Travel Guide of Scenic Byway Kyushu

Q-⓮ North Satsuma Scenic Tour
Izumi City, Akune, Satsuma-Sendai, Ichiki-Kushikino, Hioki, andNagashima Town (Kagoshima Pref.) －Untouched Nature, Unique Samurai

Residence District, and Shirasu of Special Soil Layer－
The landscape route of the North Satsuma Scenic Tour is locatedin the northern part of the Satsuma region of Kagoshima Prefecture, and consists of five cities and one town, the center of which
is Satsumasendai City. Along with its fascinating natural treasure, a rich history has been built since ancient times.
(Access and Main Route). Access points to these scenic spots areKagoshima Airport and the stations of Izumi, Sendai and Kagoshima on the Kyushu Shinkansen.
The main roads in the scenic Satsuma area are National Routes
3 and 389, and complemented by National Routes 504 and 328. Inaddition, Kyushu Expressway, South Kyushu Expressway,
Orange Railway and Kagoshima Main Line are available. On theislands of "Koshiki-shima" in Satsuma-sendai City, the mainroads are three prefecture roads.
Under these transport networks, the Satsuma scenery region isroughly divided into five blocks as shown on the map.

(1)(1)(Scenic Resources). From the Middle Ages to the early modernera, the Satsuma Domain adopted its own local administration
system. The territory of the clan has been divided from several
villages to about 10 villages. One branch castle (called “Tojo”) was
built in each area, and the samurai were dispatched in the village
to settled down. Unlike the samurai who served directly the clan
lord in the inner castle, they are samurai who usually engage in
agriculture and fight as a soldier in an emergency, and were latercalled "Goshi". This system was devised because the family's financial condition was poor and it was necessary to protect vastborders.
However, in 1615, the Edo Shogunate issued “Law of one Castle
per one clan’s province ". For this reason, the Satsuma domain
abolished branch castles, but the local administrative system wasmaintained and the samurai system of Goshi remained. And thevillage where they lived was called “Fumoto”, while the govern-Fumoto Town, and the Entrance Gate and Room of Samurai Residence House in Izumi City

View of Yatsushiro Sea from Hario Parkin Nagashima Town.

(1) Ikarajima Oohashi Bridge in Nagashima Town.

(1) Izumi plain where more than ten thousand cranes dance in the sky (Izumi City)1

ment office that governs Fumoto wascalled “Jito-kariya”. In other words,
Jito-kariya is a mansion where theearth's tops live and work, aroundwhich a town of samurai residencesfor Goshi was formed.
From this point of view, some typical Fumoto in this scenic byway area
are shown as below. Fumoto Machi
and NodaFumoto Machi in the Izumi
city are the places where the situation
at that time is preserved well (seephoto (1)). The Iriki Fumoto in theSatsuma-Sendai city is a typicalmountainous village and the image ofthe village in the Edo period remains(photo (3)).
On the other hand, as shown in thephoto (5), two of Sato and Teuchi on
Koshiki Islands have a unique atmosphere made of island materials. TheMiyama-Fumoto in Hioki City is a(3) A view of Satsuma Sendai City with Sendai River(2) Dole Rock of the west coast in Northern Satsuma (Akune City)

special case where Korean potters moved in (photo (4)). If you visitthese Fumotos, you can see various villages for Goshi-samurai
from the Middle Ages to the Edo period.
The second is three important nature landscapes in northernSatsuma.
a. In the Izumi plain, more than 10,000 cranes are flying in thesky against the backdrop of the Yatsushiro Sea.
b. The landscape of the pyroclastic flow plateau develops along thelong coastline from Akune City to Hioki City, and is characterized
by the combination of the cliffs of Shirasu Plateau and the whitesand of the Shirasu Beach.
c. In addition, the remote island “Koshiki-shima” is located in theSouth Sea, and nature from ancient times has been preserved.

The landscape is extremely impressive, and far surpassing othergeoparks designated in Kyushu.
(1) Izumi City and Nagashima Town
In the Edo era, Izumi City was a town that protects the north of
Satsuma Domain, and there is still left the trace of checkpoint at
the entrance of "Satsuma-kaido" road.
By the way, there are three main spots in the main landscape of
this area. One is the scenery of cranes that come to the Izumi
Plain every winter and return to Siberia in March.
The second is the village of Fumoto, a local samurai community.
The samurai’s residence can be seen in various places, but thevillage of this town was large-scale, because it was a border town.

2

Some of samurai residences
are open to travelers andyou can see the interior (seephoto (1) on page 1).
The third is the view fromNagashima Island between
Amakusa City and Izumi
City. From the top of various
hills of Nagashima Island,
you can see Kyushu Main
Island, Amakusa islands
and the Yatsushiro Sea.
Flowers are planted along
the roads of Nagashima
every season, and special
products such as Orange,
Shochu (Japanese distilledliquor), Nori (seaweed laver), and Buri (yellowtail)are sold at a roadside station.

