Sakurajima

May 28th, 2008

The southern-most big island in Japan is Kyushu. At the southern tip of that is a city called Kagoshima, which overlooks a huge active volcano in the water called Sakurajima, accessible by a 15-minute ferry ride.

One road leads around the base of the volcano. At the southern-most part of the volcano is a hot springs, right on the ocean, with a little hotel called Furusato Kanko. And that’s where I’ve been the last couple days, soaking in the mineral water, right where that guy is in the photo, below. (Just 10 feet behind the camera is the Pacific ocean.)
http://flickr.com/photos/adriangray/170991679/

Of course I’m SO relaxed now, that I’m DONE relaxing, and damn ready to start a new business to help musicians. But more on that later. For now I just had to post an “I am here” as a bookmark reminder of one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been.

© 2008 Derek Sivers

18 Responses to “Sakurajima”

  1. KevOz wrote on May 28th, 2008

    Derek,

    I’m looking forward to whatever your new business will be. I’m sure it will be 100% as successful and helpful to us as CD Baby has been. But, I figure that even if it’s just half as good, it will still be better than most everything else that’s available to us indies.

    I remember you sending me (and I’m sure many other CD Baby artists) an email a couple months back asking “what 2 things could I do to help your music career now”…or something like that. So I’m wondering if your new venture has something to do with the responses you received? Whatever it is, I’m ready for it.

    Regards,

    KevOz
    http://www.KevOz.com

  2. stacy wrote on May 28th, 2008

    wow. stunning.
    p.s. - what camera do you have?? I love the photo!

  3. Derek wrote on May 28th, 2008

    No camera. I’ve outsourced my picture-taking. I just search Flickr for places I’ve been. :-)

  4. Peter Blue wrote on May 28th, 2008

    Dear Derek!

    I’m curious what you come up next with. Happy travelling;

    Peter

  5. Paul wrote on May 28th, 2008

    Sakurajima, one of my favorite places. Stunning, though can be a bit much when the volcano is smokin’. Be happy to show you around if you ever make it to Hiroshima. Enjoy the rest of your break!

  6. hajipon wrote on May 28th, 2008

    Hi, Derek! are you coming to japan now?
    We met you at NEMO 2005 boston.
    THE Eemeralds are going to perform in sxsw-ish event Sakae Sp-ring this sunday at Nagoya.

    http://zip-fm.co.jp/sakaesp-ring2008/
    Althouh, Kagoshima to nagoya distance is like LA to portland..
    If you are coming to tokyo, plese let us know.

  7. Eddie Christy wrote on May 29th, 2008

    I’m unbelievably jealous. You have no idea.

  8. Oyonada wrote on May 29th, 2008

    Dear Derek

    Thank Much to share

    Be Happy !

    Oyonada

  9. Gilles Snowcat wrote on May 29th, 2008

    Hi Derek,
    it’s Gilles from Awaken. Coincidence, just as we started to collaborate through CD Baby, I find this post about Sakurajima. I’ve been there a few months ago. The obvious splendors of Japan were showing, quite inspiring to write music.
    And despite the quiet atmosphere (rare for a touristic place), at least there were some Hello Kitty stuff…
    See where inspiration comes from…

    Cheers
    Gilles

  10. Dan Huffman wrote on May 29th, 2008

    Hi Derek, I’m surprised to find that you are in Japan. Over the last few years I’ve been trying to do what you’ve been doing for the last 10…promote artists. But I’m trying to promote Japanese indie artists (Jindies) to the world via my podcast http://www.WHItokyo.info and the site I started to get the Jindies music to the fans http://www.jindies.com. If you make it to Tokyo, get in touch and if the timing is right maybe I can take you out to catch some good Jindies bands.

    Regards,
    Dan

  11. Ari Koinuma wrote on May 29th, 2008

    I am jealous! I am from Japan myself and I haven’t seen most of the country yet myself, outside of the Tokyo metropolitan area.

    Of course, it doesn’t help that I’ve never lived in that country since age 12….

    It is one of my dreams, to go travel all over Japan. I know my country has some exquisite beauty.

  12. Rebecca wrote on May 29th, 2008

    That rope and gateway are amazing. I want to sit there!

    I am really looking forward to finding out what your next steps are. It’s always energizing to see people shifting and changing, finding the new.

  13. Julian Moore wrote on May 29th, 2008

    I don’t know what it is but all I can see is bodies in the roots of that tree, when I first opened up the post I thought it was art or something.

  14. Rich Sheldon wrote on May 29th, 2008

    Man, that place looks cool! I wanna go there!

  15. Taro Gold wrote on May 30th, 2008

    Welcome to Japan, Derek!
    Glad to read that you enjoy your time here.
    Blessings,
    Taro Gold

  16. Steve Ballard wrote on June 4th, 2008

    Looks like a fantastic place to have been. How could you not relax there, it looks so peaceful. I can’t wait to see what “a new business to help musicians” is.

  17. Steven wrote on June 5th, 2008

    Derek, thanks for sharing where you’ve been! Can’t wait to hear your next music biz announcement :-)
    -Steven

  18. Derek wrote on June 9th, 2008

    Initially I thought I’d continue south to Yakushima - here’s a blog post from someone who did.

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Derek Sivers