Historically, the area was called Higo Province; and the province was renamed Kumamoto during the Meiji Restoration.^[4] The creation of prefectures was part of the abolition of the feudal system. The current Japanese orthography for Kumamoto literally means "bear root/origin," or "origin of the bear." However, Man'yōgana-like phonetic transcriptions based on the kanji for "a ball, a sphere" (球 /ku/ ~ /kjū/) and "to polish, to grind, to brush (one's teeth)" (磨 /ma/) are used for the names of the Kuma River (球磨川) and Kuma District (球磨郡). The Kuma element also appears in the ancient Kumaso.

Kumamoto Prefecture is in the center of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four major Japanese islands. It is bordered by the Ariake inland sea and the Amakusa archipelago to the west, Fukuoka Prefecture and Ōita Prefecture to the north, Miyazaki Prefecture to the east, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.

Mount Aso (1,592 m (5,223 ft)), an extensive active volcano, is in the east of Kumamoto Prefecture. This volcano is located at the centre of the Aso caldera.

As of 31 March 2019, 21% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as natural parks: the Aso Kujū and Unzen-Amakusa National Parks; Kyūshū Chūō Sanchi and Yaba-Hita-Hikosan Quasi-National Parks; and Ashikita Kaigan, Itsuki Gokanoshō, Kinpōzan, Misumi-Ōyano Umibe, Okukuma, Shōtaisan, and Yabe Shūhen Prefectural Natural Parks.^[5]

Cities edit

Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture:

Towns and villages edit

These are the towns and villages in each district:

Mergers edit

As of 1 June 2019,^[update] the population was 1,748,134 inhabitants with a population density of 236 inhabitants per square kilometre (610/sq mi). The prefecture ranks 23rd in Japan.

The largest motorcycle production facility in the world is located in Kumamoto.^[6]

In 2023, Mitsubishi Electric announced plans to spend 100 billion yen on a new semiconductor factory in Kumamoto, with a target start date of April 2026 to begin production.^[7]

Tourism edit

• Mount Aso is one of the world's largest active volcanoes.
• Kumamoto Castle
• Suizenji Park
• Tsūjun Bridge, the largest stone aqueduct in Japan is in Yamato

The prefecture has a mascot named "Kumamon", a black bear with red cheeks, who was created to attract tourists to the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen line opened.^[8][9]

Universities edit

National edit

• Kumamoto University

Public edit

• Kumamoto Prefectural University

Private edit

• Kumamoto Gakuen University
• Kyushu University of Nursing and Social Welfare
• Kyushu Lutheran College
• Kumamoto Health Science
• Shokei Gakuin University
• Sojo University
• Heisei College of Music

Rail edit

• JR Kyushu
  • Kyushu Shinkansen
  • Kagoshima Line
  • Hohi Line
  • Hisatsu Line
  • Misumi Line
• Kumamoto Electric Railway
• Kumagawa Railroad
• Minami Aso Railway
• Hisatsu Orange Railway

Tramway edit

• Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau

Road edit

Expressways and toll roads edit

• Kyushu Expressway
• South Kyushu Expressway
• Kumamoto Amakusa Road

National highways edit

• Route 3
• Route 57
• Route 208 (Kumamoto-Tamana-Arao-Ōmuta)
• Route 212
• Route 218 (Kumamoto-Takachiho-Nobeoka)
• Route 219
• Route 265
• Route 266
• Route 267 (Hitoyoshi-Isa-Satsuma-Satsumasendai)
• Route 268
• Route 324
• Route 325 (Yamaga-Minamiaso-Takamori-Takachiho)
• Route 387
• Route 388 (Saiki-Nobeoka-Unomae)
• Route 389
• Route 442
• Route 443
• Route 445
• Route 501 (Ōmuta-Arao-Udo)
• Route 503

Ports edit

Ferry routes edit

• Kumamoto-Shimabara
• Nagasu-Unzen
• Ushibuka-Kuranomoto (Nagashima)
• Yatsushiro-Kamiamakusa
• Reihoku-Nagasaki

Airport edit

• Kumamoto Airport
• Amakusa Airport

These sports teams are based in the prefecture:

• Professional:
  • Roasso Kumamoto - Men's football and J League Second Division
  • Blaze Kumamoto - Men's association football
  • Mashiki Renaissance Kumamoto - Women's association football
• Amateur:
  • Kumamoto Golden Larks - regional baseball

The Kumamoto Prefecture hosted the 2019 World Women's Handball Championship, having previously hosted the 1997 World Men's Handball Championship.

Kumamoto Prefecture is the 'sister state/prefecture' of Montana in the United States.

Kumamoto has a sister city located in Texas named San Antonio, which holds an annual fall festival 'akimatsuri' for its Japanese citizens. In 2015 the mascot, 'Kumamon' visited as an honorary ambassador during the festival located at the Japanese Tea Gardens.

• Jun Kunimura, a popular Japanese actor
• Tetsu Komai, a Hollywood actor
• Kazuaki Kiriya, a filmmaker
• Kimeru, a pop artist
• Miku Kobato, founder and vocalist of Band-Maid^[10]
• Kunio Nakagawa, Japanese Army general
• Yuri Masuda, singer
• Shodai Naoya, Sumo wrestler
• Tomiko Van, singer, vocalist of Do As Infinity
• Eiichiro Oda, manga author, creator of One Piece^[11]
• Yuki Midorikawa, manga author, creator of Natsume's Book of Friends and Hotarubi no Mori e^[12][13]
• Tetsuya Noda, contemporary artist
• Katsuhiro Ueo, drifting driver
• Ichiki Tatsuo, journalist and defector in the Indonesian National Revolution
• Madoka Hisagae, female Japanese fencer
• Hitomi Tanaka, pornographic actress^[14]
• Kenta Matsumoto, vocalist and bassist of WANIMA
• Koushin Nishida, guitarist of WANIMA
• Kouki Fujiwara, drummer of WANIMA

• Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128

• Official website
• National Archives of Japan ... Kumamoto map (1891)
•   Geographic data related to Kumamoto Prefecture at OpenStreetMap