Tenmonkan — the name means "astronomy hall", after an Edo-period observatory the Shimazu lords built nearby — is the dense grid of covered shopping streets that forms the social heart of Kagoshima. The arcades keep the ash off in summer and the rain off in winter, which is why most of the city's eating and drinking happens here.
Walk it after dark. The main north-south arcade is wide and busy with shops and family restaurants; turn off into the narrow side streets and you find izakaya, standing bars, tiny ramen counters, and Kyushu-style basement clubs. The Mujaki cafe at the southern end serves the city's signature shaved-ice dessert, shirokuma. The Tenmonkan-dori tram stop puts you in the middle of the arcade.