English Tours at Kumamoto Castle

My personal story starts with the arrival to a main parking area outside Nishi Ote Gate, which is outside the larger Hohoate main gate. There are 4 main gates to the castle.

The park along the parking lot is evidence to why Kumamoto is also known as the City of Trees. What is now a park was once the inside of the castle's several layers of outer walls.

A picture of a partial moat which was once connected to the nearby Tsuboi River.

A shady path leads to the admission entrance. Enjoy the rest because this place is HUGE. Bring shoes you can walk easily in.

The steep walls of the castle were meant to keep out ruthless warriors. Let's hope they can keep curious Japanese children out too!

Walk through the Nishi-Ote Gate to pass through one set of outer walls.

Here is the best advertisement to pay an entrance fee I have ever seen. Just outside the ticket counter is Uto Turret (left) and the Hohoate gate tower (right).

The walls tower above you. And then on top of that would be archers and gunners shooting at you. It is no surprise that Kumamoto was an impregnable fortress.

If you look closely you can see gunports along the walls. The tower has a larger window where archers stood, as well as a bottom trap door to keep a look out and drop rocks on intruders.

The two main towers of the castle. The castle is a symbol of the city, towering above modern day apartment buildings and high rises. The towers once held weapons, food, and elaborate rooms for entertaining or study.

Many visitors think these rock depressions are results of the near two month bombardment the castle suffered and survived. In reality, the rocks became so hot during a three day fire just before the Seinan Rebellion (1877) that they began to crumble.

A rare architecture design is this underground passage that leads to the main courtyard where the castle keep is. It is constructed with huge Japanese zelkova trees. It was also used as a place to accept important guests before presenting the castle.

A view of the innermost courtyard. The roped off section marks off where a building once stood.

A close-up shot of the castle before heading inside.

A lone gingko tree stands in the courtyard. The lord of the castle prophesied something bad would happen to the castle when the tree reaches the same height as the main keep.

Visitor entrance to the main tower. No elevators and a lack of air conditioning make a climb to the top a difficult one.

A well in the keep would have provided fresh water in case of a siege. There were over a hundred wells around the castle during its heyday.

Lots of stairs await you inside.

The view from the top of the second tower. At the corner of the courtyard is a 400 year old original guard tower that escaped the great fire.

A picture of the larger tower from the smaller one. Notice the fine roofing work that is a 1960s reconstruction implementing authentic tools and materials.

There are various museum artefacts on display on the lower levels of the main towers.

A view from the top tower shows that Kumamoto is a city full of modern buildings mixed with nature's green stuff.

The building adjacent to the main keep is lavashly decorated inside. It was used to greet guests with tea ceremony.

Inside the Hon-Maru Goten Great Hall accessed from the keep's courtyard.

Another example of the exquisite art in the Hon-Maru Goten Great Hall.

If exiting back towards the parking lot, make sure to look the "mapping stone" stairs which are said to include representative images of Japan.