Audio walking guides in Kagoshima
Photo: Yamaguchi Yoshiaki from Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0
These are self-guided audio walks around Kagoshima. You pick a route, put one earbud in, and the guide talks you through it stop by stop — what you are looking at, and why it is there. There is no group to keep up with and no meeting time. 10 walks covering Kagoshima, Yakushima, The Volcano Across the Water, Chiran, Kirishima, Amami Ōshima, Tanegashima, Izumi and more, 331 minutes of narration in total.
Start your free guideA free account is needed before a guide plays. Hear a minute first if you would rather try it than sign up for it.
Every walk in Kagoshima
Kagoshima: The Volcano, the Rebels and the Boys Sent to Britain
That is Sakurajima, it is about four kilometres away across the water, and it is one of the most active volcanoes on earth. Not dormant. Not occasionally restless.…
Yakushima: The Island of Rain and Very Old Trees
Look inland and understand what you have arrived at, because the shape of this island explains everything else in this guide. Yakushima is essentially a single dome of…
The Volcano Across the Water: Living Four Kilometres From an Eruption
There it is, straight across the water, and the thing to do first is simply to look at how close it is. The distance from this pier to…
Chiran: A Samurai Street, a Tea Valley and an Airfield
A word before we start, because this walk goes somewhere difficult. Chiran has two things in it. The first is one of the best-preserved samurai streets in Japan,…
Kirishima: Where Heaven Touched Down, and Japan's First Honeymoon
Kirishima is not a mountain. It is a cluster of them — something over twenty separate volcanic peaks and cones packed into an area you could drive across…
Amami Ōshima: The Islands That Paid for Japan's Modernisation
You are about four hundred kilometres south of Kagoshima and about three hundred and fifty north of Okinawa, on an island in the middle of a chain that…
Tanegashima: Where the Guns Arrived, and Where the Rockets Leave
The first thing to know about this island is that it is flat, and that this is unexpected. It runs about sixty kilometres north to south and it…
Izumi: Ten Thousand Cranes in One Field, and Why That Is a Problem
Before you look, listen. It is a rolling, bugling, metallic noise, coming from everywhere at once, rising and falling without ever stopping. It carries a very long way…
Miyama: The Korean Village That Stayed Korean for Three Hundred Years
A quiet lane, bamboo on one side, low workshops with tiled roofs and open fronts, and a smell of woodsmoke that never quite goes. This is a pottery…
Koshikishima: The Islands Where a God Comes Into the House on New Year's Eve to Frighten the Children
You have just crossed about forty kilometres of the East China Sea to get here, and on a bad day that crossing is memorable. In front of you…
Questions about walking Kagoshima
What is the best self-guided walking tour in Kagoshima?
It depends how long you have. Kagoshima: The Volcano, the Rebels and the Boys Sent to Britain (29 minutes, 6 stops) starts at The waterfront by the Sakurajima ferry pier and is the one most people begin with. Yakushima: The Island of Rain and Very Old Trees covers a different part of the city in about 29 minutes. All 10 walks in Kagoshima are listed on this page with their length and starting point.
Do I need to book a walking tour in Kagoshima?
No. Every wanderaudio walk is self-guided, so there is nothing to book and no departure time. You start whenever you arrive, and you can stop halfway and pick it up the next day.
How much do the Kagoshima audio guides cost?
Your first guide is free. You make a free account before it plays, with an email address or a Google login, and no card. After that a single guide is $4.99, a 30-guide pass, spendable on any guides in any cities, is $29.99, and every guide in Japan is $59.99. It is a one-off payment, not a subscription.
Are these tours in English?
Yes, all 10 Kagoshima walks are narrated in English. Other languages are not available yet.
Can I do these walks alone?
Yes — that is what they are built for. There is no group and no guide waiting for you, so walking alone works exactly the same as walking with someone. You choose the pace and the order.