Tarumizu City

A 1611 long house sits on a stone wall.

Onagaya, Hayashinojo Castle site

Photo by Sanjo (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Tarumizu Shimazu family graves

A lord's and his wife's gravestonesstand side by side on one base.

The Tarumizu Shimazu family graves lie in a corner of Shinno-ji, the family temple, and are one of the graves that make up the nationally designated historic site Satsuma Domain Lords' Shimazu Family Graves. From the sixth head, Tadanori, the gravestones of a lord and his wife were set side by side on one base, the lord's taller. Only the fifth head Hisatoshi's gravestone stands apart.

A lord's and his wife's gravestones side by side (from the 6th head)
Many six-faced Jizo towers
Only the 5th head's gravestone stands apart

02 ／ Kunugibaru shell mound

About 94 kinds of shells, andMokuhachi-aoigai make up about 56%.

The Kunugibaru shell mound is thought to have formed about 3,500 years ago, in the middle of the Late Jomon period. About 94 kinds of shells were found. Mokuhachi-aoigai, about 56 percent of them, is hard to gather and seldom eaten. Many shells are worn, and they seem to have been carried in dead. The site has been backfilled and preserved as it is.

About 3,500 years ago (mid-Late Jomon)
About 94 kinds of shells
Finds designated by the prefecture

03 ／ Osumilite

Found at Hayasaki in Tarumizu,it was named Osumilite.

Osumilite was the seventh new mineral recognized among those discovered in Japan, and was named for Hayasaki (Sakibanadaira) in Tarumizu on the Osumi Peninsula, where it was found. The rhyolite that contains it lies along the rim of the Aira Caldera's outer ridge. The specimen was designated a prefectural natural monument in 2021 and is held at the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum in Kagoshima City.

Seventh newly recognized mineral
Found at Hayasaki (Sakibanadaira), Tarumizu
2021: prefectural natural monument (specimen)

Living here

75 minutes by direct bus from Kagoshima-Chuo Station.

about 10,000 people

The city lies on the northwest of the Osumi Peninsula, facing Kagoshima Bay, with Sakurajima to the west. The gateway is Tarumizu Port. A Kagoshima Kotsu direct bus from Kagoshima-Chuo Station takes 75 minutes, riding a ferry part of the way (timetable revised July 2026). The city's own access guide gives about 1 hour 15 minutes.

People living here: 13,819people
Area: 162.1km²
Households: 6,560households
Rent (average for rentals): 34,409yen
Healthcare: 1 hospital ／ 8 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —6 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Tarumizu City in Japan31.493°N 130.701°E

to KagoshimaDirect bus75min

Travel times follow 鹿児島交通『鹿屋～鹿児島直行バス』時刻表PDF（2026年7月18日改正。https://www.iwasaki-corp.com/kagoshima_kotsu/route-bus/intercity/ のリンク先・2026-10-07 に開いた）。鹿児島発→鹿屋行の『垂水港』降車の行と『鹿児島中央駅』乗車の行を突き合わせた (checked 2026-10-07). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 3 municipalities.

Territory of Tarumizu City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

24.2km

鹿屋市, 霧島市, 鹿児島市

Tarumizu City isthis kind of town.

01Onagaya is a prefecturally designated tangible cultural property (building), preserved beside the gate of Tarumizu Elementary School. The prefectural gazette describes it as a kind of castle-related structure built in Keicho 16 (1611), around the time Hayashinojo Castle was built, a long building on top of a stone wall.
02At the Tarumizu Shimazu family graves, a lord's and his wife's gravestones stand side by side, and a Late Jomon shell mound has yielded about 94 kinds of shells. The city says Ukita Hideie was sheltered in Ushine for two years and three months.
03Osumilite is a mineral found at Hayasaki in Tarumizu. In 1776 the tenth Tarumizu Shimazu head, Takasumi, founded the school Bunkokan, and Tarumizu dolls were revived in 1989. There is also a privately owned garden of about 1,200 ginkgo trees.

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Tarumizu City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