day like that, so we return to the ferry terminal.

Back in Kagoshima, and needing an indoor activity to hide from the rain, we decide to try the city aquarium. The entrance fee was a little pricey, but having exhausted most of our other options in the city, we decide it's the best way to use up a rainy day.

There was plenty to see in the aquarium, and in no particular order, the highlights were:

• The Whale Sharks, the largest fish in the world, floating majestically (if a little stupidly) around the massive tanks.
• Giant Spider Crabs, which look like they could have been snatched up from another planet. Huge, spindly and weirdly motionless, they appeared to repel more visitors than they attracted.
• A fantastic Dolphin show, which we spent half an hour waiting in a packed auditorium to see, but was well worth the wait. The intelligence of these animals was totally impressive- you can see it in their movements, reactions, even in their eyes. Reacting to their handler's slightest movements, they hold the audience completely captivated with their aqua-batics. In one display, three different objects are placed next to the pool. A child, selected randomly from the audience, is offered one of three large cards, on which are printed pictures of each object. Showing the selected card to the dolphin, it nods (the dolphin not the card), heads to the opposite end of the pool, hooks the appropriate object with its snout and returns it to the kid. Impressive stuff.
• And finally, one of the biggest attractions was ourselves. I felt at times like some kind of walking exhibit- we were the only Westerners in the aquarium, and there seemed to be very few in Kagoshima total. During the dolphin show, I witnessed kids visually torn between which spectacle to stare at- us, or the display.

Leaving the aquarium, we decide to head back to the Ryokan to pore over the guidebooks and figure out our next move. An hour or so later we hit the mean streets of Kagoshima in search of sustenance. After the obligatory 45 minutes of random walking, trying to find a Bavarian-style beer cellar that we'd read about in our guidebooks, we give up the hunt and take the nearest available bar. This turns out to be 'BB 13's Jazz Bar'. We timidly enter and climb the staircase to the first floor, where we are met by a smartly dressed waiter. Asking for the menu, we spend around five minutes trying to translate page upon page of Japanese script (which doesn't amuse the waiter much, who was holding the menu at the time). Deciding to throw caution to the wind, and in the name of Larks, we decide to put to one side the fact that it all looks hideously expensive and enter the pub. The bar was fantastic, all decked out in a 30's American style, with row upon row of different spirits. Having taken our seats and translated enough script to get by, we order our food and drinks- which, at around £3.50 a bottle, was pretty painful on the ol' wallet. But a good time was had by all, even though we were the only people there and consequently the atmosphere was a little muted. Still, I think we entertained the waiters with our hushed muttering and nervous glances at each other.

DAY 8

Wednesday 5th May

Sakurajima

Another early morning as we haul ourselves from our futons and prepare to get the ferry again. Timidly, we pull back the curtains at the windows and cautiously peer out. Patches of clear blue sky float by through breaks in the light cloud. Looking good. We leave the Ryokan and head towards the ferry port- suddenly something odd at the end of the road attracts my attention, and my pace quickens.
'Is that...?'
I begin jogging down the street in a state of excitement.
'It is!'
Paul and Emma are looking at me funny now.
'It's the top of Sakurajima!'

And sure enough, for the first time since our arrival at Kagoshima, the thick grey cloud has lifted, and the whole volcano is finally visible. I had worried that we'd go home without seeing the island in its true glory. It's a huge, brooding landmass, imposing and ominous- like some kind of bad-tempered earth god keeping Kagoshima under a watchful eye.

We board the ferry again for our crossing to the island. At Sakurajima, we find the tour bus and take our seats expectantly, and at 9:30 a.m. we set off. As a little souvenir we are presented with a film canister containing a small lump of actual volcanic rock, which was nice. Our tour guide was a middle-aged woman, who presented the tour in the most painfully polite Japanese speech possible, the whole shebang- honorifics, nodding, bowing, thanking- she was politeness embodied. First stop was a local hotel, where we picked up a few more passengers. I mention this because the youngish couple that boarded were clearly knackered, but determined to not to miss the tour. Watching them desperately trying to fight off sleep kept me amused, as they nodded gently, then jerked awake whenever the bus stopped. In fact they spent most of the tour snoozing. Not the best way to spend the best part of 13 quid.

Next stop was an observation point halfway up the slopes. From here we got commanding views of Kagoshima harbour and the surrounding mountains. The tour takes us around the perimeter of the island, passing through small villages and towns, past orchards full of the world's smallest mandarins, and stopping briefly at a half-buried Torii gate. This was the remnant of an old shrine, decimated by an eruption that wiped everything else clean. Only the upper crossbars could be seen poking through the dirt as if gasping for air.

In a scheduled stop-off at a souvenir shop, after being fed pickled radish by the over-enthusiastic staff, we find in the back garden another buried Torii gate that we suspect as being a fake. Paul makes friends with a Japanese guy who mistakenly believes he is American, shaking Paul's hand and saying 'peace'.

Further around, we visit a pottery centre, which utilises its unusual geographic location to its advantage- the settled ash from the volcano forms the glaze for the pots and dishes. I choose a little sake-cup and point it out to the cashier. She takes it away to wrap it up, and as she presents it to me, asks:

'Amerikajin desu ka?' ('are you American'?)
'Iie, Igirisujin desu'. ('no, English'.)

Again, those little words work their magic, and she beams from ear to ear as I hand over the money. The Japanese people seem easy to please.

The final part of the tour involves a stop at the visitor's centre, where we sit in a mini-theatre and watch a documentary about the island. The tour organizers thoughtfully provide us with English-language cassette players.

Tour over, we head back to Kagoshima, collect our bags and say our goodbyes at the Ryokan. Laden down with luggage, we amble down the streets in the blazing hot sunshine to Kagoshima-chuo railway station. A Shinkansen takes us to Tosu station via an unexpected change of train, which literally catches us napping. Four hours of travelling later, we are back in Kubota.

The evening is spent at Emma's, after a brief visit to the local supermarket to get ingredients for a stir-fry. In the interest of extending our cultural knowledge, we also buy loads of beer, which we vigorously test and rate. See Paul for details.