Kumamoto Metropolitan Employment Area 2010

is the capital

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

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 to ...

on the island of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. , the city has an estimated

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 738,907 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

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 and Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan and in between. Alternate names are many, including Kitakyushu-Fukuoka Greater Metropolitan Region ...

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, a contemporary of

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

, 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 n ...

'' 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 several ancillary wooden buildings remain of the original castle ...

. 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 Tokugawa Iemitsu (徳川家光, August 12, 1604 – June 8, 1651) was the third ''shōgun'' of the 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 a ...

and replaced with the Hosokawa clan. Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the third lord of Kumamoto, was the patron of the artist and swordsman Miyamoto Musashi File:Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi.jpg, Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi within Suizen-ji Jōju-en. File:Hosokawa clan.jpg,

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 * An ...

of the Hosokawa clan. File:Hidari mitsudomoe.svg,

of Miyamoto Musashi born in Ōhara-chō province of Mimasaka. File:Tokugawa shogunate.jpg,

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. , Statue of Miyamoto Musashi à Ōhara-chō.

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 WWII

After the war, the Japanese Buddhist monk Nichidatsu Fujii 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, 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 7.1 early in the morning of April 16, 2016.

Geography

Climate

Kumamoto has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''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

;

Uki Uki or UKI may refer to: *Uki Goñi, writer, journalist and musician *Uki, New South Wales, an Australian town *Uki, Kumamoto, a Japanese city *Uki Island in Solomon Islands * ''Uki'' (TV series), a pre-school animated television programme from Bel ...

* Kikuchi * Tamana *

Uto Uto, Utö, or Utō may refer to: People Given name * Uto Ughi (born 1944), Italian violinist and conductor * Uto Wunderlich (born 1946), German sports shooter Surname * Datu Uto (died c. 1900), 18th Sultan of Buayan, Mindanao * Fumiaki Uto, Jap ...

* Yamaga * Kōshi *

Mashiki is a town located in Kamimashiki District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. As of March 2017, the town has an estimated population of 33,001 and a density of 500 persons per km². The total area is 65.67 km². Kumamoto Airport is located in Ma ...

* Kōsa * Kashima * Kikuyō *

Mifune Mifune () is a Japanese name, Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Toshirō Mifune (三船敏郎) (1920–1997), Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films *Jiro Mifune (born 1972), game designer *Mifune Chizuko ...

* Gyokuto

Demographics

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 is a Japanese local politician and a member of the Kumamoto City Assembly. She was first elected in the 2015 local elections, winning 4,196 votes in the Higashi Ward of Kumamoto. Before entering public office, Ogata was an officer in the Yemen ...

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 Although women in Japan were recognized as having equal legal rights to men after World War II, economic conditions for women remain unbalanced. Modern policy initiatives to encourage motherhood and workplace participation have had mixed results ...

Transportation

Kita-Kumamoto Service Area of Kyushu Expressway 2

Local public transport is provided by the

Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau The is a public transportation authority of Kumamoto City, Japan. Tram Routes The bureau operates 2 tram lines within the city. Tram Fare The fare is a flat 170 yen for adults, 90 yen for children, payable by cash or public transit card (inc ...

Airways

Airports

Kumamoto Airport is located in nearby

Railways

High-speed rail

On March 12, 2011, work on the shinkansen (high-speed bullet train) network was completed, establishing a direct high-speed rail link to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

via

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, 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 ancie ...

's Hakata station. ;

Kyushu Railway Company The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima Strait ...

（JR Kyushu） * Kyushu Shinkansen：- Kumamoto Station -

Conventional lines

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

（JR Kyushu） *

Kagoshima Main Line The is a major railway line operated by the Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) between Mojikō in Kitakyushu, and Kagoshima Station in Kagoshima City, at the southern end of Kyushu. Until March 13, 2004, it extended 393 km between its two ...

：- Tabaruzaka - Ueki - Nishizato - Sōjōdaigakumae - Kami-Kumamoto - Kumamoto - Nishi-Kumamoto - Kawashiri - Tomiai - * Hōhi Main Line： Kumamoto - Heisei - 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 Kamei ( 亀井, "turtle well") is a Japanese surname. *Japanese clan, Kamei clan People that have the name include: *Akiko Kamei, politician *Eri Kamei, member of Morning Musume *Fumio Kamei, documentary film director *, Japanese fencer * Hirotad ...

