is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. , the city has an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 738,907 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 1,893 people per km². The total area is 390.32 km². had a population of 1,461,000, as of the 2000 census. , Kumamoto Metropolitan Employment Area has a GDP of US$39.8 billion. It is not considered part of the

Fukuoka–Kitakyushu is the most common name given to the region comprising the metropolitan areas of the cities of Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka and Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan and in between. Alternate names are many, including Kitakyushu-Fukuoka Greater M ...

metropolitan area, despite their shared border. The city was designated on April 1, 2012, by government ordinance.

History

Early modern period

Shokuhō period

Katō Kiyomasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Azuchi–Momoyama period, Azuchi–Momoyama and Edo periods. His court title was . His name as a child was ''Yashamaru'', and first name was ''Toranosuke''. He was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi's Seven ...

, a contemporary of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, was made ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of half of the (old) administrative region of Higo in 1588. Afterwards, Kiyomasa built

Kumamoto Castle is a hilltop Japanese castle located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, in Kumamoto Prefecture. It was a large and well-fortified castle. The is a concrete reconstruction built in 1960, but a number of ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original ca ...

. Due to its many innovative defensive designs, Kumamoto Castle was considered impenetrable, and Kiyomasa enjoyed a reputation as one of the finest castle-builders in Japanese history.

Edo period

After Kiyomasa died in 1611, his son, Tadahiro, succeeded him. In 1632, Tadahiro was removed by

Tokugawa Iemitsu was the third ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa dynasty. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada with Oeyo, and the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lady Kasuga was his wet nurse, who acted as his political adviser and was at the ...

and replaced with the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group or Japanese clan, clan. The clan descends from the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Minamoto clan, and ultimately from Emperor Seiwa, through the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga ...

. Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the third lord of Kumamoto, was the patron of the artist and

swordsman Swordsmanship or sword fighting refers to the skills and techniques used in combat and training with any type of sword. The term is modern, and as such was mainly used to refer to smallsword fencing, but by extension it can also be applied to a ...

Miyamoto Musashi , was a Japanese swordsman, strategist, artist, and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in his 62 duels. Miyamoto is considered a ''Kensei (honorary title), kensei'' (swo ...

File:Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi.jpg, Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi within

Suizen-ji Jōju-en is a '' tsukiyama'' Japanese garden located within in the eastern part of the city of Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It was built during the Edo period by the Hosokawa clan, the ''daimyō'' of Kumamoto Domain. It is commonly known as ...

File:Hidari mitsudomoe.svg,

Mon Mon, MON or Mon. may refer to: Places * Mon State, a subdivision of Myanmar * Mon, India, a town in Nagaland * Mon district, Nagaland * Mon, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India * Mon, Switzerland, a village in the Canton of Grisons * A ...

, born in Ōhara-chō province of Mimasaka

Late modern period

Meiji period

The current administrative body of the City of Kumamoto was founded on April 1, 1889.

Showa period

On July 1, 1945, near the end of World War II, Kumamoto was bombed in an Allied air raid that destroyed one square mile, which was 20% of the city's area.

Contemporary history

After World War II

After the war, the Japanese Buddhist monk

Nichidatsu Fujii was a Japanese Buddhist monk, and founder of the Nipponzan-Myōhōji order of Buddhism. He is best known for his decision in 1947 to begin constructing Peace Pagodas in many locations around the world as shrines to world peace. Fujii was bor ...

decided to construct a

Peace Pagoda A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa: a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most, though not all, peace pagodas built since World War II ...

atop Mount Hanaoka in the city to commemorate all those lost in war and to promote peace. Inaugurated in 1954, it was the first of over 80 Peace Pagodas built by Fujii and his followers all over the world.

Heisei period

On February 1, 1991, the towns of Akita, Kawachi,

Tenmei is a Japanese era name (年号, ''nengō'', literally "years name") for the years between the An'ei Era and before the Kansei Era, from April 1781 through January 1789. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1781 : The new era name of Ten ...

, and Hokubu (all from Hōtaku District) were merged into Kumamoto. On October 6, 2008, the town of Tomiai (from Shimomashiki District) was merged into Kumamoto. On March 23, 2010, the town of Jōnan (also from Shimomashiki District) and the town of Ueki (from Kamoto District) were merged into Kumamoto.都道府県別市町村変更情報：福岡
." kokudo.or.jp. Retrieved on November 22, 2008. A series of earthquakes struck the area beginning April 14, 2016, including a tremor with

moment magnitude The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mwg, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. was defined in a 1979 paper ...

