Japan Guide
Kyūshū
Kumamoto-jō
Completed in 1607 after only seven years' work, Kumamoto-jō is Japan's third-largest castle (after Ōsaka and Nagoya) and one of its most formidable. It was designed by lord Katō Kiyomasa, a brilliant military architect who combined superb fortifications with exquisitely graceful flourishes – as Alan Booth observed in The Roads to Sata, the main keep seems like "a fragile bird poised for flight". At its peak, Kumamoto-jō had an outer perimeter of 13km and over 5km of inner wall built in what's called musha-gaeshi style, meaning that no invading warrior could scale their smooth, gently concave surfaces. In case of prolonged attack, 120 wells were sunk, while camphor and ginkgo trees provided firewood and edible nuts. These defences were severely tested during the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, when Saigō Takamori's army besieged Kumamoto-jō for fifty days. Government reinforcements eventually relieved the garrison, soon after trouncing the rebels. Though the castle held, most of its surrounding buildings were burnt to the ground and left in ruins until 1960, when the main keep was magnificently restored around a concrete shell; turrets and various other buildings are now also in good shape.
The best approach to the castle is from its south side, which brings you up into the grassy expanse of Ninomaru and the main, west gate into the inner citadel (daily: April– Oct 8.30am–5.30pm; Nov– March 8.30am–4.30pm; ¥500). Inside to the left, Uto Yagura was the only turret to survive the 1877 battle, while straight on, a high-sided defile leads to the imposing central keep, which hosts an excellent historical museum about the castle and the Hosokawa lords. Immediately south of the keep, the low-lying Go-ten Ōhiroma - the main reception hall – is resplendent after its recent restoration.