Kumamoto

We’ve been spending most weekends exploring Sasebo and escaping the heat at the pool or the beach. Last weekend, Nathan took Wilson on an afternoon movie theater date just to be someplace cool! (In case you're wondering, Wilson highly recommends Ice Age 3, Nathan – not so much) This weekend we decided to hit the road for a day trip. Nathan’s co-workers recommended Kumamoto Castle.

Kumamoto is on our island to the south and east of Sasebo. Sasebo is kind of in a poor location for taking driving trips on Kyushu Island because it’s on a peninsula. It takes about an hour to drive off of our peninsula to mainland Kyushu. Driving in Japan is very slow moving. There aren’t many direct expressways anywhere, and when there are they are pretty expensive. Kumamoto is a little over 100 miles from Sasebo and it took us more than 4 hours each direction! We couldn’t help thinking that the drive in the U.S. would probably have taken an hour and a half or so. That was a little discouraging, since Nathan and I love to just take off and drive places. The boys were troopers for the long drive.

Kumamoto Castle is pretty great! We learned that it is officially one of Japan’s top 3 castles. We’re trying to read up on our Japanese history, but it’s really so vast and foreign to our American and European history upbringings, that we’re kind of embarrassed about how little we know. Apparently this was built for the Kiyomasa family in the 1400s and was known for being a great defensive castle because of it's massive fortifying walls and position on a hill. I thought it was pretty good looking, too!

 

 

 

Here are some of the grounds, including some smaller buildings and the massive walls.

The main tower has been rebuilt and now houses a museum. So, as you're climbing the stairs to the top, you can browse the exhibits on each floor. We climbed the smaller tower as well, which gives you a great view of the taller tower. The tallest tower has great views of the castle grounds, the city of Kumamoto and beautiful land for miles and miles!

Towers conquered. Wilson climbed every step!

The boys pose in their first face cut-outs. I'm assuming they were trying to capture the scary samurai look?

Group effort to get Wilson in this one.

Next door to the castle was a beautiful traditional Japanese palace from the Edo period. We were surprised that it was a lot like our tatami rooms, except the walls were just a little bit nicer.

It was really, really hot out. There was a resting room on the grounds that was air-conditioned. We certainly needed the break from the heat.

Overall, it was a great day. We learned a lot about road-tripping in Japan and saw an amazing castle. Thanks Kumamoto Castle - over 400 years old and looking good!