Kirishima: A Black Vinegar Gourmet Drive Through Sakamoto's Kurozu Jar Fields and Kakuida

This is a gourmet drive course savoring the home of black vinegar to the fullest, on the hills of Fukuyama in Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, overlooking Sakurajima. Start your morning at the Sakamoto Kurozu Tsubobatake Information Center (坂元のくろず「壺畑」情報館). Look out over Kinko Bay and Sakurajima beyond the jar fields, lined with more than 50,000 aman jars, and enjoy a tour and tasting of traditional black vinegar making. For lunch, savor a sweet-and-sour pork meal made with long-aged black vinegar at Kurozu Honpo Kakuida (黒酢本舗 桷志田), a restaurant said to be the world's first dedicated to black vinegar. In the afternoon, take in the Kokubu Plain and Kinko Bay from the hilltop of Shiroyama Park (城山公園), then look for souvenirs at Barrel Valley Prague & GEN (バレルバレープラハ&GEN), a shochu distillery theme park recreating the streets of a Czech town. The day ends at Kareigawa Station (嘉例川駅), where a wooden station building over 120 years old still stands, offering a taste of retro travel nostalgia. This is a day full of Kirishima's blessings, enjoying the culture of tangy, rich black vinegar with all five senses.