Spring2024

Multilingual Newsletter
For foreign residents of Kagoshima City

Event Information!

CIR Report■I rode the Magma Yakiimo Train
Did you know that there’s an event held once a year where you
can go around Kagoshima City in a city tram car designed after theMagma City logo, decorated with sparkling LED lights?
I participated this year and had the chance to eat a course of fourtypes of yakiimo (baked sweet potatoes) – annou-imo, beni-haruka,
silksweet, and Tanegashima gold – all while enjoying the city scenerythrough the tram windows. Inside the tram, a popular entertainerfrom Kagoshima acted as our guide, giving us explanations about thesweet potatoes and a quiz about Kagoshima. Depending on thenumber of answers we got right, we could get stickers with different
designs!
The participation fee is ¥2000 for adults (junior high and above) and ¥1000 for children(ages 3 to elementary students). The fee includes the ride, four types of yakiimo, and for thisyear, a cutlery set featuring Magnions, Kagoshima City’s PR character! The set includes aspoon, fork, and even chopsticks – surely an exciting addition to lunchboxes!
Besides the Magma Yakiimo Train, this year there was also a←Magma
Magma Sakurajima Daikon Train, a Magma Deep-Sea Fish Train, andYakiimo
a Magma Music Train. I’m already excited to see what kind of Magma
Train official
Trains there will be next year! Be sure to add the Magma Yakiimo
LINE
Train on LINE for more information! ♪

Commemorative
quiz stickers

Paired place matsTaste-testing yakiimo

Published by the Kagoshima
International Exchange Center
Written, translated and edited byKagoshima City CIRs:
NOH Soyeon (Korean)
Rebecca LEVEQUE (English)

Magnion cutlery◇Spring Tree Market (‘Haru no Kiichi’)Dates/times: Fri, Mar. 15-Sun, May 6,
10 AM-5 PM
Place: Greenbelt on the left bank of
Kotsuki River (civic plaza)
Items sold: Garden trees, green trees,houseplants, seedlings, fruit tree
seedlings, small birds, etc.
Check the city website for updates
https://www.city.kagoshima.lg.jp/seisanryutu/harunokiiti.html
Contact: Sun-Sun Call Kagoshima(foreign language support available)
TEL808－3333
Tree Market Management Office
TEL090-6291－5316 (during event only)◇Kagoshima City Agriculture Center“Four Seasons Flower Garden”
About 230,000 rapeseed flowers reach peakblossom in mid March-early April
Contact: Kagoshima City Agriculture Center
TEL238-2666 FAX238-2682◇Rent out a Sakurajima Ferry!
The ferry can be used for gatherings,
studying, classes, and more!
(Not including PM hours on weekends andholiday afternoons)
Cost: Starting from ¥440,000 for 2 hours
Contact: Maritime Bureau Business Division
TEL293-4785 FAX293-2972

Life in Kagoshima

Article by Soyeon〇Riding the city tram and buses with your creditcard
Do any of you living in Kagoshima City still not use Rapica, Kagoshima’s IC Card?
I’ve been here for almost 2 years, and I still don’t have one. Today I’m going to sharesome useful information for those without a Rapica card. Did you know that sincelast year, you can pay the city tram fare by tapping your credit card? I’ve been using
my credit card to pay since then. It’s super easy, since there’s no need to add moremoney to your card and you don’t need exact change. Starting this March, you canalso use credit cards on city buses! Let’s take a look at the details.

Where and how to use
All general city bus lines
City View bus
Island View Bus(Cannot be used on Ai-bus)

Tap when getting on
Keep close to the reader for atleast one second!
The credit card reader isdifferent from the Rapica
reader.

Tap again when getting
off
Card reader

When paying for multiple
people, a child, or disabled
person, tell the driver before
tappingMonthly upper-limit discount!
A monthly upper limit is established when
you use your credit card to pay, and when
you pay more than the limit, you get a fullprice discount without having to apply!
(Must use a card with the same number)

Begins Friday, March 1st, 2024
Upper-limit ¥9,660 for adults(same price as city bus commuter pass)

Available on All city trams and buses(Excluding Ai-bus)
Period available Every month from the
1st to the end of the month
No need to designate a particular period

Enjoy life in Kagoshima with KagoTips!
Article by Rebecca♡Kagoshima tonkatsu special
When it comes to Kagoshima, you can’t forget about Kurobuta pork, and when it
comes to Kurobuta, you can’t forget tonkatsu… We went to tonkatsu places todiscover the deliciousness of Kagoshima Kurobuta! They were both very delicious,
so be sure to check them out when you get a chance!

♡ Katsujyu Amyu Plaza
Kagoshima♡Kurobuta

I went to Katsujyu, located in thebasement level of Amyu Plaza, andhad the hirekatsu teishoku.
The meat was very soft and delicious.
There was a sweet sauce and a spicy
sauce, so you can match it to yourliking. I went with the sweet sauce!
You can also choose between a small,medium, and large serving of rice, soyou can match that to your liking aswell.
-Soyeon‐

I went to Kurobuta in Tenmonkan for
the first time! This restaurant offers
many tonkatsu dishes, and I ordered
the hirekatsu lunch. The meat wasvery soft, and the homemade
tonkatsu sauce and natural salt from
Yakushima made it even moredelicious! There were many
foreigners there and there weremenus in English, Korean, andChinese (traditional), so you don’t
have to worry when ordering!
-Rebecca-

Payment methods available
You can use the cards listed
Credit card
Debit card
Prepaid cardㅎUse prepaid cards after adding value
Cards that can be used when registered tosmartphones and wearable devices
Apple Pay
Google Pay(Some card types are unavailable)←Please note
Card and smartphone payments arecalculated separately
You must use the same card number via the samemedium.
Even with the same number, plastic card andsmartphone payments are a different medium, so they
are not added up together.

Different devices are calculated
separately
Different devices (smartphones, smartwatches,etc.) are also calculated separately. Be aware ofthis when buying a new phone.

Only one person per ride is eligible
Even when paying for multiple riders with the samecard, only one rider’s fare is calculated towards thediscount.

Contact: Kagoshima City Transportation Bureau General Planning Division 〒890-0055
Kagoshima City Uearata-cho 37-20 TEL.099-257-2111(Rep) FAX.099‐258-6741

Have you heard of Kagoshima City’s official app, KagoTips? The app guides
you to official links with tons of info about life, events, transportation, andmore in Kagoshima! There is also info about a variety of consultation
services, so give the app a download if you find yourself in need of help. Of
course, the app is available in multiple languages – as of now, Japanese,simple Japanese, English, Mandarin (Simplified and Traditional), Korean, andVietnamese are included. You might be surprised at just how much there is in
Kagoshima. Feel free to use KagoTips to enjoy your life in Kagoshima to thefullest!

Stay tuned until next time for even more new discoveries!