Let’s just say I had so much fun visiting Kagoshima and being a part of of the pop-up event.

I met so many lovely people and saw a ton of beautiful scenery.

Here’s a big dump of photos to showcase the event from my perspective.

Isaac and I before boarding the train for Haneda Airport.

View from the airplane window.

We hopped on the bus and tram to get to the nearest station of Blue Lug Kagoshima.

About five minutes into walking towards the shop from the station, Yuta from The Inconvenience Store yelled “whoa!” we turn around and noticed that Sakurajima, the volcanic mountain was greeting us the whole time.

As soon as we arrived at the shop, we unloaded all the stuff they brought, and started setting up for the event. Aze, the store manager of BL Kagoshima mentioned that the restaurants in Kagoshima closes earlier than Tokyo, so we moved fast!

Next day, we woke up early to see the sun kinda rise.

Ohayo!
So many people came to the morning for the group ride!

We rode about 5 minutes to the ferry terminal and got had the famous ferry udon on the deck. The ferry ride was only about 20 minutes, so the locals told us to eat it quick.

Here’s a view from the ferry. Sakurajima volcano was constantly ripping fat clouds!

Ride!

So many great builds.

Say cheese!

The young man behind the person in the orange jacket drove all the way from Miyazaki with his 20″ BMX to join the ride. He said he was super excited to joint the group ride and said that he was looking for a new bike. I’m so stoked he got to ride with us in this beautiful day.

This guy!

 

We went back to the shop and the pop-up was officially open!

Everybody was smiling, kids were running around, great food…just, lovely.

Yuta was constantly screen printing for the customers and Isaac was constantly making people smile with his jokes and his drawings. Great duo.

I would say the highlight of the event was this “skate bike” that this high school student made for his school project.

It was made of waste materials, old kids bikes, skateboard trucks and wheels.

 

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Of course, Isaac had to do his famous “Bike Check” on him.

Kagoshima was a very beautiful place. Being close to both ocean and mountain, their food was just so delicious and the people were so nice. I also liked how a lot of people appreciate arts and craft. Time feels so much slower there, compared to Tokyo. People were super mellow and easy going and there were also so many nature surrounding them.

The place gives you time to think and provides beautiful materials to work on, which is why I think there were so many creative people at the Ash Design & Craft Fair.

I will definitely visit Kagoshima again on vacation and I highly recommend you to do so as well.