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One of the world's
largest caldera, Aso - Amakusa-Gokyo bridges and saw-toothed coast
Kumamoto is situated at the center of Kyushu Island in the western
end of Japan. Mt. Aso-san stands in the east, the Chikuhi Mountains
lie to the north, and the Kikuchi-gawa River, Kuma-gawa River and
other rivers flow from the mountains to the northwestern area forming
the Kumamoto Plain and Yashiro Plain along the coast of the Sea of
Ariake. The Udo-hanto Peninsula juts out to the southwest, and the
Amakusa Islands lie beyond the peninsula.
Kumamoto has two national parks, namely the Aso and Unzen-Amakusa, and
two quasi-national parks, namely the Mt. Yabahita-hiko-san and the
Kyushu Central Mountains. The total area of these natural parks
occupies 20 percent of the prefecture. The Aso district has an active
volcano, Mt. Aso-san, with one of the largest calderas in the world
and many hot springs. The Amakusa district has the Amakusa-Gokyo, or
five bridges, historic sites with tragic stories of the Christian
martyrs, and scenic sites of the islands and saw-toothed coast. The
central mountainous area attracts people with its valleys, virgin
forests and beautiful mountain sights.
Other must-sees in Kumamoto include Kumamoto City with Kumamoto Castle
noted for the stonewalls with musha-gaeshi, a special defense designed
to prevent enemy attacks, and the Suizenji-joju-en Garden, hot springs
and valleys in the basin of the Kikuchi-gawa River which empties into
the Shimabara Bay, and the Hitoyoshi and Kuma area with abundant
historical sites from the 12th to 14th century.
Getting there
An hour and 30 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Kumamoto
Airport. An hour from Osaka Itami Airport.
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Amakusa
Saw-toothed Coastline and 120 Islands - Hideaway for Japanese
Christians
Amakusa, located in a southwestern part of Kumamoto, consists of
Shimo-jima and Kami-shima Islands, which are major islands in the
area, and 120 other islands varied in size, which belong to
Unzen-Amakusa National Park along with the Shimabara-hanto Peninsula
in Nagasaki.
The five bridges, collectively named Amakusa Gokyo which interlink
with Misumi at the western end of the Uto-hanto Peninsula in
Kumamoto and the Islands of O-yano-jima, Naga-ura-jima, O-ike-jima,
Ike-jima, Mae-jima and Matsu-shima in Ue-jima, completed a route
commonly called the Amakusa Pearl Line. It provides ideal spots for
viewing the saw-toothed coastline of Amakusa and the small islands
scattered across the sea. A sightseeing boat commanding views of the
five bridges from the deck cruises past 30-odd islands of varied
sizes that belong to the Matsu-shima Island group in about 40
minutes.
In the Edo Period from the 17th century to the 19th century, many
Japanese adherents of Christianity, which was banned in those years,
lived in Amakusa. The Myotoku-ji Temple is one of the temples
constructed at various places in Amakusa by the Shogun Iemitsu
Tokugawa to suppress Christianity. The Christian faith, however, has
been maintained to this day. The Oe-Tenshudo Church,
Sakitsu-Tenshudo Church and other churches were built in the 20th
century.
Getting there
An hour and 30 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Kumamoto
Airport. An hour from Osaka Itami Airport. Fifty minutes by bus from
Kumamoto Airport to Kumamoto Station. Two hours and 20 minutes by
bus from Kumamoto Station to Hondo (Amakusa).
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Aso
Caldera of Largest Class in the World - Active Volcano Roughly at
Center of Kyushu
Mt. Aso-san is located at the center of Aso-National Park in
Kumamoto and Oita, which lies roughly at the center of Kyushu. The
mountain is a typical complex volcano composed of an outer rim with
a total circumferential length of 128 kilometers, a caldera with
seven towns and villages inside it and five mountains (Aso Gotake)
on the central plateau including the active Mt. Naka-dake.
Many hot spring resorts including Tarutama, Jigoku, Aso and
Yunotani Spas are located inside and outside Aso-National Park. The
Aso Uchinomaki-onsen Hot Spring with more than 100 hot springs is
the largest among them.
The 1,506-meter-high summit of Mt. Naka-dake, one of the major
volcanoes of the world, where the air is filled with the smell of
sulfur can be reached by a ropeway. Tourists at the summit can take
a close-range look at the dynamic fumes rising from the crater which
extends about l kilometer north and south and about 400 meters east
and west and has a perimeter about 4 kilometers long. Since it is an
active volcano, shelter dugouts are provided around the crater.
Pictures of the interior of the crater taken with two TV cameras at
the crater can be seen, under the viewer's control with push
buttons, in the Aso Volcano Museum. Kusasenri covered with volcanic
ash is located on the northern mountainside of Mt. Eboshi-dake where
many tourists can see cows and horses grazing in summer and enjoy
skiing and skating in winter.
Getting there
An hour and 30 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Kumamoto
Airport. An hour from Osaka Itami Airport. Fifty minutes by bus from
Kumamoto Airport to Kumamoto Station. An hour by a Limited Express
from Kumamoto Station to Aso Station on the JR Houhi Line.
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Hitoyoshi
Castle Town Once Prosperous As River Port - Down Fast Stream of
Kuma-gawa River and Tour of Limestone Cave
Hitoyoshi is the major city in the Hitoyoshi Basin in a northern
part of Kumamoto, surrounded by the Kyushu Mountains. Down to
sometime in the latter half of the 19th century, there was a busy
port along Kuma-gawa River running through the town of Hitoyoshi
where lumber was collected and distributed.
