Kagoshima Private Car Tours

Mike T.

5 / 5

Dec 10, 2025

Kagoshima Highlights - Sakurajima exploring & Sengan-en garden strolling

Dec 10, 2025

Kagoshima

6 hours 30 mins

“Kagoshima Hihjlights Shore Excursion with Eiji”

We booked a tour with Eiji, labelled as Kagoshima Highlights, and slightly modified it to remove items of little interest. Eiji was ready and waiting for us by the information desk in the cruise terminal, and after introductions, we were on the move to visit Sengan-en, a historic Japanese garden and former residence of the Shimazu clan. The drive took around 40 minutes, and we easily beat all the ship's tours, so it was relatively empty when we arrived. It was a really nice place to visit with its beautiful gardens and house, complete with a spectacular view of Sakurajima. The house dates back to the 1700s and, with the gardens, is now a UNESCO Heritage site. Once we had finished our tour, it was back in the car for a quick photo stop at Shiroyama Park observatory, which provided a great panorama of Kagoshima town and Sakurajima. It was then back to Kagoshima for a spot of lunch, which was in a little vegan cafe called Cafe Indigo and run by a lady single-handedly. It's a set meal which started with soup, then followed by a platter of vegan Japanese bites. It was really tasty, and Nicole was chuffed to bits with it. She even had a Soy Chai tea for the first time, and Eiji, who has a keen interest in food, accepted our invitation to join us, seemed to be impressed with the offerings. From there, it was a 10-minute walk to the ferry, where we enjoyed the 15-minute ride to Sakurajima. On arrival, we took a nice walk along part of the Nagisa Lava Trail and experienced some more great panoramas of Kagoshima and the volcano. On the return leg, Nicole took the opportunity to take the foot bath in Sakurajima Yogan Nagisa Park afterwards. Before taking the ferry back, we took a look around the visitor's centre, which was a short walk from the ferry terminal. Eiji then brought us back to the ship, where we thanked him for the day and said our goodbyes. We can thoroughly recommend Eiji, he is great company and was able to provide us with a memorable day in Kagoshima

Eiji K.

(27 reviews)

Thank you for coming to my tour, Mike. Very happy to hear that you enjoyed the day a lot. It was so much fun to me too, sharing our time under the autumn cozy sun and having the nice meal together. Hope you will be back to Japan near future! Arigato!! Eiji

“Chiran and Kagoshima tour”

Eiji was on time and very accommodating. He drives well and very knowledgeable with the sights we wanted to see and experience. His english is very good and easily understandable. We were able to understand many things about the culture and history of Kagoshima. Chiran Peace Museum was very heart wrenching and glad to get to see it too. We highly recommend him and would use him again in the future if we return to Kagoshima.

Eiji K.

(27 reviews)

Thank you for coming to my tour, Arthur. Very happy to hear that you enjoyed the tour a lot. I also enjoyed sharing our time and talking about our countries together, which makes me feel that we want to visit Philippines near future! Arigato! Eiji

“Sakurajima!!”

Very happy that we booked this tour. Moriaki was a very knowledgeable and respectful guide. The itinerary worked very well for our short cruise stop. Thank you Moriaki sun.

Moriaki A.

(14 reviews)

Larry & Mary Ann Irick-san Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful comments. I appreciate you both enjoying Sakurajima and Kagoshima despite your limited time. I hope you continue to have enjoyable cruise ship trips. I hope to see you again in Kagoshima if the opportunity arises. Thank you very much. Moriaki A