Northeast of Sakurajima Port

This terminal building was completed in 2018, and all facilities near the building in 2020. The terminal has a souvenir store called “travel store,” a café called "MINATO cafe," a multipurpose hall, an event square, and more. I liked the previous terminal building, but it was nearly 50 years old and has been rebuilt. Let's start walking from here!

 

When you start walking from Sakurajima Port and go clockwise around the island, take Prefectural Route 26 to the north. Just past the Sakurajima Branch of Kagoshima-Sogo-Shinkin Bank, you will see a road going up on the right side. At the top of this road is the Dinosaur Park. As the name implies, there are dinosaur models and playground equipment. This mountain is called Shiroyama (not the Shiroyama known for Shiroyama Observatory and a nice hotel) and is said to be part of the Aira volcano that existed about 30,000 years ago before Sakurajima was born. There used to be a castle here called Yokoyama Castle in 12~17th century, but unfortunately, no ruins remain. I wonder if it was taken over by dinosaurs.

 

As soon as you depart Sakurajima Port, you will see a large parking lot on your left, and what on your right side is the ruin of the base. You can see four tunnel entrances, but they are probably hard to recognize. Also, it isn’t very well known and though I’m a resident, I have only recently learned about it.

 

It was built as a base for the 5th Suicide Attack Command of the Imperial Japanese Navy. This was built to stop the Allied Forces' "Olympic Operation" landing operation on Kyushu from the Osumi Peninsula at the end of the Pacific War. It is said to have a torpedo control room, and a power room in tunnels dug by human power for several hundred meters. By the way, there are two types of suicide attack bases: naval and army. The bases on the Satsuma Peninsula, including Chiran well known for the Kamikaze Attack, are for the army, while those on the Osumi Peninsula, including Kanoya, are for the navy.