Kumamoto (熊本) is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture. It’s located on west coast in the island of Kyushu. The most famous thing about Kumamoto is their prefecture mascot, Kumamon. With Kumamon’s adorable facial features and personality, it helps to promote the area and attract a lot of tourists. He is no doubt one of the reasons we are visiting.
Tables of Contents
Getting There
We took a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Fukuoka (Hakata Station) to Kumamoto (Kumamoto Station). It was very quick, just about 50 minutes. We reserved our train tickets a month before our trip through Smart EX. It’s an official JR (Japan Railway) website. When registering, keep in mind that some credit cards cannot be accepted due to security concerns. American Express is the one that works for us.
If you carry multiple big luggages, consider booking seats with oversize luggage area. We had 2 medium luggages and decided to get the seats with oversize luggage area. Even though our luggages do not consider as oversize, it’s still too big to keep them in our seat area or too heavy to put on the overhead luggage rack. These special seats do not cost extra money. Our seats were at the back of the train and the luggage area were just behind us. The luggages easily fit in and it was easy to access.
Food is allowed on Shinkansen, so bring snacks or drinks. There are restrooms on the train too.
Getting Around
Once we got to Kumamoto station, we walked to a tram station right outside. The tram is easy and mostly convenient, except when carrying big luggages. Our tram was actually very packed and it wasn’t the most ideal to be carrying luggages. We were standing and trying to keep our luggages from not sliding everywhere. Luckily, our stop was just 15 minutes away. We made it safely. If you can, definitely recommend getting a taxi to your hotel.
We used our Suica cards (or any IC cards) for the tram ride. Tap the card when boarding the tram and tap once again when getting off.
Our hotel is just a few minutes from the tram station. We walked over to drop off our luggages.
ACCOMMODATION: Candeo Hotels Kumamoto Shinshigai
This hotel is located in a busy area in Kumamoto with plenty of restaurants and shopping areas. It’s very close to the Kumamoto Castle, a major attraction.
I booked a corner room with twin beds. The room is huge and there are two giant windows. We love the bright sun light coming through. The view of the city is amazing. When look carefully, we can see the top of the Kumamoto Castle in a far distance. There is also a sofa chaise and coffee table, where we can sit and relax.
Another reason I picked this hotel is the laundry facility. There are a few laundry rooms in multiple floors. The cool thing is that we can check if the machines are being in used from our hotel room TV. Although it wasn’t always accurate, it was so much easier checking on the TV instead of going to each floor one by one. Also, detergent is included in the washing machines, so no need to bring or buy any.
We didn’t book our room with any breakfast. But from doing research, people really enjoy the breakfast buffet.
Overall, a beautiful and clean hotel in a great location. And that room size is no doubt rare in Japan!
Address: Kumamoto, Chuo Ward, Shinshigai, 8−7 TERRACE87
Luggage Shipping Service
In Japan, it’s very common to ship luggages to other hotels or cities. But it usually requires 1 day in transportation.
At the end of our stay in this hotel, we wanted to ship one of our luggages to a hotel we will going in a couple days. It was because we only wanted to carry one luggage with us as we would be taking a few trains and walking around in smaller towns.
There are few places to ship your luggage, like airports, hotels, and convenience stores. We did it at our hotel front desk. The hotel staff filled in all the information for us. It was very easy, and our medium luggage cost only ¥2190 (about US$14). But prepare to leave extra time if you plan to do this. Filling in forms will require a little bit of time.
Our luggage arrived at the hotel safely. It took about 1 day.
Day 1:
We were ready for early lunch after dropping off the luggages. It was only 10:30am. There weren’t many lunch options at that hour. But we did find this 24-hour restaurant.
Lunch: Monteroza 目利きの銀次 熊本下通アーケード街店
Yes, this restaurant opens 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It has an extensive menu focuses on seafood. The decoration is very cute. It was like we were in a Japanese festival with lanterns and stools. We wanted something light-ish, so we both got a sashimi rice bowl and shared a squid tempura. The tempura was more like fried calamari. It was a bit chewy and greasy. We didn’t really like that. The rice bowls were a lot better, but nothing amazing. The price was very affordable.
Address: Kumamoto, Chuo Ward, Shimotori, 1 Chome−10−28 栃原ビル 1階
Kumamoto Castle 熊本城
Kumamoto Castle is one of the most complete castles in Japan. It has a large castle ground with turrets, gardens and gates. It was built in 1960 with steel-framed reinforced concrete, and the original castle was burnt down in 1877. In 2016, the castle and many surrounding buildings were damaged by massive earthquakes. Some areas are still under restoration currently. And we saw obvious damages while walking around the castle ground.
