Our last stop for the night was the Sakurajima Service Area Inbound. It was getting pretty late and the next SA was too far away. The SA was a bit small, even by Kyushu standards. There were a little over 100 car spaces and about a dozen larger spots for trucks and buses. Since, we were coming from our onsen bath in Iwato, we were able to enter the ETC at the Sakurajima Smart IC Entrance. This put us on the Inbound side of the SA and set us up nicely for the next day.

Sakurajima Service Area Restaurant

For dinner we stopped off at the restaurant that was attached to the SA. We were impressed with the selection and variety of foods available. They had this nice display featuring most of the main entrée items on the menu. The visuals were really helpful and the extra descriptions allowed us to narrow down are decision.

The restaurants interior was a bit dated and strongly resembled a family restaurant like Saizeriya or Cocos. It was pretty late when we got in, so we had most of the restaurant to ourselves. The Kagoshima area was known for their pork, so we decided to try a black pork cutlet set and a bowl of the local Sakurajima Champon.

Our food came out shortly after. The black pork katsu was wonderful. The meat was very tender and the outside had a nice crisp. We tried a little of the extra sauce, but felt that the katsu was flavorful just as it was. The Sakurajima Champon was a tasty noodle soup with mixed seafood and a variety of vegetables. The vegetables and noodles had absorbed the broth nicely. We would happily eat here again.

Sakurajima Service Area Souvenir Shop

After dinner we decided to check out their omiyage shop. They had a good selection of omiyage and other locally produced goods. We knew that the area was known for their Satsuma sweet potatoes, so we decided to pick some up. We found two that we liked and got a box of each. The orange box was a sweet potato tart that had a beautiful spiral flower pattern. They came in yellow and purple varieties. The tart had a smooth sweet potato taste that wasn’t very sweet. Our second selection was simply made since they were so cute. The little pastries were in the shape of a pigs face and had a tasty sweet potato filling.

After shopping, we headed to the car and set up for the night. We brushed our teeth in the restrooms and called it a night.

We learned later that the large amount of cardboard cutouts were placed outside to commemorate an NHK drama called “Segodon”. The drama featured a number of notable figures related to Kagoshima Prefecture during the Bakumatsu Restoration.

We woke up the next morning to a beautiful silhouette view of Mt. Sakurajima.

Final Thoughts

Our night at Sakurajima SA was comfortable. However, the amenities were a little on the light side and there wasn’t a 24 hour convenience store. All the facilities except for the restrooms closed at 22:00. The omiyage was good and the food was delicious. We’d come back here again.

More to Come…

Here is the link to their Website.