Kumamoto

Kumamoto is a pleasant, medium-sized city, which is well worth spending a day or so exploring. It is most famous for its Castle - built more than 400 years ago by the warlord Kato Kiyomasa, the castle was considered impregnable in its time due to its many innovative defensive designs. Large parts of the castle were destroyed however, in Japan’s last civil war in 1877, when an army of former samurai unsuccessfully attempted to challenge the new Meiji government. Today’s castle is a faithful reconstruction and is one of the largest castles in Japan. Also of interest in Kumamoto is the beautiful mountain style garden at Suizen-ji Temple. This garden is a great place to view the cherry blossom and there is also a miniature version of Mount Fuji. The city has a thriving food scence and brave foodies may wish to try the local speciality: raw horse meat!