Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- JAL and ANA fly to Kumamoto Airport tel. 096/232-2810; www.kmj-ab.co.jp) from Tokyo in 1 hour and 40 minutes, with one-way fares ranging from ¥21,550 ($180/£90) for a 21-day advance purchase to ¥33,700 ($280/£140) for a regular ticket. Local airline Skynet Asia Airways (tel. 0120/737-283 toll-free) offers a regular one-way ticket for ¥25,660 ($214/£107), but advance-purchase tickets can go as low a ¥13,100 ($109/£55). Airport shuttle buses operate from the airport to Kumamoto Station and the Kumamoto Kotsu (bus) Center downtown, taking about 54 minutes and costing ¥670 ($5.60/£2.80).

By Train -- It takes about 9 hours to reach Kumamoto from Tokyo, not including transfers, at a cost of ¥23,020 ($192/£96) for an unreserved seat. There's also a night train called the Hayabusa, which travels from Tokyo to Kumamoto in a little less than 18 hours and costs ¥24,150 ($201/£101) in the least expensive sleeper. From Fukuoka's Hakata Station (terminus of the bullet train from Tokyo), limited express trains depart three times an hour, reaching Kumamoto in about 1 1/2 hours and costing ¥3,740 ($31/£16) for a reserved seat. (In 2011, a new bullet train will connect Kumamoto and Fukuoka in 35 min.) There are also four express trains daily from Beppu, reaching Kumamoto in 3 hours.

Bus & Ferry from Unzen Spa -- From Unzen Spa, the fastest way to reach Kumamoto is to take a bus (there are nine daily departures) 40 minutes to Shimabara Port (fare: ¥730/$6.10/£3.05), where you can then board a 1-hour ferry (fare: ¥680/$5.65/£2.85) or a 30-minute Ocean Arrow (fare: ¥800/$6.65/£3.35) to Kumamoto Port. Buses connect Kumamoto Port with Kumamoto Station in 25 minutes for ¥420 ($3.50/£1.75).

Visitor Information

The leaflet "Kumamoto and Mount Aso," distributed by the Tourist Information Centers in Tokyo and in Narita and Kansai international airports, contains information on how to get to Kumamoto and places of interest in the city (you can also download it from JNTO's website at www.jnto.go.jp by going to "Browse by Destinations"). In Kumamoto, there's a Kumamoto Tourist Office inside Kumamoto Station near the ticket gate (tel. 096/352-3743; daily 8:30am-7pm). It has a good English-language map and brochure and is staffed by helpful English speakers who can make lodging reservations. In the city center, there's another Kumamoto Tourist Information Center kiosk in the Ninomaru parking lot near Kumamoto Castle (tel. 096/322-5060; daily 9am-5:30pm, to 5pm Nov-Mar). If you're coming by plane, stop by the Kumamoto Airport Information Office (tel. 096/232-2810; daily 6:50am-9:30pm).

More information is available on the city's website at www.city.kumamoto.kumamoto.jp, but a more comprehensive overview is provided by Kumamoto Prefecture's website at http://cyber.pref.kumamoto.jp.

Internet Access

The Kumamoto City International Center, 4-8 Hanabata-cho (tel. 096/359-2121; streetcar: Kumamotojo-mae), offers three computers with free Internet access on the second floor Monday to Friday 9am to 8pm and weekends 9am to 7pm (closed the second and fourth Mon of every month). Otherwise, Media Café Popeye, located on the Kamitori covered shopping street (tel. 096/326-6767; streetcar: Toricho-suji), is open 24 hours and charges ¥420 ($3.50/£1.75) for an hour's use of its computers.

Mail

There's a convenient post office, with ATMs that accept international credit cards, beside Kumamoto Station to the north; it's open Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm and 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday. Kumamoto's main post office, located in front of the Senba-bashi streetcar stop, has longer hours: Monday to Friday 7am to 11pm, Saturday 9am to 9pm, and Sunday and holidays 9am to 7pm.

Orientation & Getting Around

Kumamoto Station lies far south of the city's downtown area, but transportation between the two is easy via streetcar no. 2, which departs from in front of the station and reaches the downtown area in about 10 minutes. Downtown centers on three covered shopping streets called Shimotori, Kamitori, and Sunroad Shinshigai, with many department stores, shops, hotels, bars, pachinko parlors, and restaurants in the area. Here, too, is the city's bus station, the Kumamoto Kotsu Center, from which all buses in the city depart. Just north of downtown, within walking distance, rises Kumamoto Castle, which is surrounded by moats, turrets, and expansive greenery, on the edge of which are several museums and historic sites. Suizenji Garden lies far to the east.

Getting around Kumamoto via old-fashioned streetcar is easy because there are only two lines. Streetcar no. 2 is most convenient for tourists; the only one departing from Kumamoto Station, it passes through downtown and near Kumamoto Castle (stop: Kumamotojo-mae) before going onward to Suizenji Garden (stop: Suizenji-Koen-mae). Take a ticket when you board; fares increase the farther you go, from ¥130 to ¥200 ($1.10-$1.65/55p-85p) and you pay when you get off.

Because the grounds surrounding Kumamoto Castle encompass 97 hectares (242 acres), with a circumference of 9km (5 1/2 miles), many visitors opt to see sights via the Shu-yu Shiromegurin excursion bus, which departs every 30 minutes from Kumamoto Station and stops at Kumoto Castle, Hosokawa Mansion, and other places of interest. This bus costs ¥130 ($1.10/55p) for a single journey, ¥300 ($2.50/£1.25) for the entire day; as always, children pay half fare.

If you plan on taking public transportation at least four times in 1 day, you can save money by purchasing a 1-day pass, which allows unlimited travel on all city buses (including the above excursion bus) and streetcars for ¥500 ($4.15/£2.10). It includes a 20% discount off admission to a few sights, including Kumamoto Castle.