The castle is located uphill, so we climbed up a few rounds of stairs before reaching the castle. The castle itself is restored and opened. It’s a museum inside with Japanese history, artifacts and information about the castle. At the top floor (6th floor), there is an observation deck with the view of the city of Kumamoto.
No doubt a stunning castle! We are so glad we came. Again, keep in mind that some of the areas are still closed to public due to the earthquakes.
One quick tip: Most of the descriptions inside the castle don’t have English translation. There is a phone app that can be downloaded with commentary and videos.
Address: 1-1 Honmaru, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Sakura no baba Josaien 桜の馬場 城彩苑
This outdoor shopping area is located next to the castle. The buildings are created to look like a castle town back in 17th century. There is even a stage in the center with daily performing. There’re a few restaurants, and a bunch of souvenir shops and snack shops.
Address: 1-1-2 Ninomaru, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Snack: Tente
This place is one of the shops in Sakura no baba Josaien. It’s famous for its strawberry soft serve. Although the strawberries were not very sweet, the ice cream was creamy and refreshing. We shared one together.
Address: 1-1-2 Ninomaru, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Sakura Machi Kumamoto サクラマチクマモト
After that, we went to a shopping center across from our hotel. There are a few floors with many famous brands, like Diesel, Montbell, and Agnes b. There is also a food court and supermarket on the basement floor. We found Namco/Play Park Plus, which has capsule toys, claw machines and arcade games. It was really fun, but we didn’t win anything.
Address: 3-10 Sakuramachi, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
We went back to the hotel to rest for a few hours before dinner.
Dinner: Katsuretsu Tei Shinshigai 勝烈亭 新市街本店
We love tonkatsu (fried pork chops). When I was researching popular restaurants in Kumamoto, I found this place. We arrived at 6pm and there was already a line. Luckily, it wasn’t too crowed yet, and we waited for about 15 minutes.
The pork this restaurant uses are Berkshire pigs from Kagoshima. It’s known for rich taste. We both ordered a set of Atsuage Kurobuta pork loin with a shrimp. The set includes rice, miso soup, pickled vegetables, and grated daikon. The pork and shrimp were very flavorful and tasty, but the batter was a bit thick and greasy. The food tasted heavy and I couldn’t finish all my food. It was a bit disappointing, because we had really high hopes.
Address: 8-18 Shinshigai, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Day 2:
Breakfast: Mister Donut Kumamoto Shimotōri ミスタードーナツ 熊本下通りショップ
Mister Donut is a Japanese donut chain known for its mochi donuts, which are made with glutinous rice flour, giving them a chewy texture and a unique shape resembling a chain of donut holes. Mister Donut is a must for any Japan trip.
We arrived at the shop when they just opened. Unfortunately, they were only a few options. We didn’t have too many choices. Luckily, I was still able to get one mochi donut with a sakura glaze (seasonal flavor). And Bryan got an old fashioned donut. They were just as delicious as we remembered.
As we were enjoying our donuts, more donuts were being made. It seemed like the shop wouldn’t have everything ready for opening, but would keep filling the shelves as they made more donuts.
Address: 6-6 Shinshigai, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Suizenji Jojuen Garden 水前寺成趣園
After breakfast, we took the tram and went to a Japanese garden from the Edo period, which had a large pond and a man-made hill shaped like Mount Fuji. Since it was winter, the garden was quiet with few visitors. Although the grass wasn’t green and there wasn’t any flowers, it was really peaceful walking around and looking at the egrets and koi fish. There is also tea house next to the pond too. It’s a great place to end the tour with a cup of hot green tea and traditional Japanese sweet.
Address: 8-1 Suizenji Koen, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Monkey D Luffy Statue モンキー・D・ルフィ像
Monkey D. Luffy, the main character of the popular Japanese manga, One Piece, has inspired an animated series and a live-action TV show on Netflix. The manga artist, Eiichiro Oda, from Kumamoto City, collaborated with the city after the 2016 earthquake to support revitalization efforts by bringing character statues around the prefecture. Luffy statue is located in front of Kumamoto Prefectural Office. It is about 15-min walk from Suizenji Jojuen Garden.
Address: 6 Chome-18-1 Suizenji, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Oraga Soba おらが蕎麦 HAB@熊本店
We took the tram back to hotel area and we stumbled on this soba place inside a shopping center. We were just hungry, but didn’t want to eat too much. I got a hot soba with Chikuwa tempura (fish cake with seaweed batter), and Bryan got a cold soba with spicy beef. The food was ok.
