ErN
22, entry Mar 2008
Kagoshima, Japan — Brother Volcano, Sister City
Mt.
Sakurajima seen from Kagoshima
I don’t know when cities started pairing
up as "sisters." I do know that in Italy it started
in 1960 with the first such declaration of friendly
kinship, that between Naples and the Japanese city
of Kagoshima. I know that in Naples there is a via Kagoshima,
a short steep street meant for mountain goats (with
an extra low gear) connecting via Aniello Falcone
to the Vomero section of Naples. I also now know
that there is, indeed, a Napoli Dori (Naples
street) in Kagoshima. My understanding (as yet, I
have no photos of the street) is that it is a wide
and lovely tree-lined boulevard near the Nishi-Kagoshima
train station. I know that Kagoshima takes
this “sister city” stuff so seriously that each
year the city sends 10 of its citizens to Naples;
to my knowledge, Naples does not reciprocate, or
at least the mayor has not offered me any
free trips. I know all this because I bothered to
find out after a kind letter from Hide
Okabe pointed out that I had consistently misspelled
Kagoshima as "Kagushima"
in other entries in this encyclopedia (here and here.)
Napoli-dori Avenue in Kagoshima
Kagoshima is a city of
some 600,000 at the southwestern tip of the Kyūshū
island of Japan. Even before
the age of Sister Cities, Kagoshima had been known as
the “Naples of the Orient,” due to climate (warm),
location (a port city), temperament of the inhabitants
(friendly but I don’t know if they park on the
sidewalks; I suspect they do not) and the nearby
presence of one of the world's most famous active
volcanoes, Mt. Sakurajima, towering majestically over
the city across Kagoshima Bay. The volcano is 1,117
meters (3,665 ft), approximately like Vesuvius.
Sakurajima erupts —or at least sputters— constantly and
last erupted massively in 1914, an explosion so powerful
that the lava flow filled in the 500-meter stretch of
water (at an average depth of about 60 meters) to the
south-east of the then island (!)-volcano and joined
Sakurajima to the mainland.
So,
if you go, say hello to our brother volcano, and
discourage childish little outbursts of sibling
rivalry. Even better, take me with you, or at least
send me a photo of “Napoli Street.”
(Update!
March 2012. I have a photo now [above] thanks to kind
Chris in Kagoshima. Thank you!)
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