- Hakenomiya - Horikawa - * Fujisaki Line： Kita-Kumamoto - Kurokamimachi - Fujisakigū-mae

Tramways

Trams run to a few suburbs near the downtown area. ;

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 ( Asian Highway Network ) is one of the Expressways of Japan from Kitakyūshū (and the bridge to Honshū) to west of Kagoshima linking with the Higashikyushu Expressway and the Ibusuki Skyline. It runs through the prefectures of Fukuoka Pref ...

Japan National Route

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 National Route 208 is a national highway of Japan connecting Chūō-ku, Kumamoto and Saga, Saga in Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific ...

Japan National Route 218 National Route 218 is a national highway of Japan connecting Chūō-ku, Kumamoto, and Nobeoka, Miyazaki is a city located in the north of Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, the city has an estimated population of 119,521 and a po ...

Japan National Route 219 National Route 219 is a national highway of Japan connecting Chūō-ku, Kumamoto and Miyazaki, Miyazaki is the capital city of Miyazaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1924. As of July 2022, the ...

Japan National Route 266 * Japanese National Route Sign 0387

Japan National Route 387 National Route 387 is a national highway of Japan connecting Usa, Ōita and Kita-ku, Kumamoto is one of the five wards of Kumamoto City, Japan. Meaning literally "north ward," it is bordered by the Nishi-ku, Chūō-ku, Higashi-ku and al ...

Japan National Route 443 National Route 443 is a national highway of Japan connecting Ōkawa, Fukuoka and Hikawa, Kumamoto is a town located in Yatsushiro District, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The town was formed on October 1, 2005 from the merger of the towns of ...

Japan National Route 445 National Route 445 is a national highway of Japan connecting Chūō-ku, Kumamoto and Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto is a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on February 11, 1942. the city has an estimated population of 30,752 and a ...

Japan National Route 501 National Route 501 is a national highway of Japan connecting between Omuta, Fukuoka and Uto, Kumamoto in Japan, with total length has 47.1 km (29.3 mi). References 501 __NOTOC__ Year 501 ( DI) was a common year starting on ...

Seaways

Seaports

*Port of Kumamoto

Ferry

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

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

Education

Universities

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; ...

Prefectural University of Kumamoto is a public university in the city of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by t ...

* Kumamoto Gakuen University *

Sojo University is a private university in Nishi-ku, Kumamoto, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea o ...

Kyūshū Lutheran College has its roots in Kyushu Jo-Gakuin (九州女学院), originally established as a girl's high school in 1926. A women's junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational i ...

Shokei College is a private university in Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japa ...

Shokei Gakuin University is a private university in Natori, Miyagi, Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, w ...

* Tokai University

Landmarks

Kumamoto Castle

The city's most famous landmark is

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

donjon A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') 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 c ...

'' (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 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 warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

. It was during this time that the tradition of eating ''

basashi Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many countries, particularly in Eurasia. The eight countries that consume the most horse meat consume about 4.3 million horses a year. For the majority of humanity's early existen ...

'' (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 Nichidatsu Fujii atop

Mount Hanaoka Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

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 Takahashi Inari Shrine (高橋稲荷神社, ''Takahashi inari jinja'') is a Shinto Inari shrine, dedicated to the worship of the kami Inari. It is located in Kumamoto, Kumamoto Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of K ...

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 Suizen-ji Jōju-en, 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, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team, Roasso Kumamoto, used to play regularly. The team now uses the larger

KKWing 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 32,000 people. With ...

in Higashi Ward.

Other notable sites

Miyamoto Musashi 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 i ...

, or "spirit rock cave") are situated close by. He penned the famous ''Go Rin no Sho'' ('' The Book of Five Rings'') 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 art and crafts of Kumamoto Prefecture and also contains works by ...

and Kumamoto Prefectural Theater.

Culture

Sports

Sports teams

;

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

* 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, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

* Roasso Kumamoto in

J.League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most successfu ...

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 (appr ...

