Kagoshima: New Cow for Sightseeing Cart Tour of Samurai Residences Makes Debut

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:05 JST, April 26, 2025

IZUMI, Kagoshima — The seventh cow to pull a sightseeing cart in Izumi, Kagoshima Prefecture, which offers a relaxing tour of the cityscape, has made her debut. The cart tour features stone walls that once were part of samurai residences.

The selection of the new cow, Izumi, occurred after her predecessor Chiharu passed away on March 11 after about 10 years of cart-pulling service.

The city is known for its wintering cranes, which attract tourists in the colder part of the year. With the opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen in 2004, the tourist cow cart service was started to draw visitors year-round.

For a fee, the cow cart takes passengers on a 30-minute ride around a one-kilometer stretch of samurai residences designated by the central government as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.

The inauguration ceremony for Izumi, a female wagyu cow, was held on April 5. Following a farewell ceremony for Chiharu, Izumi started to slowly pull the cart with children on board and made her way around the samurai residences.

A member of the service operating group said: “Chiharu worked hard in hot and cold weather. As with Chiharu, we hope to boost tourism with Izumi.”