Tenmonkan area, Kagoshima

Tenmonkan is Kagoshima's largest downtown area and stretches around the arcade street of Temmonkan Hondori. Even on rainy days or when there is ash fall from Sakurajima volcano, the arcade protects the area, making it a pleasant place to shop and stroll. It is an important area for shopping around Kagoshima, where you can find all kinds of Kagoshima’s specialties such as Satsuma-age, Karukan confection, Shirokuma shaved ice, and Imojochu (potato shochu drink), which are major souvenirs of Kagoshima.

The arcade runs north to south from the Tenmonkan-dori city tram station. Department stores and retail shops are on the north side of the street where the trams runs, while many eateries are on the south side, especially in the Sennichi and Yamanokuchi areas, which are crowded at night with izakaya and bars.

The name "Tenmonkan" comes from the fact that the 25th lord of Shimazu domain, Shigehide Shimazu, who liked to import European civilization, built a facility called "Meijikan (also known as Tenmonkan)" here in 1779 to conduct astronomical observations and create calendars. There is a stone monument for that astronomical observatory in a corner of Tenmonkan Hondori. Its calendar was called the Satsuma calendar, and was intended to increase agricultural production through efficient harvesting and planting season for the crops.