Kumamoto Volters is a Japanese professional basketball team in Kumamoto, Kumamoto. The team competes in the B.League. Volters hosted the B.League All-star Game in 2018. Roster Notable players * Paul Butorac * Josh Duinker * Joel James *Lamont ...

of the basketball

B.League The B.League is a professional men's basketball league that began in Japan in September 2016. The league is operated by the Japan Professional Basketball League and was formed as a result of a merger between the National Basketball League that w ...

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 A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

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 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 A , also known as a or , is a Japanese city that has a population greater than 500,000 and has been designated as such by order of the Cabinet of Japan under Article 252, Section 19, of the Local Autonomy Law. Designated cities are delegat ...

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 won the championship. Qualification Venues ...

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. ...

External relations

Twin towns/sister cities

Kumamoto City is twinned with the following cities.

International

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest 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 Billings Metrop ...

, United States *

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

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, United Kingdom * Guilin,

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, People's Republic of China *

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, Germany (since 1992) *

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

, United States *

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Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, United States (since 1987) *

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, South Korea (since 2010) *

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

, Taiwan (since 2017)

Notable people

* Aimer, pop singer and lyricist. * Chisato Moritaka, pop singer and lyricist. *

Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'' (1997–present). With more than 516.5 million ''tankōbon'' copies in circulation worldwide, ''One Piece'' is both the best-selling manga in history and the best-se ...

, manga artist, author of ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...

.'' * Go Shiozaki, Japanese

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, currently signed to the

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promotion and Chairman of the Noah Wrestlers' Association. * Higonoumi Naoya,

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wrestler. *

Inoue Kowashi Viscount Inoue Kowashi was a Japanese statesman of the Meiji period. Biography Early life Inoue was born into a ''samurai'' family in Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture), as the third son of ''Karō'' Iida Gongobei. In 1866 Kow ...

, statesman. * Isao Yukisada, film director. *

Kaji Yajima was the founder of the Women's Reform Society and president of Japan's Woman's Christian Temperance Union. An educator, pacifist, and Christian activist, she vigorously advanced the cause for the education of women in Japan. Her name was usually ...

, educator, pacifist, president of the WCTU in Japan. *

Masahiko Kimura was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered one of the greatest judoka of all time.Jim Chen, Theodore ChenThe Man Who Defeated Helio Gracie.July 3, 2003. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row ...

, judoka. *

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 year ...

, professional golfer. * Noriko Kubo, Japanese female fencer. * Rie Kugimiya, voice actress. * Sayaka Hirota, Japanese badminton player. *

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 Gas ...

, enka singer * Seiki Yoshioka, Japanese professional wrestler * Shōdai Naoya, sumo wrestler. *

Tochihikari Masayuki Tochihikari Masayuki (29 August 1933 – 28 March 1977) was a sumo wrestler from Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan who reached the second highest rank of ''Makuuchi#Ōzeki, ōzeki'' in 1962. He joined Kasugano stable in 1952 and reached the top ''maku ...

, sumo wrestler. *

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 *

Yōko Shimada was a Japanese actress, best known to Western audiences for her portrayal of Mariko in the 1980 miniseries ''Shōgun''. ''Shogun'' miniseries Shimada was the only female member of ''Shōgun''s massive cast of Japanese actors shown speaking En ...

, actress. *

Yokoi Shōnan was a Bakumatsu and early Meiji period scholar and political reformer in Japan, influential around the fall of the Tokugawa bakufu. His real name was Yokoi Tokiari. Life and career Yokoi was a ''samurai'' born in Kumamoto, Higo Province (pre ...

, scholar and political reformer. *

Yuri Masuda , better known by her stage name yuri, is a Japanese singer, best known as a vocalist of the Japanese band m.o.v.e. She began her musical career at 19 years old in 1996, and released her first song as a solo artist in 1997, the Eurobeat song “PA ...

, 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 record producer and Disc jockey, DJ t-kimura (), rapper motsu () and singer Yuri (Japanese singer), yuri (). t-kimura left the band in 2009. H ...

. * Yuki Fukushima, Japanese badminton player. *

Yuta Iwasada is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball. Career Early career Yuta started his baseball career in 4th grade as an outfielder for the Wakaba Elementary School, and in ...

, Japanese baseball player.

References

External links

Kumamoto City official website

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