TL;DR – I walked around Kumamoto Castle.

Disclosure – I paid for my flights, accommodation, entry, and everything you see purchased in this article.

Exploring Japan –

I had always planned to go back to Japan one day, and had started making plans to go back in 2020. Then, well, 2020 happened. But late last year, I finally had the chance to put those plans back in motion as I flew out of Melbourne for Osaka, and thus my time in Japan began.

After a leisurely start to the day, I took the tram from the Kumamoto train station into the city, because I wanted to visit a new castle for me. You get off at the City Hall stop and then make your way around the extensive river moat. Indeed, the river was such a beautiful place that I took some time at one of the seats along the bank to watch the water flow and some of the birds dart along the surface.  

If you have spent any time in Japan, you will know they often go out of their way with small details like the manhole covers, and I think Kumamoto might be my favourite I have seen so far.

Like most castles in Japan, Kumamoto is built upon the top of a hill, which means you need to be ready; you get both your steps and stairs in for the day. My first view of the Castle proper was just the hint of the town popping out from behind the walls. Each of the walls had its own, probably apocryphal story about how they were built. But whatever the case, they were clearly works of immense skill.

When I visited Kumamoto Castle, it was still undergoing extensive repair work to the damage caused by the 2016 earthquake. This damage, and restoration work, meant that a floating pathway was built to allow people access to the Castle. I found this to be fascinating because it gave you a vantage point that you would not normally see. In this case, it was a look at the power that earthquakes can cause. Since my time at the Castle, there has been another earthquake that caused more damage, though thankfully not as bad for the structure this time.  

When I bout my ticket, the lady mentioned something about clouds that I could not quite parse. Then when I got onto the walkway, one of the guides mentioned that the clouds were about to start. At this point, I thought I had missed something odd in the translation until I heard a rumble. What they were explaining to me was that there was a “sea of clouds” event where they piped mist/steam out of vents, creating the effect of the Castle sitting in a cloud, as if it was in a Ghibli Film. It was one of the most fake things I have ever witnessed, but no amount of cynicism could compete with the reality that it looked amazing. It worked, by gum, it worked.

No matter where you turned when exploring the Castle, you were confronted with exquisite skill and craftsmanship.

When you emerged into the main court and the full keep came into view for the first time, it honestly takes your breath away. You see why they put it up there with Himeji, and it is a fair comparison. It is one of the three premier castles in Japan for a reason.

As I made my way up to the top floor of the Castle, I learned more about the history of the Castle and the city of Kumamoto. Each floor took you to a different part of its history, working through time. It was also fascinating to see how they struggled with both conserving history and preserving it, but also, given that destruction is a part of the Castle’s story, how do you preserve that part of its history? It was a question I had not pondered before. But while there were a lot of stairs and a lot of rest breaks, the view from the top was absolutely worth it.  

After making my way back down the Castle, I stopped off at the gift shop, and I have to give the lady behind the counter credit; even though I didn’t speak any Japanese, and she did not speak any English, she still got an upsell out of me. Honestly, you must respect the moxie. I made my way back down just in time for sea of clouds round two, and it still slapped.

I spent some more time walking around the castle precinct before making my way through the city back to the hotel. At this point I wanted to do more, but my body was not willing, so I had an afternoon walking through malls and shops, before retiring for an early evening.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images and content have been created by the author unless stated otherwise