Kumamoto Prefecture

Kumamoto Prefecture (熊本県) is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 and has a geographic area of 7409 km2. Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyazaki Prefecture to the southeast, and Kagoshima Prefecture to the south.

Kumamoto is the capital and largest city of Kumamoto Prefecture, with other major cities including Yatsushiro, Amakusa, and Tamana. Kumamoto Prefecture is located in the center of Kyūshū on the coast of the Ariake Sea, across from Nagasaki Prefecture, with the mainland separated from the East China Sea by the Amakusa Archipelago. Kumamoto Prefecture is home to Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan and among the largest in the world, with its peak 1592 m above sea level.

History
Historically, the area was called Higo Province; and the province was renamed Kumamoto during the Meiji Restoration. 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.

Geography


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 (1592 m), 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.

Cities


Fourteen cities are located in Kumamoto Prefecture:

Towns and villages
These are the towns and villages in each district:

Demographics
the population was 1,748,134 inhabitants with a population density of 236 PD/km2. The prefecture ranks 23rd in Japan.

Economy




The largest motorcycle production facility in the world is located in Kumamoto.

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.



Tourism
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.
 * 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

National

 * Kumamoto University

Public

 * Kumamoto Prefectural University

Private

 * 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

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

Tramway

 * Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau

Expressways and toll roads

 * Kyushu Expressway
 * South Kyushu Expressway
 * Kyushu Chūō Expressway
 * Kumamoto Amakusa Road

National highways

 * 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

Ferry routes

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

Airport

 * Kumamoto Airport
 * Amakusa Airport

Sports


These sports teams are based in the prefecture: The Kumamoto Prefecture hosted the 2019 World Women's Handball Championship, having previously hosted the 1997 World Men's Handball Championship.
 * 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

Sister cities
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.

Notable people

 * Aki Yashiro, a popular Japanese singer
 * 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
 * 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
 * Yuki Midorikawa, manga author, creator of Natsume's Book of Friends and Hotarubi no Mori e
 * 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
 * Kenta Matsumoto, vocalist and bassist of WANIMA
 * Koushin Nishida, guitarist of WANIMA
 * Kouki Fujiwara, drummer of WANIMA