7.1 early in the morning of April 16, 2016.

Geography

Climate

Kumamoto has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Cfa'') with hot, humid summers and cool winters. There is significant precipitation throughout the year, especially during June and July. The average annual temperature in Kumamoto is . The average annual rainfall is with June as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Kumamoto was on 17 July 1994; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 11 February 1929.

Area

Wards

Since April 1, 2012, Kumamoto has five wards ''(ku)'':

Surrounding municipalities

;

* Gyokuto * Kashima * Kikuchi * Kikuyō *

Kōsa , also known as Kōsa (光佐), was the 11th patriarch of the Hongan-ji lineage of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, and Chief Abbot of Ishiyama Hongan-ji, cathedral fortress of the Ikkō-ikki (Buddhist warrior priests and peasants who opposed samurai rule ...

* Kōshi *

Mashiki is a town located in Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 34,118 in 14750 households, and a population density of 520 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Kumamoto Airport is lo ...

* Mifune * Tamana * Uki * Uto * Yamaga

Demographics

Kumamoto prefecture population pyramid in 2020

Per Japanese census data, the population of Kumamoto in 2020 is 738,865 people. Kumamoto has been conducting censuses since 1920.

Government

Kazufumi Ōnishi has been the city's mayor since December 2014.

Working mother incident

In November 2017, Kumamoto politician Yuka Ogata was forced to leave the Kumamoto municipal assembly because she had brought her baby. The incident was reported by international media as an example of the challenges facing

women in Japan A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

Transportation

Kita-Kumamoto Service Area of Kyushu Expressway 2

Local public transport is provided by the Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau.

Airways

Airports

Kumamoto Airport , also known as , is an airport in Mashiki, Kumamoto, Japan. History The first Kumamoto Airport opened in 1960 on the site of a former Imperial Japanese Army air base and had a 1,200 m runway. It was replaced by the current Kumamoto Airport in ...

is located in nearby

Railways

High-speed rail

On March 12, 2011, work on the

shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...

(high-speed bullet train) network was completed, establishing a direct high-speed rail link to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

via

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

Hakata is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

station. ; *

Kyushu Shinkansen The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed railway network. It is an extension of the San'yō Shinkansen from Honshu connecting the city of Fukuoka (Hakata Station) in the north of Japan's Kyushu Island to the city of Kagoshima (Kagoshima-Chuo Sta ...

: Kumamoto Station -

Conventional lines

The JR Kumamoto station provides rail links to Japan's extensive rail network. ; *

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojiko Station, Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima, Kagoshima, Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it ...

: Tabaruzaka - Ueki - Nishizato - Sōjōdaigakumae - Kami-Kumamoto -

Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a populat ...

- Nishi-Kumamoto - Kawashiri - Tomiai - *

Hōhi Main Line The is a railway line in Kyushu, southern Japan, operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu). It connects the west and east coasts of the island. The line originates at Kumamoto Station in Kumamoto and ends at terminal of Ōita Station ...

Heisei The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, when hi ...

- Minami-Kumamoto - Shin-Suizenji - Suizenji - Tōkai-Gakuen-mae - Tatsutaguchi - Musashizuka - Hikarinomori - ; Kumamoto Electric Railway * Kikuchi Line: Kami-Kumamoto - Kankanzaka - Ikeda Station - Uchigoshi - Tsuboigawa-kōen - Kita-Kumamoto - Kamei - Hakenomiya - Horikawa - * Fujisaki Line: Kita-Kumamoto - Kurokamimachi - Fujisakigū-mae

Tramways

Trams run to a few suburbs near the downtown area. ; Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau

Bus

A large bus terminus, called the Kotsu Centre, provides access to both local and intercity destinations.

Taxi

Several local taxi companies serve the Kumamoto metropolitan area and are the only 24-hour public transport in the city.

Roads

Expressways

Kyushu Expressway

Japan National Routes

Japan National Route 3 is a major highway on the island of Kyūshū in Japan. It connects the prefectural capital cities of Kagoshima (Kagoshima Prefecture), Kumamoto (Kumamoto Prefecture), and Fukuoka (Fukuoka Prefecture), passing through Kurume as well. Its north ...

