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Kumamoto
Designated city in Kyushu, Japan

Kumamoto

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan.

Plan a trip to Kumamoto→From Saga

As of June 1, 2019, the city had an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2.

Get in

Getting to Kumamoto

  1. 01
    Aso-Kumamoto Airport

    The airport serves both internal and international flights.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Kumamoto Castle

    One of the most beautiful castles in Japan, and the third largest.

  2. 02
    Lake Ezu
  3. 03
    Suizenji Gardens

    It is a renowned Japanese traditional garden, considered one of the four best in Japan.

  4. 04
    Honmyo-ji Temple

    It is one of the most famous temples in Kumamoto.

  5. 05
    Hosokawa Gyōbutei
  6. 06
    Fujisaki Hachimangu Shrine

    This is the most famous shrine in the city.

Do

Things to do

  1. 01
    Fujisakidai Baseball Stadium
Eat

Where to eat

There are some unique traditional foods in Kumamoto. Karashi-renkon (辛子蓮根), deep-fried lotus root stuffed with mustard, is the most popular food for visitors. It's rarely found elsewhere in Japan. Ikinari-dango (いきなり団子) is a famous sweet. This contains a slice of sweet potato and anko-bean paste. Visitors who come to Kumamoto buy it for a souvenir. Basashi (馬刺し) is raw horse meat.

  1. 01
    AzumaZushi
  2. 02
    Kōrantei
  3. 03
    Katsuretsu Tei

    The Tonkatsu restaurant, established in 1975, is near Karajima station.

How locals move

Getting around Kumamoto the local way

  • Get inIf you're coming from Nagasaki, the ferry may be preferable.
  • Get inOne ferry route involves travelling via Shimabara.
  • Get inTwo ferries depart towards Kumamoto from different ports along this line but the most convenient is likely the one from Shimabara Port direct to Kumamoto Port.
  • Get inIncidentally, the final Kumamoto-bound ferries depart daily at 20:00, but one of the trains to Shimabara arrives a few minutes after that so don't get caught out.
  • Go nextAmakusa, a chain of islands off the west coast of Kumamoto, and not far from the south coast of Nagasaki (to which ferries run regularly).
  • Go nextUnzen, Nagasaki- you can take the express ferry from Kumamoto Port and be there in 30 minutes.

From Wikivoyage: Kumamoto, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-07.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: 663highland (CC BY 2.5), Wikimedia Commons.