Kumamoto Castle

Kumamoto Castle spreads across the Chausu hill in the centre of Kumamoto, the largest city in central Kyushu. Built by Katō Kiyomasa, one of the most renowned castle builders of his age, it is among the largest castle complexes in Japan, with a circumference of several kilometres and numerous turrets and gates in its heyday.

Its hallmark is the mushagaeshi, stone walls that rise gently at the base and curve up almost vertically at the top, making them impossible to climb. The main and smaller keeps, burned in 1877, were rebuilt in reinforced concrete in 1960; the Honmaru Palace, with its gilded reception rooms, was reconstructed in traditional timber in 2008. Of the original buildings, the long Uto-yagura turret, often described as a third keep, and twelve other structures survive and are Important Cultural Properties.

The Kumamoto earthquakes of April 2016 caused severe damage: large sections of stone wall collapsed, and all thirteen historic structures and the reconstructed buildings were damaged. The restoration is planned over several decades. The main keep was repaired first and reopened to visitors in 2021, and an elevated walkway allows the grounds to be viewed while work continues.

Katō Kiyomasa, a general of Toyotomi Hideyoshi who received the province of Higo, built the castle on the site of earlier fortifications and renamed the town Kumamoto in 1607. After the Katō were dispossessed in 1632, the castle passed to the Hosokawa family, who held it until the Meiji Restoration. In 1877 government troops in the castle held out for some fifty days against the army of Saigō Takamori in the Satsuma Rebellion; the keeps burned shortly before the siege began. The castle was reconstructed in stages from 1960, and a comprehensive restoration has been under way since the earthquakes of 2016.

Kumamoto Castle is the emblem of the city and of the Kumamoto region, and its recovery after 2016 has become a symbol of reconstruction. Citizens and companies across Japan have contributed to its restoration, including through a donation scheme that credits contributors as honorary castle lords.

Katō Kiyomasa, known locally as Seishōkō, is still honoured in Kumamoto for his flood-control and irrigation works as well as the castle; Katō-jinja shrine in the castle grounds is dedicated to him. The grounds are a popular cherry blossom spot in spring.