The beautiful gardens surrounding Kumamoto Castle make a great picnic spot.
Kumamoto Castle has the most extensive grounds of all samurai castles in Japan. With a myriad of outbuildings, towers, and grand castle walls, it’s fun to explore the gardens that are especially atmospheric in spring when all 800 cherry blossoms are in bloom.
Due to various fires and sieges throughout the centuries, the castle that was originally built in 1607 is now a reconstruction, but has been sympathetically managed and the main building houses an interesting museum that records the history of the castle.