A Note from Chizuru — August 2026
I originally wrote this story in Japanese on December 16, 2017.
Reading it again nearly nine years later, I realized that something I still treasure today was already there in these words.
Taking my time to discover Kagoshima.
Finding places that are part of ordinary local life.
And enjoying the feeling that, even after moving here, there is always somewhere I have yet to discover.
Rather than rewriting the story from today’s point of view, I decided to share it in English while keeping as much as possible of what I felt at the time.
So, this is a small piece of Kirishima as I saw it in December 2017.
A Small Journey Through a Local Onsen Town
Around Saigodon Village in Hinatayama, Kirishima, there are many small onsen—Japanese hot springs.
Hinatayama is an area where local bathhouses are scattered throughout the neighborhood, and many of them can be enjoyed for only a few hundred yen.
A Glimpse of Hinatayama Onsen on Japanese Television
At the time, the YouTube channel
人生の足跡 今を大切に生きる
shared footage introducing the Hinatayama area from the Kagoshima television program Don-to Kagoshima, broadcast on December 3, 2017.
The video below introduces Hinatayama Saigodon-yu (Motoyu), one of the local hot springs in the area.
Watch the original video on YouTube →
When I used to visit Kirishima as a traveler, I didn’t even know this place existed.
Back then, when I thought of Kirishima, I imagined the mountains and the well-known hot spring resorts of Kirishima Onsen.
Travel information about Kagoshima often seemed to focus on places such as Kirishima and Ibusuki.
And because I usually had only a few days to spend here, I tended to visit the places I already knew.
Even though I had traveled to Kagoshima many times, there were still so many places like Hinatayama that I had never discovered.
After moving here, I began revisiting the places I had once known as a traveler.
Then I would go a little farther.
And a little farther again.
It was almost as if small branches were slowly growing from the journeys I had already made.
In that way, little by little, I began discovering a Kagoshima I hadn’t known before.
Perhaps this is a strange way to put it, but all of those places I still don’t know allow me to remain a traveler here.
I don’t feel any need to hurry and understand all of Kagoshima.
If, by the time my own journey comes to an end, I can see even a faint outline of the whole place, I think that will be enough.
I’d rather discover Kagoshima slowly.
The Everyday Hot Springs of Hinatayama
The hot springs around Hinatayama are far from polished or sophisticated.
And I don’t mean that as a criticism.
Many of them are simply places that have long been part of everyday life here.
This morning, I took a walk around the neighborhood and photographed some of them.
Photographs from Hinatayama — December 2017
These are some of the photographs I took while walking around the Hinatayama hot spring area that morning.
There are small public bathhouses, private family baths, and traditional inns where visitors can enjoy the hot springs without staying overnight.
There are many different ways to experience the waters of Hinatayama.
Earlier that year, I tried a kazokuyu—a private family bath—for the first time.
Having an entire room and a continuously flowing natural hot spring all to myself felt surprisingly luxurious.
It offered a completely different kind of pleasure from bathing in a public bathhouse, and I quickly became fond of it.
Of course, the large and beautiful hot spring baths at hotels and traditional inns are wonderful too.
But there is something I love about soaking in a small bath used by local people and hearing Kagoshima dialect spoken around me.
People have been kind to me.
And somehow, both my body and my heart feel warmer afterward.
Still Feeling Like a Traveler
Sometimes I remember the days when I traveled around Kagoshima trying to see as many tourist attractions as possible.
I would hurry from one place to another because my time was limited.
Now I can lower myself into clear, overflowing hot spring water, let all the tension leave my body, and simply sit there doing nothing.
I hope I never completely lose the feeling that this ordinary life is somehow extraordinary.
There is something else about Kyushu—and Kagoshima in particular—that I have never been able to explain very well.
It isn’t nostalgia in the usual sense.
This isn’t where I grew up.
And yet, when I am here in Kagoshima, somewhere inside me feels something strangely close to nostalgia.
A familiarity.
A feeling of having returned to somewhere I somehow know, even though it isn’t my hometown.
I still find that very mysterious.
Perhaps Kyushu simply has that kind of pull on me.
If you ever visit Kagoshima or Kirishima, I hope you might take some time to experience the waters of Hinatayama.
Not simply because it is a place you are supposed to visit.
Not because it appears on a list of famous attractions.
Just step into the warm water, let yourself be still for a little while, and see what you feel.
Sometimes, that may be enough.
A Note for Visitors in 2026
This story describes Hinatayama as I experienced it in December 2017.
Opening hours, admission fees, facilities, bathing rules, and even whether individual bathhouses are still operating may have changed since then.
If you are planning to visit, please check current information for each facility before you go.
What has not changed for me is the feeling behind this story:
There is no need to hurry through Kagoshima.
Sometimes the places that stay with us are not the famous ones, but the quiet places we discover along the way.
Originally published in Japanese on December 16, 2017.
Read the original Japanese article →
出張や観光で霧島に来られた方で、
静かに過ごせる場所を探している方は、こちらもご覧ください。