Address: 5−1 HAB@熊本 2F, Tetorihoncho, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
ASO MILK Kumamoto 阿部牧場 HAB@熊本店
After eating at the soba restaurant, we found a dessert shop that grabbed our attention. This shop sells Aso milk treats, including ice cream, crepes, pudding, and cheese. Aso Milk comes from the city of Aso and is known for being rich and sweet. We both got a cone of milk soft serve. It’s very milky and sweet! We loved it so much!
Address: 5−1 HAB@ 1F, Tetorihoncho, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Kumamon Square くまモンスクエア
This is the town of Kumamon, so we had to stop by his office. It’s located at the first floor of Tsuruya Department Store. The square includes a character meet up area, a souvenir shop and a room that is decorated as Kumamoto office. Kumamon character meet up happens often, check their official website for accurate schedule. When we were there, it was about meet up time. There were quite a lot of people waiting, so we ended up leaving early. But we did take a few pictures with a giant Kumamon stuffed animal and buy a few cute stickers.
Address: 8−2 テトリアくまもとビル 1階, Tetorihoncho, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Dinner: Yokobachi
This is an izakaya restaurant (Japanese bar that serves food and snacks). It’s a popular spot, so I made a reservation (using visa concierge service) a few weeks ahead. The ordering was through an QR code and we can do everything online. There is an English version, so it was easy. One of the specialty of this restaurant is horse meat. We ordered horse sashimi. The meat was tender, sweet, and mild in flavor. The texture kind of reminds me of tuna.
We also ordered a bunch of other things, like chili spice fried chicken wings, skewers of Higo cattle, pudding. I can’t really remember other things, but all the food was very good. We ordered 2nd round of the beef skewers. We really enjoyed our meal. It was a fun environment too, but we had to sit on the floor. That wasn’t the most comfortable if you’re not used to that like us. But I think the food was so worth it!
Address: 11-40 Kamitoricho, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
After dinner, we went to the hotel to start packing. We will be leaving in the morning.
Day 3:
Breakfast: Mister Donut Kumamoto Shimotōri ミスタードーナツ 熊本下通りショップ
We came back here again. Many mochi donuts were out already this time. We ordered a strawberry, chocolate and a cinnamon. They were really nice and chewy. I wish we have Mister Donut in the US.
Address: 6-6 Shinshigai, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto
Side Story:
We went back to the hotel and picked up our luggages. We had a train to catch. We asked the front desk to order a taxi for us, and the staff told me the name of the taxi company. I think it was Ace, but I can’t remember too clearly now.
Outside the hotel, there were tons of taxis (from different companies) coming and going after picking up their customers. We waited for about 5 minutes. An Ace taxi showed up. When we started walking toward the taxi, 2 women (who were also waiting) started to walk toward that taxi as well. One of the women and I both started to talk to the driver. Unfortunately, the driver didn’t speak much English. The woman insisted it was their taxi, so I let them take it.
Quickly after that, a taxi showed up (not Ace) and parked there. 10 more minute passed by, we started to get anxious because it was getting closer to our train departure time. The hotel reception is located at 12th floor, so it wasn’t quick or easy for me to run over and ask the staffs. That taxi was still there waiting and the driver even walked out to look around.
At this point, we had a theory that the 2 women took our taxi by accident. And this taxi parked here was for them. We started to panicked and we asked that driver if he can take us. But since he was waiting for his customers, he couldn’t. We ended up asking another taxi driver who was also waiting if he can take us. He also said he couldn’t, but he could call one for us. After a couple minutes, the driver was able to flag down another taxi passing by. We got on that taxi and made to the train station in time.
It was a very nerve racking experience for us. The lesson I learned is always give yourself extra time as unexpected things will happen. Try to stay calm and figure some other solutions. I’m so glad that we didn’t miss our train.
OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST:
Mount Aso
This is an active volcano with an ancient caldera. The scene of the crater must be unique and incredible. But closure may happen due to toxic gas, volcanic activity or bad weather. Also, getting there by public transit is possible, but it will take about 2 hours or so from Kumamoto. If you have a car, it will take about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Kurokawa Onsen
A hot spring town that is gorgeous and famous. It’s a charming resort town filled with bath house, cafes and shops. It’s located north of Mount Aso. And to get there, you can either drive or take a bus from Fukuoka.
Our Favorites:
- Point of Interest: Kumamoto Castle
- Meal: Skewers of Higo cattle from Yokobachi
- Snack: Milk soft serve from Aso Milk
This is the end of the Kumamoto Guide. Unfortunately, we only had a couple days here. Next time, we would definitely rent a car, so we can explore outside of the city.
Next, I will be working on Yufuin Travel Guide. Yufuin was our favorite town in the trip. I can’t wait to share with you all.
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