Daytrip to Kumamoto Castle

Activity > Other Cities and Areas > Sightseeing > Kumamoto

I was working down in Kyushuu Japan (the southern large island) on a "Longer" gig and got a chance to take a "Day Trip" to Kumamoto city on a day off.  It had been quite rainy since I was in Kyushuu and I was rather worried, but the day turned out to be a pure blue sky... not a cloud in the sky all day, amazing.  From Fukuoka, where I was working, I bought a "Return Trip, Non-Reserved" Shinkansen (Bullet Train) ticket for around 7,000 yen.  Extremely convenient, the Shinkansen between Fukuoka and Kumamoto leaves every 15 to 30 min. so I just jumped on one around 10:00 a.m. and quickly I arrived at Kumamoto Station.

Kumamoto city is a pretty big city but very spread out.  There are not many people around the main Shinkansen Station so I just mozied out the doors and took a look around.  I spotted a "city map" and walked over to check it out.  The castle, "Kumamoto Castle", was about 1.9 kilometers away.  Originally I planned on taking a tram a few stops to the castle but it was still only 10:30 a.m. and I wanted to enjoy the day and make a mini adventure out of it so I just started walking in the direction of the castle.  Surprisingly there were little plaques on the sidewalk with directions to the castle, various temples and shrines along the way... that was sure nice!  I stopped at a few shrines and even a supermarket where I got a great Sushi Bento for 540 yen.  I ate my Bento along side a river I spotted just a short ways back and then headed once again off to the castle.

Somehow I managed to arrive at Kumamoto castle from the "back".  As I entered the park there was literally nobody there... and that felt good!  The park / garden itself was very pleasant, quiet and lots of birds chirping in the trees abound.  I made my way around some old stone walls and emerged out onto a large "green" / field type park area that gave me an awesome view of the castle: "A view of Kumamoto Castle from the park" (image). I just sat in the grass a while and took it in... it seems so many people are in a rush to just "see", "take a snap" and "move on"... why, I don't know.  After a long experience of taking in the sight with my eyes I lined up a beautiful shot and took the picture mentioned above.

I started to walk over to the main "Outer Wall" and was astonished at just how high the wall was, see image "Here you can see just how high the walls are".  I'm guessing... 50... to 80 feet high?  There was also a moat before the wall.  As I reached the main entrance lots of tourists started to fill the space, mainly Japanese but a lot of Koreans and Chinese too.  The ticket to get in was 600 - 700 yen (depending on if you wanted to visit some other attractions nearby) and quickly I was in the "Main Courtyard" with a fabulous view of the main keep, see image "A nice shot of the main keep".  Once again I sat down on a bench and just took a while to fill my soul with the grandeur.  Kumamoto Castle is not an "original" structure (it has been re-constructed in modern times) but they did try to come close to the original and I could just imagine what folks thought of the original back in it's heyday... even now, in modern times its just so cool!

I watched a quick "show" (was pretty short) and then went into the main keep which houses a museum... of sorts.  They have some stuff in there but... really, its not that big of a deal.  And, the walk to the top is 6 stories... not much to see from up there but, I guess you just have to do it.  After reaching the top I looked around over Kumamoto city (which... doesn't offer many exciting views... except the area around the castle) and then headed back down the stairs.  Once I reached the main courtyard I spent another good 2 or 3 hours just adventuring around the castle checking everything out .

All in all this was a momentous trip!!  Kumamoto Castle is a "Top" historical and interesting destination. Be sure to watch the video too!! (on this page).