Sengan-en: A Scenic Garden Estate

A garden estate that embraces Sakurajima and Kinko Bay, preserving the memories of Satsuma.

📝 Spot Details

📍 Sengan-en｜Scenic Spot & Iso Garden
Location: Yoshino-cho, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima Prefecture (A villa of the Shimazu family with Sakurajima and Kinko Bay as its borrowed scenery)

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🕛 Opening Hours & Holidays

Hours: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Open year-round, except for potential closure on the first Sunday of March)

Admission Fee: Garden + Shoko Shuseikan Museum Combo Ticket
Adults: ¥1,500–¥1,600 / Elementary & Middle School Students: ¥750–¥250

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🚃 Access

By Car: About 20 minutes from Kagoshima-Chuo Station, about 40 minutes from Kagoshima Airport

Public Transport: Take the sightseeing bus "Kagoshima City View" and get off at Sengan-en-mae / Directly connected to the JR "Sengan-en Station" scheduled to open in March 2025.

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🚗 Parking

Capacity: Approximately 100 vehicles (Fee: ¥300–¥500/day for passenger cars, large buses also accommodated)

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✎ Highlights

🚩 History & Landscaping: Constructed in 1658 (Manji 1) by the 19th Shimazu Mitsuhisa. A magnificent garden (approx. 15,000 tsubo) utilizing borrowed scenery with Sakurajima as a hill and Kinko Bay as a pond.

🎎 Cultural Assets & Historic Sites: Features such as the Crane Lantern (site of gas lamp experiments), Cat Shrine, feng shui-based structures, and the Tin Gate hold significant historical value.

🏛 Shoko Shuseikan Museum & Old Reverberatory Furnace Site: Among Japan's oldest Western-style factory buildings from the Shuseikan Project. Registered as part of the "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution" World Cultural Heritage in 2015.

🌸 Seasonal Flowers & Events: Cherry blossoms in spring, chrysanthemum festivals and autumn foliage in fall, irises in early summer, and peonies in winter. Local sweets and café experiences within the garden are also popular.

👑 Guest Pavilion: Used as a reception hall since the Meiji era, hosting notable figures such as Atsuhime, Saigo Takamori, Emperor Taisho, and British royalty. Visitors can also tour the interior, including the audience chamber.