Chiran Samurai Residences
知覧武家屋敷
A samurai settlement of the Satsuma domain, where stone walls and neatly trimmed podocarpus hedges create a 'Little Kyoto of Satsuma.' Seven gardens are designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty.
Chiran Samurai Residences is located in Chiran Town, Minamikyushu City. It was a samurai residential district under the Satsuma domain's outer castle system during the Edo period. Along a street about 700 meters long, stone walls and neatly trimmed podocarpus hedges line both sides, and the road is deliberately bent into a 'masugata' shape to slow any invading enemy. For this reason it is called 'the Little Kyoto of Satsuma.' It was designated a National Important Traditional Building Preservation District in 1981. The gardens of seven homes are collectively known as the Chiran Samurai Residence Gardens and are designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty. Most are dry landscape gardens that use arranged stones and trimmed shrubs to represent mountains and water, with Mount Haha in the distance used as a borrowed scenery element, creating a refined and delicate effect. A single ticket (about ¥530) covers all seven gardens. Hours are roughly 9:00 to 17:00. Nearby, the Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots displays farewell letters and photographs of pilots who departed from Chiran Airfield at the end of World War II, a sobering place to learn about the history of the war. Getting there: take a bus from Kagoshima Chuo Station for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Visiting by car as a day trip combined with Ibusuki is more convenient. Allow 1 to 1.5 hours for your visit.
Opening hours
09:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Chiran Peace Museum for Kamikaze Pilots
- Hirakawa Zoological Park
- Museum of the Meiji Restoration
- Tenmonkan
- Terukuni Shrine
- Shiroyama Observatory
- Statue of Saigo Takamori
- Tsurumaru Castle Ruins & Reimeikan