Flag of Kagoshima
Officially Kagoshima Prefecture
Locally Kagoshima-ken · 鹿児島県
What the flag looks like
A black horseshoe around a red disc on a white field: a map of the prefecture around Sakurajima.
What it means
The black ring is the Satsuma and Ōsumi peninsulas, with a dent for Shibushi Bay, and the red disc is the volcano Sakurajima.
How to remember it
Kagoshima's
black horseshoe holds a red ball: two peninsulas hugging the Sakurajima volcano.
Fun facts
- Sakurajima, facing the capital across the bay, is one of Japan's most active volcanoes.
- The flag is now rarely flown: its map leaves out the prefecture's many islands, and a separate symbol flag is used instead.
Kagoshima at a glance
- Type
- Prefecture (ken)
- Island
- Kyūshū
- Capital
- Kagoshima
- Region
- Kyūshū
- Population
- 1.5 million
- Area
- 9,187 km²
- Languages
- Japanese
- Currency
- Japanese yen (¥)
- Flag adopted
- 1967
Flags often confused with Kagoshima
- Okinawa: Kagoshima and Okinawa both put a round emblem with red on a white field. Kagoshima's is a black horseshoe around a small red ball; Okinawa's is all red with a white ring inside.