Sengan-en and the Simadzu Family

Yes I, manage a lie in this morning; an 8 am rise.  We are off to the Gardens at Sengan-en and the family of Simadzu.  Needless to say they are impressive.  They also have a cat shrine, so I am reminded of Dee Dee, ah bless her.  I do not leave an inscription for her as she is still with us.
The gardens and house are beautiful, we had a long walk up an hill and back down through the the woods to have a view across the bay; our excersise for the day.
The Japanese people have been great, I forgot to mention how much fun they were last night.
The Sengan-en gardens and house was the original site of industrialisation in Japan.  We took a four around the house. The house is minimalist and has a Feng-shui influence from china.  Inside at the end of the tour we are served tea and a sweet Japanese style.  

At the Sengan-en site we discover that satsumas in England derived their name from here during the Anglo-satsuma war in the late 1800's after mandarin oranges were present as a gift during the peace discussions; what good stuff you learn on your travels.

On a side note, our taxis in Japan have generally involved capped and gloved drivers, real smart.
Same dinner at the hotel, mixed pizza.  

This was a real good stop! Kagoshima prefecture is a really nice location


It deserves a bigger blog entry but not tonight.   







































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