We swapped our plans around today after the big day yesterday and decided to head to Kumamoto today. We had a slow start and spent a long time trying to find a good coffee shop for Anthony who was really missing a good hot coffee.
We found a little coffee shop close to us which turned out to actually be quite good.
We found our way back to the Shinkansen station and jumped on a bullet train to Kumamoto. It only took 30 minutes which is crazy for how far away it is. The journey was pleasant and got us right into the center of Kumamoto. Now Kumamoto is known for a lot of different things but one of its draw cards in Japan is Kumamon. Kumamon is a mascot created by the government. It was created in 2010 for a campaign created to draw tourists to the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened. However this mascot sky rocketed in popularity and now can be found everywhere in Japan. It is Japans most popular mascot. When we arrived in Kumamoto the home of Kumamon we were greeted by his very large head and then him as a station master and then him on all the wifi! You get the picture he was everywhere.
The other main thing is Kumamoto Castle. Which is a hilltop Japanese castle and is considered one of the three premier castles in Japan, along with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle. There has been a lot of damamge done to this castle as a earthquake in 2016 collapsed a lot of parts of it. You can still see the reconstruction and damage today. We headed into City Hall first as there was a free observatory on the 14th floor. It wasnice to get our first view of the castle.
We then strolled along the rivers and castle walls enjoying the sakura falling down and the magnificent structures. The moat and river were stunning. We also saw a bronze statue is of Kato Kiyomasa who is famed for building Kumamoto Castle. We also got to see Kumamon again and the castles own mascot!
We went through the museum to check out the history and reconstruction of the castle. Most of it was in Japanese so it wasn’t hugely educational.
We were then onto the castle which honestly got more impressive the closer you got. There is so much damage to the buildings and a lot of construction going on but it was still a super impressive castle. It was built so well defensible that no one ever won a seige here.
Inside the main castle you can head up the tower. Here they had models of the castle grounds, how all the different parts are built and then up the top is a room for you to look out over the grounds. The highlights from this were the toilet that just drops right off the side of the tower and the holes where you can shoot arrows at people underneath.
It was well worth the trip down here to see the castle and we can tick another castle off the list! We next walked to Kumamon Square, the website says that This is the base of operations for Kumamon, Kumamoto Prefecture’s Sales and Happiness Manager, who goes around Japan and the world to spread the word about Kumamoto’s sightseeing and special products. And he even has his own office!
Tired and hungry our next stop was lunch. This area is known for its Tonkatsu so i did some research and ended up finding Katsuretsu Tei Shinshigai which is a Michelin star resturant. We made our way over, got a ticket to wait for a table and then we were in Tonkatsu Heaven. It was absolutely the best pork I have had.
We then walked to what we were told was a raccoon dog shrine, which to be fair it was. It was tiny and not even a proper shrine. It was not worth it! But thats ok not everything can be good or life would be boring.
We took the bullet train back to Fukuoka and headed to the pokemon store to try and find something Tim was looking for but no luck! We finished the night having bubble tea and shaved ice from the restaurant that originated bubble Tea in Taiwan (We have been to the one in Taiwan). This store was just as good as the one in Taiwan.