Japan National Route 57 * Japanese National Route Sign 0208

Japan National Route 208 * Japanese National Route Sign 0218

Japan National Route 218 * Japanese National Route Sign 0219

Japan National Route 219 * Japanese National Route Sign 0266

Japan National Route 266 * Japanese National Route Sign 0387

Japan National Route 387 * Japanese National Route Sign 0443

Japan National Route 443 * Japanese National Route Sign 0445

Japan National Route 445 * Japanese National Route Sign 0501

Japan National Route 501

Seaways

Seaports

*Port of Kumamoto

Ferry

*Kyusyu Shosen: Kumamoto - Shimabara *Kumamoto-Ferry: Kumamoto - Shimabara *Korean Marine Transport: Kumamoto -

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

Education

Universities

* Kumamoto Gakuen University *

Kumamoto University , abbreviated to ''Kumadai'' (熊大), is a Japanese national university located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture in the Kyushu region of Japan. It was established on May 31, 1949, at which time the following institutions were subsumed into it; ...

* Kyūshū Lutheran College * Prefectural University of Kumamoto * Shokei College * Shokei Gakuin University *

Sojo University is a private university in Nishi-ku, Kumamoto, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends f ...

Tokai University is a private non-sectarian higher education institution located in Tokyo, Japan. It was founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae. It was accredited under Japan's old educational system in 1946 and under the new system in 1950. In 2008, Tokai Uni ...

Landmarks

Kumamoto Castle

The city's most famous landmark is

, a large and once extremely well fortified Japanese castle. The ''

donjon A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residenc ...

'' (castle central keep) is a concrete reconstruction built in the 1970s, but several ancillary wooden buildings from the original castle remain. The castle was assaulted during the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the , was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government of the Empire of Japan, nine years into the Meiji era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in ...

and sacked and burned after a 53-day

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

. It was during this time that the tradition of eating '' basashi'' (raw horse meat) originated. ''Basashi'' remains popular in Kumamoto and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in Japan, although these days it is usually considered a delicacy. Within the outer walls of Kumamoto Castle is the Hosokawa Gyobu-tei, the former residence of the Higo ''

''. This traditional wooden mansion has a fine

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

located on its grounds.

Religious sites

The first of many

peace pagoda A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa: a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most, though not all, peace pagodas built since World War II ...

s around the world was erected by Japanese Buddhist monk

atop Mount Hanaoka beginning 1947. Inaugurated in 1954, it was the first of over 80 built by Fujii and his followers all over the world. Kumamoto is also the location of Takahashi Inari Shrine and

Fujisaki Hachimangū is a Shinto shrine located in Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan. It is dedicated to Emperor Ōjin, Empress Jingū and Sumiyoshi Sanjin. History In 935, Fujisaki Hachimangu was established with the Bunrei of Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū Kyoto ...

Suizenji area

Kumamoto is home to

, a formal garden neighboring Suizenji Temple approximately 3 kilometers southeast of Kumamoto Castle. Suizenji Park is also home to the Suizenji Municipal Stadium, where the city's

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team,

Roasso Kumamoto is a Japanese football club based in Kumamoto, the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture. The club currently plays in the J2 League, Japan's 2nd tier of professional league football. Name origin ''Roasso'' is a portmanteau of the Italian words ...

, used to play regularly. The team now uses the larger KKWing Stadium in Higashi Ward.

Other notable sites

lived the last part of his life in Kumamoto. His tomb and the cave where he resided during his final years (known as

Reigandō is a cave that lies to the west of Kumamoto, Japan, that became a temporary home to the legendary rōnin, Miyamoto Musashi. From 1643, Musashi spent many of his last months in the cave, meditating and writing his '' Book of Five Rings''. The cave ...

, or "spirit rock cave") are situated close by. He penned the famous ''Go Rin no Sho'' (''

The Book of Five Rings is a text on ''kenjutsu'' and the martial arts in general, written by the Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi between 1643-5. The book title from ''the'' ''godai'' (五大) of Buddhist esotericism ( 密教), thus has five volumes: "Earth, Wate ...

'') whilst living here. The downtown area has a commercial district centred on two shopping arcades, the Shimotori and Kamitori, which extend for several city blocks. The main department stores are located here along with a large number of smaller retailers, restaurants, and bars. Many local festivals are held in or near the arcades. Cultural venues include the

Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art opened in the precincts of Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto, Japan in 1976. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefecture. The permanent collection focuses on the Japanese art, art and Japanese crafts, crafts of Kumamoto Prefect ...

and Kumamoto Prefectural Theater.

