It had been a long day leaving Hiroshima in the morning and dodging the typhoon, spending lunchtime in Fukuoka exploring temples, arriving in Kumamoto and exploring the Castle and feudal lords residence. I now wanted to find somewhere nice to sit down and eat a nice japanese meal and have some cake seeing as today was my birthday Luckily my hotel was located a couple of blocks from a shopping arcade. I figured going inside there and seeing what I could find. It w...

I managed to find a nice hotel centally located in the centre of town between the main train station and the castle. This was part of the Chisun Hotel Group which is in every city so I knew the standards would be good. As it was my birthday today I wanted to stay somewhere nice and relaxing. Surprisingly the room was only $40. The room was very compact, similar to a Tokyo Hotel JAL had provided me with when we had an unscheduled layover due to bad weather. The b...

My entry ticket to Kumamoto Castle was a combo with the residence of one of the feudal clans nearby. It was quite a walk getting over as the grounds of the castle and surrounding areas are quite large. It was like the residence in Kyoto I had visited where photos were not allowed. This time there was no problem taking photos. The house is made in a zig-zag design around sculpted gardens. They used dark wood for an English Tudor style look again but the rooms were...

Next on the afternoons agenda was Kumamoto Castle. I'd been to Osaka Castle before and saw Hiroshima Castle from the outside the other day. Kumamoto is famous as being quite old and a large complex. It was a centre of some of the feudal lords during the Shogan period. You can buy a single entry ticket for 300Y ($3.75) or a combo ticket. I bought the one for the Governers residence for 640Y ($7.50). There was another combo to another history museum, which I decid...

As Fukuoka continued to be covered in dark cloud I headed south to my next destination of Kumamoto. This is more centrally located in Kyushu Island and home to a famous large castle complex. There was a train to Kumamoto at 12.49 but as I rushed to the platform the doors shut. The next train was 1.18. As I was eating my sandwich I heard announcements for other trains running thru Kumamoto. So I realized I can take a train passing thru Kumamoto instead of one goi...