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The Shinkansenride lastet only for 40 minutes, then i had to change for the relay zubame (so the line to hakata is definitely not finished yet). And i forgot my book during the unexpected change. This time i didnt have the whole dorm for me alone in the youthhostel i stayed. Having left my luggage i hopped on the next bus up to Naka Dake, once more an active Volcano. No hiking up there, as "for safety reasons" you have to go by your own car along the tollroad or take the ropeway, so the operating companies have the safety of a steady source of income. In fact the steam ascending up from the bottom of the caldera really is awful, put all chemistry experiments together and you get it. Nontheless it was an exciting experience!
As i needed to walk a bit i hooked on a path further down, leading to the next peak, promising once mor 360° view. But as it was rather steep and icy, i decided to stop halfway, as i could see most of the valley and the neigbouring cones, from where i went.
Aso Fotos!
Thanks to a hint from a guy i chatted with over supper, i took the bus over to Beppu rather than the train the today. This took one hour more, but the view of the ever changing landscape was great. We went over a mountain pass, and it snowed heavilly! Glad to have safely arrived i checked for accomodiation and everything else i needed, then started to visit the "Hells" Beppu is famous for, it's a variety of natural hot-spring phenomena, put up for mass tourism, there's a small geyser and 
various pools of steaming hot spring water, i only really liked the "Pool of blood"-Hell, the water coloured red by the clay ground. As I'am at the very Onsen mekka of Japan, no way avoiding the hot springs, i tried Hyotan-Onsen, offering Rotemburo, Steambath and a Waterfall bath, very relaxing climate there.
Tomorrow, since i have time until the ferry at 4pm, I'll go for one or two more hells, try the mud-bath and hope to visit the infamous sex-museum (not covered in official tourist information;-)...
Beppu-Fotos.
Where there are volcanos, hotsprings never are far, as i waited for the rocket launch day, i went south to Ibusuki, famous for its sandbath on the beach, you lie into the warm sand and are buried up to the neck, it can get really hot, but its just so relaxing. Only the constant sound of digging shovels is somewhat scary, reminded me of a burial ground. Anyway the salty thermal water is everywhere, steam from the beach, steam from the canals along the road and even the bath at the youthostel i stayed at, had it's own onsen.
As bathing is best after a long hard day, not that i needed a pretext, i went further south to the symetric cone of extinct Kaimon-dake. It takes 2 hours along a narrow path winding up around the mountain. The last kilometer contained some climbing and ladders, but i really enjoed the first serious hike, since my passage over Gas-San last september. On the top, 900 meter above the close seas level, i had a stunning 360° view, wow!
Ibusuki Fotos
As today was the assigned day for a rocket launch, i hopped on the jetfoil (a calm ride, despite the rough sea) down to Tanegashima, where rifles were introduced to japan, to watch the launch. Unfortunately it was cancelled, so i had to content myself with a visit of the spacecenter, together with the launch facilities situated in front of a great beach scenery.
Tanegashima Fotos
I will stay in Tanegshima business in tonight, and would like to even longer, as the island is very nice, but as it's definitely time to get farther up north, it'll be the jetfoil once more, and i wont be able to avoid the shinkansen on my way to Aso-san, despite my intention to use no more rapid transport once in Okinawa...
I left the ferry somewhat weak in the knees. As Kagoshima welcomed me with bright weather, and unuasual high temperatueres, i went straight over to Sakura-Jima, on the other side of Satsuma bay.
Once having been an island, sakurajima now is a peninsula, as major eruptions connected it with the main island. Smoke is raising from the Crater top just all day long, bringing ash-rain from time to time. In fact Sakura-jima is a construction sight on its own. There are artifical hills meant to protect the port form downpouring lava, and they built giant drains to draw possible lava flows into the southern part of the bay. Around the mountain top, which is off limits vor all visitors there is one construction sight next to the other. You don't see much of that, as it's rather distant. The view is great anyway.
Kagoshima itself has some mediterranean flair, people are very stylish again, but not so uniformed like in Tokyo. And having left Okinawa, thinking, my Japanese became good enough, i had a very hard time getting the Satsuman dialect at all. It's very differentfrom anything I've heard in Japan so far, the sound of it is very light, and there seem to be many As and Es.
Kagoshima is more over full of history, as it's omnipresent hero Saigo Takamori coinitiated the Meiji Restoration, leading the opposition to it afterwards. Moreover, Kagoshima has been the landing site for Francisco Xavier, the first Catholic missionary entering Japan. So i just needed to go to one of the few catholic churches in japan and was warmly welcomend by the people there, hearing i come from catholicistic Austria ;-)
I stayed at the nice but somewhat old Busines Hotel Suzuya, the newer and cheaper option would have been one of the hotels just right when leaving the station.
Kagoshima Fotos.
