¡°The top of the column,¡± Shusaku Endo wrote in his novel, ¡°Volcano,¡± ¡°expanded into a shape like the round head on a sprig of cauliflower.¡± Alluded to in the book as ¡°Akadake,¡± the landscape described by the author is widely understood to represent Sakurajima, a volcanic island located in the bay of Kagoshima, at the southern tip of Kyushu. In order to complete his research, Endo is said to have hired a helicopter to lower him into the island¡¯s periodically toxic crater-peak.
My first glimpse of Sakurajima ¡ª its outline shimmering in the heat ¡ª is from the relatively safe distance of Sengan-en, an Edo Period (1603-1868) circuit garden, and one of Kagoshima¡¯s main draws. An elevation in one corner of the garden affords fine views of the island across an expansive bay that has given rise to the city of Kagoshima¡¯s self-branded epithet, the ¡°Naples of Japan.¡±
It¡¯s a forgivable exaggeration for a marine-scape that is, in fact, rather impressive, but struck the writer, Will Ferguson, as not a little ironic, commenting in his travelogue, ¡°Hokkaido Highway Blues: Hitchhiking in Japan,¡± that the sister-city relationship between Kagoshima and Naples was akin to a ¡°suicide pact,¡± both spots ¡°primarily known for the imminent annihilation facing their people.¡±
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