I have rarely stayed in such a luxurious inn, Yakakutei. I would definitely recommend this place to foreign visitors who are taking advantage of the weak yen. The garden, surrounded by a cloister and covered with shrubs and moss, is beautifully maintained. A gazebo for viewing the garden faces the courtyard, but it is carved into a lower level than the courtyard, so that the moss garden can be viewed at eye level.
The rock bath hot spring is also located on a vast site, with rocks arranged like a garden, and the hot water is filled to the brim. Of particular note is the ingenious and creative menu for dinner. The plates on which the dishes are served are also excellent. Unusually, the appetizers (similar to an assorted antipasto in Italian cuisine) that usually precede the main dish are served last. Perhaps this is to avoid eating the appetizer too slowly and being too full by the time the main dish is served? The waiter was a man dressed as a butler in a crested hakama, which reminded me a bit of a male version of a maid cafe in Akihabara, and that was the only thing that felt a bit strange.
Detour
If you climb the outer rim of the caldera behind the inn, you will soon arrive at Kagoshima Airport, but before checking in, it is worth stopping by Kareigawa Station, with its nostalgic wooden station building, Inukai Falls carved into the cliff, and Shiohitashi Onsen, where Sakamoto Ryoma and his wife, Oryo, were invited by the Satsuma clan to heal the wounds he received when he was nearly assassinated in Kyoto, and where he stopped on his honeymoon.