Culture

Sports

Sports teams

;

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

* Hinokuni Salamanders of the baseball Kyusyu Asia League are based in Kumamoto. ;

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

J.League The , commonly a.k.a. shortened to the , and officially known as the for sponsorship with Meiji Yasuda Life, is the men's association football league in Japan. It is responsible for organizing Japan's major professional football tournaments, in ...

is the local football club. ;

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

* Kumamoto Volters of the basketball B.League are based in Kumamoto. ;

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

* Forest Leaves Kumamoto of the

V.League ( V2) are based in Kumamoto. File:Fujisakidai Baseball Stadium Kumamoto.jpg, Kumamoto Fujisakidai Baseball Stadium File:Kumamoto kkw.JPG,

Egao Kenko Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Higashi-ku, Kumamoto, Japan. It is currently used mostly for association football matches – it is home to club Roasso Kumamoto – and sometimes for Top League rugby games. The stadium holds 30,228 people. W ...

File:Kumamoto-pref synthesis gymnasium 1.jpg, Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium File:Kumamoto-city synthesis gymnasium 1.jpg, Kumamoto City Synthesis Gymnasium

Sporting events

The Kumamoto Castle Marathon is a yearly event in Kumamoto City. It was established in commemoration of Kumamoto becoming a designated city in 2012. The city also hosted the

1997 World Men's Handball Championship The 1997 World Men's Handball Championship was the 15th team handball World Championship. It was held in Kumamoto, Japan and was the first World Championship not played in a European country. Russia men's national handball team, Russia won the ch ...

and the

2019 World Women's Handball Championship The 2019 IHF World Women's Handball Championship, the 24th event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Japan from 30 November to 15 December 2019. The Netherlands won their first title after defeating Spain in the final. Th ...

Sister cities

Kumamoto is twinned with the following cities. *

Billings Billings is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billin ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, United States *

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, United Kingdom *

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

, People's Republic of China *

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

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, Germany, since 1992 *

Helena Helena may refer to: People *Helena (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Katri Helena (born 1945), Finnish singer * Saint Helena (disambiguation), this includes places Places Greece * Helena ...

, United States *

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

, United States, since 1995 *

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States, since 1987 *

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

, South Korea, since 2010 *

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million p ...

, Taiwan, since 2017

Notable people

Aimer is a J-pop, Japanese pop singer and lyricist signed to Sacra Music and managed by Agehasprings. Her stage name comes from the French verb 'to love'. Aimer uses the name aimerrhythm for lyrics credits. Debuting in 2011, she has released seven ...

, pop singer and lyricist. * Naoichi and Mutsue Inomoto Fujimori, parents of

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

, the 54th

President of Peru The president of Peru (), officially the constitutional president of the Republic of Peru (), is the head of state and head of government of Peru. The president is the head of the executive branch and is the supreme head of the Peruvian Armed ...

. *

Yuki Fukushima is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Gifu Bluvic. She and her partner Sayaka Hirota won the 2017 Most Improved Player of the Year award. The duo were ranked as world No. 1 at the BWF World Ranking in 21 June 2018. Awards and nominati ...

, Japanese badminton player. *

Lafcadio Hearn was a Greek-born Irish and Japanese writer, translator, and teacher who introduced the culture and literature of Japan to the Western world. His writings offered unprecedented insight into Japanese culture, especially his collections of legend ...

, writer, lived in Kumamoto for three years, from 1891. *

Higonoumi Naoya Higonoumi Naoya (born 23 September 1969 as Naoto Sakamoto) is a former sumo wrestler from Kumamoto, Japan. After his retirement he opened up Kise stable. Career A former amateur champion at Nihon University, he turned professional in 1992, joi ...

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by th ...

wrestler. *

Sayaka Hirota is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Gifu Bluvic team. She and her partner Yuki Fukushima won the 2017 Most Improved Player of the Year award. Hirota and Fukushima were ranked world No. 1 at the BWF World Ranking on 21 June 2018. Awa ...

, Japanese badminton player. * Inoue Kowashi, statesman. *

Sayuri Ishikawa is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Ga ...

enka is a Japanese music genre considered to resemble traditional Japanese music stylistically. Modern ''enka'', however, is a relatively recent musical form which adopts a more traditional musical style in its vocalism than ''ryūkōka'' music, pop ...

singer * Yuta Iwasada, Japanese baseball player. *

Masahiko Kimura was a Japanese people, Japanese judoka and professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. In submission ...

