Kumamoto Castle is known for being one of the three great castles in Japan. Also known as Ginkgo Castle, the castle was built by Kato Kiyomasa in 1607. The castle's grounds cover about 980,000m2, with the outer circumference being about 9 kilometers (at the time of construction). The castle is made up of curving stone walls, a castle keep consisting of 3 towers, 49 turrets, 18 turret gates, and 29 castle gates.
The main keep was destroyed in a fire during a civil war in 1877. The current keep was rebuilt by Kumamoto City in 1960.
The castle grounds are home to 800 cherry blossom trees of 3 different species: wild cherry blossoms, Higo cherry blossoms and Yoshino cherry blossoms. When these trees are in full bloom the castle park remains open at night and attracts over 100,000 visitors who come to see the beautiful flowers.
Enshrined here at this shrine are Katō Kiyomasa, Ōki Kaneyoshi and Kin. Then-named ”Nishikiyama Shrine” was built within Kumamoto Castle premises a…
Kumamoto Prefectural Traditional Craft Center displays 90 items designated as “Traditional Crafts of Kumamoto” including Higo Zogan, wood and bamboo …
Having been renovated from an old prefectural library this distinctive, this modern-design structure is one of the works which participated in ”Kumam…
Wakuwakuza is a space where you can see, listen, touch, and be moved. This is a zone for discovering the history and culture that will make your visi…
Ikinariya Watanabe specializes in Ikinari Dango, Kumamoto's local specialty. Ikinari Dango is a steamed dumpling filled with sweet potato and red bea…
Goto Bettei is a horse meat-specialized restaurant at the back of Kumamoto City Hall. The extensive menu includes basashi(sliced raw horse meat), ste…
Ichiza is a izakaya, Japanese dining bar that serves a variety of dishes on the Kaminoura Street. They serve regular izakaya menu such as fried fish …
The combination of tonkotsu chicken bones and garlic oil with medium thick, hard straight noodles in the hot water is exquisite. At this restaurant w…