Placements have arrived!

I'm going to Kagoshima prefecture! It's located on the southernmost tip of Kyushu island, but not quite as far as Okinawa.



As of May 20, I only know the prefecture, which is an indication that I will more than likely be teaching at the senior high school level. The prefecture is still sorting out our individual placements, so I won't know my city until later in June.



Honestly, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't even a little disappointed by not getting placed in Shizuoka (which I requested), but people have said that the best placements are the ones you don't request, so I'll make the most of my time in Kagoshima! Though every time I see another JET post "I'm going to Shizuoka!" on facebook, my heart cries a little bit...

Regions

The main regions of Kagoshima are Kagoshima city (the prefectural capital), the Satsuma peninsula to the west, the Osumi peninsula to the east, and the various islands south of the mainland. The only big urban center in the prefecture is its capital, so placements outside of the city will likely be inaka (rural countryside) or one of the island placements. According to google maps, most of the high schools are on the mainland, near Kagoshima city, but this is JET, so I could be placed anywhere in the prefecture. 

Historically, the Kagoshima area was home to the Satsuma domain before the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Together with the Chōshū clan, Satsuma overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate, ending a period of rule that lasted more than 250 years, to return power to the emperor.

Dialect

Southern Kyushu has its own dialect that is quite different from the standard Japanese you might find in Tokyo called Kagoshima-ben, also known as Satsugu. While standard Japanese can be understood by nearly everyone in the country, the local dialects, including Kagoshima-ben, can be unintelligible to outsiders. However, standard Japanese is becoming more and more common in dialect-speaking areas, to the point where children can't understand the dialect spoken by the elders in their community!

Local highlights 

• Meiji Restoration museum
• Satsuma age (pronounced "AH-gay") - deep-fried fish cake
• Sakurajima volcano
• Shōchū - a nutty liquor

I'll update again when I know more about where I'm going!