Kumamoto Castle (熊本城; -jō) is a castle in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan that has been opened to the public for tours. A large, and in its day, an extremely well fortified Japanese castle. The donjon (castle central keep) is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but several ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle. The castle was besieged during the Satsuma Rebellion, and was sacked and burned after a 53-day siege.

In nearby San-no-Maru Park is the Hosokawa Gyobu-tei, the former residence of Hosokawa clan, the Higo daimyo. This traditional wooden mansion has a fine Japanese garden located in its grounds.

The signature curved stone walls known as musha-gaeshi, as well as wooden overhangs were designed to prevent foes from penetrating the castle. Rock falls were also used as deterrents.

Kumamoto Castle recently celebrated its 400th anniversary. On Dec 7, 2007 a large scale renovation of the Lord`s Inner Palace was completed. A public ceremony for the restoration was held April 20, 2008.

Kumamoto Castle is considered one of the three premier castles in Japan, along with Himeji and Matsumoto.

Old photograph

1871-1874

In around 1872

1874

before 1877

Literature

• Schmorleitz, Morton S. (1974). Castles in Japan. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co.. pp. 114–116. ISBN 0-8084-1102-4.
• Motoo, Hinago (1986). Japanese Castles. Tokyo: Kodansha. pp. 200 pages. ISBN 0-87011-766-1.