Page 250 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide: Japan

248  JAP AN REGION B Y REGION

the decisive Battle of and outlines of Lake Biwa and
Sekigahara in 1600. Mount Fuji. Kumamoto is
He was rewarded for renowned for its crafts,
his loyalty with lands especially damascene inlay
en compassing most of designs, Amakusa pearls, and
present-day Kumamoto. Yamage lanterns. These lanterns,
The castle was com- made from gold paper, are a
pleted in 1607 – a hard feature of the city’s festival in
7-year undertaking. August. The Kumamoto
Unlike more decorative Traditional Crafts Center
castles such as Himeji has a good selection of
(see pp210–13), these local crafts.
Kumamoto’s citadel
is stridently martial in E Kumamoto Castle
appearance with steep, Tel (096) 352-5900.
almost impregnable Open daily. &
walls. The original E Gyobu-tei
structure had 49 towers Tel (096) 352-6522.
and 29 gates, but it was Open daily. &
The eaves and roofs of Kumamoto Castle, one of the almost completely P Kumamoto Prefectural
great fortresses of Japan de stroyed during the Art Museum
Satsuma Rebellion in
t Kumamoto 1877. Al though the main keep Tel (096) 352-2111.
Open Tue–Sun. &
Kumamoto was reconstructed on a smaller
scale using ferroconcrete in Y Suizen-ji Jou-en Garden
Kumamoto prefecture. * 730,000. 1960, it is a highly effective Open daily. &
k £ n (096) 352-3743. replica, successfully evoking
_ Hinokuni Matsuri (Fire Festival, E Kumamoto Traditional
mid-Aug); The Great Festival of Fujisaki the fearsome magnificence Crafts Center
Hachimangu Shrine (Sep 13–19); of the original. Tel (096) 324-4930.
Kumamoto Oshiro Matsuri Gyobu-tei, an over 300-year- Open Tue–Sun. & for 2nd flr.
(Kumamoto Castle Festival, Oct). old residence once owned by
∑ manyou-kumamoto.jp/en/ the powerful Hosokawa clan,
is located a little northwest of y Mount Aso
A city with a small-town atmo- the castle grounds. It presents Mount Aso
sphere, a mild climate, and insights into the way the feudal
semitropical flora, Kumamoto elite lived during the Edo period. Kumamoto prefecture. £ Aso, then
was an important seat of power The family possessions of the bus. @ Kyushu Kokusai Kanko sight-
during the Tokugawa shogunate powerful Kato and Hosokawa seeing bus from Beppu or Kumamoto.
_ Aso-no-hi Matsuri (Aso Fire
(1603–1868). Its star attraction, clans can be found near the Festival), Kuginomura (mid-Mar).
one of the largest castles in castle in the Kumamoto
Japan, dates from this period. The Prefectural Art Museum, a Actually a series of five volcanic
city’s main shopping precinct distinctive modern building cones, Mount Aso is one of the
and sights are compressed into with a pleasant tea room. The world’s largest calderas, with
an area south of Kumamoto museum also has interesting a circumference of 130 km
castle, the original location of replicas of ancient burial (80 miles). Of the five peaks,
merchants’ and artisans’ quarters mounds and archaeo logical Mount Takadake, at about
attached to the castle. finds from the region. 1,590 m (5,220 ft), is the
The longevity of Kumamoto’s Suizen-ji Jou-en Garden, highest. Mount Nakadake
feisty residents (the city has Kuma moto’s other main attrac- is still active, emitting sulfu rous
numerous centenarians) is tion, was laid out by the fumes and hot gases, earning
ascribed to a passion for living Hosokawa family in
and a healthy diet. The latter 1632 as the grounds
includes karashi renkon (deep- for a detached villa.
fried lotus root stuffed with With a central spring-
mustard miso) and various fed lake, it is a classic
brands of sake made from stroll garden (see
water supposedly purified by pp34–5). Its repre-
the area’s rich volcanic soil. senta tional designs
Dominating the center of are not labeled and
the city from an imposing hill, not always ap parent.
Kumamoto Castle was con- They include scenes
structed on the orders of Kato in miniature from the
Kiyomasa, a warrior who fought 53 stages of the old Blocks of sulfuric rock on sale at the top of the Nakadake
alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu at Tokaido Highway cable car
For hotels and restaurants see p306 and pp334–6

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Date 12th July 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm