kyushukumamoto
Kumamoto
Kumamoto is a castle city in central Kyushu, the capital of Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu region, known for Kumamoto Castle, one of the three great castles of Japan, and as the gateway to the Aso caldera.
Nabegataki Falls, Oguni, Kumamoto
- Prefecture
- Kumamoto
- Region
- Kyushu
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A castle on its hill, a garden of spring water, and the volcano country beyond.
Kumamoto Castle was completed in 1607 by Kato Kiyomasa, one of the great generals of the age and a master of fortification. Its stone walls curve outward as they rise, a profile called musha-gaeshi, the warrior's return, designed to defeat anyone who tried to climb them. In 1632 the domain passed to the Hosokawa family, who ruled it until 1871 and left the city its gardens, its tea culture and its crafts.
In 1877 the castle was besieged in the Satsuma Rebellion, the last great civil war of Japan, and stood firm for fifty days; the main keep burned shortly before the siege began and was rebuilt in 1960. Its walls and turrets are under careful restoration, stone by numbered stone; the main keep reopened in 2021, and the work has become a sight in its own right.
Kumamoto is a green, easy city of some 740,000 people, its water drawn entirely from the springs beneath it, among the purest of any Japanese city. That water feeds Suizenji Jojuen, the Hosokawa garden, and the shochu distilleries of the Kuma valley. The writer Natsume Soseki taught here, as did Lafcadio Hearn, and the city keeps their former residences. Its kitchens are known across Japan for horse meat served as sashimi, lotus root filled with mustard, and a ramen of their own.
Kumamoto is the gateway to central Kyushu: half an hour from Fukuoka by Shinkansen, an hour from the grasslands of Aso, and close to Kurokawa Onsen, Takachiho and the islands of Amakusa.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see in Kumamoto
Kumamoto Castle
The great fortress of Kato Kiyomasa, its black keep rising above curving walls of stone on a hill in the centre of the city. The restored main keep contains a museum of the castle's history, and an elevated walkway lets visitors see the restoration of the walls at close quarters.
Uto Turret
The largest of the castle's turrets and one of its original buildings, surviving from the early seventeenth century and an Important Cultural Property, now being carefully dismantled and repaired.
Honmaru Goten
The lord's palace within the castle, rebuilt in 2008 using the methods of the Edo period. Its Shokun-no-ma, the grandest room, is covered in gold leaf and painted panels.
Sakuranobaba Josaien
A quarter of shops and food stalls in traditional style at the foot of the castle, with a museum that tells the history of the castle and the Hosokawa domain.
Suizenji Jojuen
The stroll garden of the Hosokawa lords, begun in 1636 around a spring-fed pond of clear water. Its grassy mounds suggest the stations of the old Tokaido road, among them a small Mount Fuji, and the thatched Kokin Denju no Ma teahouse looks over the water.
Former Hosokawa Gyobu-tei
A grand samurai residence, a mansion of the Hosokawa family with its own gardens and teahouse, moved to a quiet site in the castle grounds.
Kumamoto Prefectural Traditional Crafts Centre
A building opposite the castle given to the crafts of the prefecture: Higo zogan, gold and silver inlay on iron, Yamaga lanterns made entirely of gilded paper, bamboo work, and the pottery of Amakusa and Shodai.
Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto
A museum of modern art in the centre of the city, with permanent installations by contemporary artists and changing exhibitions of Japanese and international work.
Natsume Soseki's former residence
One of the houses where the novelist lived while teaching English in Kumamoto from 1896 to 1900, kept with his rooms and garden. Lafcadio Hearn's house, from his years here in the 1890s, is also preserved in the centre.
Tsujun Bridge
A stone aqueduct bridge built in 1854 in the mountains east of the city to carry water across a gorge to the rice fields, designated a National Treasure in 2023, about an hour from Kumamoto by car.
Ezu Lake
A spring-fed lake on the southeast side of the city, its water rising clear from beneath the ground, with walking paths along its wooded shores and boats moored by the banks, a picture of the city's water.
Hitoyoshi and Aoi Aso Shrine
The castle town of the Sagara clan in the Kuma valley, about an hour and a half south of the city, home of Kuma shochu. Its Aoi Aso Shrine, with thatched halls of the early seventeenth century lacquered in black and red, was designated a National Treasure in 2008.
Amakusa
A chain of islands to the southwest of the city, joined to the mainland by five bridges, with Christian churches above fishing harbours, the Sakitsu village among them part of the Hidden Christian World Heritage Site.
experiences
The best of Kumamoto
The castle, understood
A morning at Kumamoto Castle with a specialist in its history and its restoration, from Kato Kiyomasa's walls to the work of returning each stone to its place.
Tea in a lord's garden
A bowl of matcha in the teahouse at Suizenji Jojuen, looking over the spring-fed pond, in the garden the Hosokawa built for their own pleasure.
Shochu from the Kuma valley
Kuma shochu, distilled from rice in the Hitoyoshi basin for some five hundred years and protected by its own geographical indication, tasted with a specialist or at a distillery in the valley.
The crafts of Higo
An hour in the workshop of a craftsman of Higo zogan, watching gold and silver hammered into fine lines on blackened iron.
Kumamoto at the table
Basashi, karashi renkon, the lotus root filled with mustard miso, Kumamoto ramen with its black garlic oil, and wagyu from the akaushi cattle of Aso, all at their best in the city.
plan your visit
Kumamoto on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One night gives time for the castle and Suizenji; two nights allow a day trip into the crafts or a slower start before the drive to Aso, Kurokawa or Takachiho.
- Getting there
- By the Kyushu Shinkansen from Hakata in about thirty-five minutes, from Shin-Osaka in about three hours, and from Kagoshima-Chuo in about forty-five minutes. Flights from Tokyo take about an hour and three quarters, and Kumamoto Airport is about forty minutes from the city by car.
journeys
Kumamoto on a private journey
We bring guests to Kumamoto on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Kumamoto: questions answered
Is Kumamoto Castle open after the earthquake?
Yes. The main keep reopened in 2021 with a museum inside, and an elevated walkway lets visitors see the restoration of the walls and turrets, which will continue for many years.
How many days do you need in Kumamoto?
One or two nights: a day for the castle, Suizenji Jojuen and the old town, and a second if you want time for the crafts or a day out to Amakusa.
How do you get from Fukuoka to Kumamoto?
By the Kyushu Shinkansen from Hakata Station, about thirty-five minutes on the fastest trains. By car it is about an hour and a half.
Why is Kumamoto Castle famous?
It is one of the three great castles of Japan, known for the steeply curving stone walls of Kato Kiyomasa and for its fifty-day defence in the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877.
How far is Mount Aso from Kumamoto?
About an hour by car from the city, or about an hour and a quarter by the limited express on the Hohi Line to Aso Station.
What food is Kumamoto known for?
Basashi, karashi renkon, Kumamoto ramen with black garlic oil, akaushi beef from Aso, and Kuma shochu from the Hitoyoshi basin.
Is Kumamoto worth visiting?
Yes. Kumamoto Castle is one of the great sights of Kyushu, Suizenji Jojuen is among the loveliest gardens of the south, and the city is the natural door to Aso, Kurokawa Onsen and Takachiho.
Where should you stay in Kumamoto?
In the centre, near the castle and the Kamitori and Shimotori arcades, where the restaurants and the old town are within a walk. For an onsen night, the ryokan of the Aso caldera and Kurokawa Onsen are an hour or two away.
Can Kumamoto be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Kumamoto included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
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Kumamoto, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Kumamoto, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.