, judoka. * Kobato Miku, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, singer and creator of the rock band

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. * Noriko Kubo, Japanese female fencer. *

Rie Kugimiya is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She is best known for her voice performances in anime, which include Alphonse Elric in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' series, Kagura in '' Gintama'', and Happy in '' Fairy Tail'' and '' Edens Zero'', and ...

, voice actress. * Yuri Masuda, vocalist from the group

m.o.v.e Move (styled as M.O.V.E or m.o.v.e, and previously as move) was a Japanese band. The band consisted of producer t-kimura (), rapper motsu () and singer Yuri (Japanese singer), yuri (). t-kimura left the band in 2009. History t-kimura formed the ...

. * Musashi Miyamoto, famed swordsman, lived and died in Kumamoto, 1645. *

Yuna Mizumori is a Japanese professional wrestler working for the World Wonder Ring Stardom where she is a member of the Cosmic Angels stable. She is also known for her work in various promotions from the independent circuit such as Gatoh Move Pro Wrestling ...

, professional wrestler *

Chisato Moritaka (born 11 April 1969) is a Japanese pop singer who also is notable as a songwriter. She is affiliated with Up-Front Create, a subsidiary of the Up-Front Group.

, pop singer and lyricist. *

Munetaka Murakami is a Japanese professional baseball infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). Amateur career Munetaka started playing baseball at five years of age. He entered Kyushū Gakuin Integrated High School where he ...

, baseball player *

Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'', the best-selling manga in history and the best-selling comic series printed in volume. With more than 520 million copies of ''One Piece'' in circulation worldwide ...

, manga artist, author of ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

.'' *

Akari Ogata is a Japanese judoka. Ogata started taking part in karate at the age of 7 and she became national junior karate champion when she was 10, but at age 13, she quit karate and started to practice judo. Ogata won a bronze medal in the half-heavyw ...

, judoka. * Yōko Shimada, actress. *

Go Shiozaki is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah. He is a record-holding five time former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He made his debut for the Pro Wrestling Noah in July 2004 and initially remained with Pro Wrestling No ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, currently signed to the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion and Chairman of the Noah Wrestlers' Association. * Shōdai Naoya, sumo wrestler. * Soseki Natsume, writer, lived in Kumamoto, 1896-1900. * Tochihikari Masayuki, sumo wrestler. *

Momoko Ueda is a Japanese female professional golfer who in 2007 at the age of 21 became the youngest player in the history of the LPGA of Japan Tour (JLPGA) to finish first on the money list. She also played on the United States–based LPGA Tour for six y ...

, professional golfer. *

Tadako Urata Tadako Urata (宇良田唯子) (3 May 1873 – 18 June 1936) was a Japanese physician, trained in ophthalmology in Germany. She and her husband ran a clinic in Tianjin, China, from 1912 to 1932. Early life and education Urata was born in Ush ...

, ophthalmologist *

Sean Michael Wilson Sean Michael Wilson is a Scottish comic book writer from Edinburgh. He has written more than 40 books with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers and has been nominated for both the Eisner and Harvey book awards, and won a medal in the Jap ...

, Scottish manga writer, living in Kumamoto since 2004, his books are often about the city. * Kaji Yajima, educator, pacifist, president of the

WCTU The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

in Japan. *

Yokoi Shōnan (born Yokoi Tokiari; September 22, 1809 – February 15, 1869) was a Bakumatsu and early Meiji period scholar and political reformer in Japan, influential around the fall of the Tokugawa bakufu. Life and career Yokoi was a ''samurai'' bor ...

, scholar and political reformer. *

Seiki Yoshioka , previously known as Seiki (stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler. Yoshioka is known for his time in Wrestle-1, where he was a three-time Wrestle-1 Cruiser Division Champion and UWA World Trios Champion and a on ...

, Japanese professional wrestler *

Isao Yukisada is a Japanese film director from Kumamoto. He served as assistant director on Shunji Iwai's ''Love Letter'', ''April Story'', and '' Swallowtail Butterfly''. Filmography Director * ''Open House'' (1998) * (Sunflower) (2000) * ''A Closing Day' ...

, film director.

References

External links

Kumamoto City official website

* {{Authority control Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan Cities in Kumamoto Prefecture Populated coastal places in Japan Port settlements in Japan