Hitoyoshi, a castle town with 700 years' history, boasts the ruins
of the Hitoyoshi Castle, residence of the Sagara family who governed
the area, the Aoi-Aso-jinja Shrine dedicated to the tutelary deity
for the Hitoyoshi and Kuma areas, and the Hitoyosh-onsen Hot Spring.
The Hitoyoshi-onsen is the collective name for 30-odd hot springs
including the Sagara-onsen Hot Spring, all of which are supplied
with hot water from sources around Hitoyoshi Station and in the
basin of Kuma-gawa River. A bathing pass allows a tourist to bathe
at selected three out of the seven hotels and inns.
A limestone cave with a total length of 4.8 kilometers, named Kyusen-do,
is situated near Hitoyoshi. Visitors can go deeper into the cave,
wearing a helmet with a light on it. Tourists can take a ride on a
boat maneuvered by a master poler down the Kuma-gawa River, one of
the three fast streams in Japan. They can choose from two
alternative courses - the Clean Stream Course for a leisurely cruise
from the Hitoyoshi Departure Point to Watari and the Fast Current
Course for a fast ride past strange-shape rocks from the Watari
Departure Point to Kyusen-do.
Getting there
An hour and 30 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Kumamoto
Airport. An hour from Osaka Itami Airport. Fifty minutes by bus from
Kumamoto Airport to Kumamoto Station. An hour and 30 minutes from
Kumamoto Station to Hitoyoshi Station by an Express Train on the JR
Main Kagoshima Line-Hisatsu Line.
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Kikuchi-Keikoku Ravine
Fresh Water Flows in Ravine Amid Woods - Subsoil Water from Mt.
Asogairin-zan
The Kikuchi-Keikoku Ravine, located in a northern part of
Kumamoto, extends 4 kilometers near the origin of Kikuchi-gawa
River. Kikuchi was named after the Kikuchi baronial family
prosperous in the late12th century to the late 14th century. The
major occupations of the residents of Kikuchi are farming and
forestry. Cool water originating in the subsoil water from Mt.
Asogairin-zan was designated as one of best waters in Japan, flows
in the city even in summer. The water temperature is around 13
degrees centigrade even in summer.
Waterfalls, deep ponds and huge rocks on or along the path of the
clean stream lie in the midst of dense woods. Among the local scenic
spots are the Kakemaku-no-taki Falls, Reimei-no-taki Falls,
Momiji-ga-se, Ryu-ga-buchi, Tengu-taki Falls and Yonju-sanman-taki
Falls. More than fifty varieties of wild birds can be spotted in
Yacho-no-mori (Wild Bird Park) and Shinrin-koen (Forest Park). The
Kyushu Shizen-yuhodo, a nature promenade, extends along the river in
the valley. The valley looks especially beautiful amid the fresh
green leaves of trees in spring and in the midst of their red and
yellow leaves in autumn. The Kikuchi-onsen Hot Spring noted for its
beautiful cherry blossoms in spring, which is an ideal base for
sightseeing in Aso or Unzen, is located in the basin of the Kikuchi-gawa
River.
Getting there
An hour 30 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to Kumamoto
Airport. An hour from Osaka Itami Airport. Fifty minutes by bus from
Kumamoto Airport to Kumamoto Station. An hour 40 minutes from
Kumamoto Station to Kikuchi Plaza bus stop of the Kyushu Sangyo
Kotsu Bus and then to Kikuchi-Keikoku.
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Kumamoto City
Castle Town Reputed for Its Woods and Fresh Water - Famous Writers'
Old Residences
Kumamoto, situated roughly at the center of Kumamoto Prefecture,
is the administrative and economic center of the prefecture. From
the early 17th century to the end of the 19th century, it was
prosperous as a castle town. Shira-kawa River and its branches run
through the downtown area around the Kumamoto Castle. Therefore the
city is called "City of Woods and Fresh Water".
The most part of the Kumamoto Castle, which was designated as a
National Historical Site, was burned down in a war in the late 19th
century. Its castle tower was rebuilt about 40 years ago. Personal
belongings of its lords in different generations, armaments of olden
days, etc. are displayed inside the castle tower. Suizenji Park with
a teahouse removed from Katsura Rikyu Palace in Kyoto is located to
the southeast of the castle. With a pond and turf mounds, this park
is a popular place for relaxation for people of Kumamoto.
The
city also boasts "Koizumi Yakumo's House" - where a novelist
Lafcadio Hearn (known as "Yakumo Koizumi" in Japan) who came to
Japan and taught English in the late 19th century resided, and the
residence of Soseki Natsume, a famous Japanese writer active from
the late 19th century to the early 20th century, converted into the
Soseki Natsume Memorial Museum. Traditional craft products such as
traditional handicraft toys, gold work pieces, pottery and
porcelain, woodwork pieces and bamboo work pieces are exhibited and
sold at the Kumamoto Traditional Crafts Center.
Getting there
About 1 hour and 30 minutes from Tokyo Haneda Airport to
Kumamoto Airport. About 1 hour from Osaka Itami Airport. About 50
minutes by bus from Kumamoto Airport to Kumamoto Station.
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Information
provided by Japan National Tourist Organization.
