One of the techniques used in traditional Japanese gardens is shakkei, or “borrowed scenery,” which incorporates the surrounding landscape into the garden design. Sengan-en is considered an exceptional example of this style, using Sakurajima as a symbolic hill and Kagoshima Bay, or Kinko Bay, as a pond, creating a vast and dramatic view found nowhere else.

On clear days, you may even see distant islands and mountains on the horizon of the bay, and Mount Kaimon, about 50 kilometers away, often called the “Fuji of Satsuma.”

The name Sengan-en itself is said to come from its resemblance to Longhu Mountain’s Sengan, a famous scenic site in China known for its dramatic rock formations.

This blending of Japanese garden design with continental aesthetics makes Sengan-en a rare and distinctive landscape, one that reflects Satsuma’s long history as Japan’s southern gateway to the outside world.