Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle

KYUSHU ISLAND In the not-so-far-distance Mount Sakurajima puffs white clouds during my visit. One of the world's most active volcanoes has erupted 215 times over the year, yet it doesn't seem to affect the locals in Kagoshima city. Cyclists pedal along orderly streets, white-gloved taxi drivers chauffeur their customers in cabs styled with white embroidered doily head- rests, and uniformed school children practice their English as one studious lad gifted me with his class project … in English. I quickly adopt the art of the onsen, which is the traditional Japanese hot springs culture. At the hilltop hotel, the Shiroyama Hotel Kagoshima, mornings start with the ritual bath, sitting with other nude female guests in a hot tub (no tattoos allowed), as we watch the magical sunrise over Mount Sakurajima ahead. Mornings and afternoons in Kagoshima blend harmoniously together. One day we drive northeast, through an agri-rich green tea plan- tation area to Kirishima, known for its onsens where ryokans (traditional inns) are common. Beside the Amorigawa River, smoke plumes from the sulphuric springs prick the fresh countryside air at the Wasure no sato GAJOEN. Renowned for organic cuisine, private and public baths, like the other hotels, guests are provided assorted slippers and jinbei pyjamas. A sleepover at this thatched-roof village feels like I am transported back to the past. But it's in the Satsuma peninsula in Ibusuki on a nostalgic one-hour scenic train ride where I along with a full train of Japanese tourists really settle into a happy state. The Japanese hold dear a fairy tale Urashima Taro about a boy, a dragon palace and a magical treasure box that is the emblem of this rail journey. From Kagoshima we chug south to Ibusuki, fittingly leaving the sta- tion in a cloudy puff of engine smoke mirroring Urashima's magic box. Japanese arrive here to Saraku Sand Bath Hall for the ultimate suna-mushi (sand bath). The only place in the world where it's okay to be buried alive, I follow the customary routine. Clad in a thin cotton yukata and slippers, I step on the volcanic black sand beach where rainbow- striped mini-parasols pronounce the sand pit location for every hot sand bather. The goal will be to lie horizontally under a steaming mound for 15 minutes in tem- peratures up to 50 degrees Celsius as your reclined head is exposed to the elements. It's believed this sauna practice has strong health benefits like detoxification of blood and easing diabetes symptoms as you sweat in the hot sand. Now as the last heap of steaming sand is shovelled on top of me, I feel every pulse point immediately throbbing. Yet the crushing weight of the sinking sand brings me to a surprising calm. Cocooned from the world, the sounds of my own breath and the surf lull me to this happy place. DREAMSCAPES SPRING/SUMMER 2024 74 E X T R A O R D I N A R Y E X P E R I E N C E S TRAVEL PLANNER For more trip inspiration on Kagoshima visit kagoshima-kankou.com/for and for travel information about Japan see japan.travel/en/ca i DS PHOTOS: ILONA KAUREMSZKY | JAPAN NATIONAL TOURISM ORGANIZATION

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