(3) The tomb of Enomisasagi enshrine the legendary
god of Japan creation. (Satsuma Sendai City).

(3) Imuta Lake surrounded by small volcanos (Ramsar’sConvention for wetland. Satsuma Sendai City)(2) West Coast in North
Satsuma.
The main route between
Akune and Satsuma-Sendai
is a scenic drive course
along the west coast innorthern Satsuma. The sea
is straight to the Asian continent through the East
China Sea, and the sunset
over the horizon is impressive. The view of the rocks
formed by the storm waves
is also amazing, but thewhite sandy beaches is shining brightly in the strong
summer sun.

(1)

Gate of Okariya in the Edo period, which is stillused for Gate of Izumi Elementary School(1)

Kurono-Seto Ohashi Bridge between Akune Cityand Nagashima town.

(3) Quiet Iriki-Fumoto Town and the Hedge Gate of Goshi-samurai’s House (Satsuma Sendai City)(3) Basin of Sendai River
The Sendai River basincan be divided into upstream and downstream basins due to its unique characteristics.
The Hiwaki River is atributary of the Sendai
River. Lake Imuta, the cal(3) Old Masuda Family House in 1873, and Street of Samurai Residential District in Iriki-Fumoto Town
dera lake formed by a volcanic lava dome, is at theuppermost stream and isregistered under the Ramsar Convention. A small
peat islands floating in thepond is a natural heritageand you can see the endangered tortoiseshell dragonflies in the fall.
(4) Miyama Fumoto (Village of Satsum-Yaki porcelain).
(4) Shirasu Plateau in Fukiage-Hama
When going downstream(Hioki City.)
Beach (Hioki City).
of the Hiwaki River, you will
The Sendai River basin is the section from the center offind the village, Iriki Fumoto, with a medieval atmosphere. The
Satsuma-Sendai
City to the estuary. The main scenic spot in thisold house with a thatched roof of the Masuda family is an imarea
isthemausoleumof God called “Enomisasagi”. In myth, it isportant cultural asset of the country.

3

The three islands
were once separated
from each other, but are
now all connected bylong bridges. The total
length of the road thatruns through the threeislands is about 38 km
and its population is approximately 5000.
The Kashima cliffs
havebeen gradually(5) Nagameno-Hama (beach) in Kami-Koshiki-Shima(5) Samurai Residence Area in “Sato” of Kami-Koshiki–Shima. (Satsumasendai City.)
built up over 80 million
years ago, and all ofthem have been raisedand exposed. As shownin photo (5), the horizontal stripes look like annual rings, which is avery rare sight.
Meanwhile, there are
beautiful sandy beaches.
For example, one is"Nagame no Hama", asandy beach with a(5) Sand beach at Teuchi Bay (Shimo-Koshiki-Shima,(5) Long span bridge in Koshiki-Islands
Satsumasendai City)(Satsumasendai City)
length of about 4km anda width of about 50m.
Another is the sandy
beach of Teuchi Bay,
which draws a beautifularc.
The Sato area ofKamikoshiki
Shima
Island is a port town on
Tonboro Island, wheremost of the island's
population lives. Since
the Edo period, the(5) Kashima Cliff formed by all the accumulations of(5) Kanoko Ohashi (Big Bridge) in Naka-Koshiki
samurai residence isthe strata from 80 million years ago
Shima. (Satsumasendai City)
surrounded by a uniquefence made of natural
said to be the grave of the god of “Ninigino-mikoto” who decobblestones
andaplantation
oftropicalplants.
scended from heaven and created our country.
There is also a village of samurai residences in the Teuchi area
(4) Areas of Ichiki-Kushikino City and Hioki Cityof Shimo-koshiki shima, and it can be seen that the regional policyof Shimazu domain were steadily spreading to each island.
Ichikikushikino City is located in the south of Satsuma Sendai
City, and the inland mountains is said to be the birthplace of ancient mountain Buddhism. In addition, the observation park is located on the hillside of Kanmuri Dake (Mount).
On the other hand, Hajima Port, where youths of the Satsuma
Domain secretly left for the United Kingdom, is located on thecoast. Satsuma British Students Memorial Hall has opened. The
materials of youths who have studied across the sea before theMeiji Restoration and contributed to the modernization of Japanare on display.
On the south side of National Route 270, there are scenic spots
such as Fukiage-hama Beach (total length 47km), steep slopes,
and cliffs due to the accumulation of volcanic ash from volcanic
eruptions.
(5) Koshiki Shima Islands with un-touched Nature(5) Rocks in Shimo-Koshiki Shima Island

Three Koshiki-shima islands are lined up in the East China Sea,
and access to the island is approximately 50 minutes from Sendai
Port (high-speed ship) or Kushikino New Port (ferry).

Publishing and Copy right: Promotion Conference of Kyushu
Scenic Byways ○C (Copy right 2020. All rights reserved).

4