5 Sights in Kumamoto, Japan (with Map and Images)

Kumamoto Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and well-fortified castle. The castle keep is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle. Kumamoto Castle is considered one of the three premier castles in Japan, along with Himeji Castle and Matsumoto Castle. Thirteen structures in the castle complex are designated Important Cultural Property.

Wikipedia: Kumamoto Castle (EN)

Suizen-ji Jōju-en (水前寺成趣園) is a tsukiyama Japanese garden located within Suizen-ji Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The main tsukiyama is a representation of Mount Fuji. Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi began construction of the garden in 1636 as a tea retreat. The park was named after a no-longer-extant Buddhist temple called Suizen-ji, and now hosts the Izumi Shrine, where members of the Hosokawa family are enshrined, and a Nōgaku-dō, a Noh theater. Lord Hosokawa selected this site because of its spring-fed pond, the clean water of which was excellent for tea. The thatched Kokin-Denju-no-Ma teahouse was originally in Kyoto's Imperial Palace, but was moved here in 1912.

Wikipedia: Suizen-ji Jōju-en (EN), Website

The former Hosokawa Penald's House is a samurai residence located at the Kumamoto Castle Sanshinomaru Ruins in Chuo -ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture. It is designated as a Kumamoto prefecture designated important cultural property formed. The Hosokawa prison family (also called Hosokawa) was a one -family of the Hosokawa clan, along with Hosokawa Uchizen (Sunatori Hosokawa), all of which were Nagaoka surnames in the Edo period.

Wikipedia: 旧細川刑部邸 (JA)

Kitaoka Shrine is a shrine located at 1-chome, Kasuga, Nishi-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is said to have been founded in the Heian period by soliciting the spirits of the Gion Shrine in Kyoto, and is an ancient shrine with a history on a par with Fujisaki Hachiogu Shrine in the Kumamoto City area. The former company name was a prefectural company.

Wikipedia: 北岡神社 (JA)

Izumi Shrine is a shrine located in Suizenji Jojuen Garden in Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. As a shrine dedicated to the successive lords of Kumamoto Domain, it was founded by former vassals in the Meiji era. The former company name was a prefectural company.

Wikipedia: 出水神社 (熊本市) (JA)