Kamou, Aira, Kagoshima

Kamou has the oldest camphor tree in Japan. The tree is worth visiting. A drive up to the village of Urushii is also worth doing. You can get a real feel for rural Japan there.

Unrestricted building, and a lack of any feeling for the environment is unfortunately destroying everything else that makes Kamou a good place to be. The council is allowing all the rice land to be sold off to housing developers, chopping down trees and knocking down beautiful old houses.

They actually sold one traditional house plus its garden only on the understanding that it would be demolished.

Maybe it's good that the population is falling and Kamou will die.