Kumamoto Castle Admission, Hours and Parking: ¥800 and Tram Access (2026)

Kumamoto Castle main keep, restored — The restored main keep (photo: Kumamoto Prefecture Tourism Federation)

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Admission to Kumamoto Castle (Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City) is ¥800 for high school students and older and ¥300 for elementary and junior high school students. Elementary and junior high school students in Kumamoto City, and people aged 65 or over who live in Kumamoto City, get free admission. Restoration work after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquakes is still going on, and since 2019 you can see the castle together with the work in progress as the “Kumamoto Castle Special Viewing”.

In short

Admission: ¥800 (high school and older), ¥300 (elementary and junior high), free for preschoolers.
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00 from September to June (last entry 16:00); 9:00 to 19:00 in July and August (last entry 18:00).
By tram from Kumamoto Station: 17 minutes to “Kumamoto-jo / Shiyakusho-mae”, then 10 minutes on foot.
By car: Ninomaru car park (210 spaces), ¥400 for up to 2 hours.
Annual pass: ¥1,600 (high school and older), worth 2 visits.

Checked with official pages on October 16, 2026 (Japan time).

1. How to get there and which ticket to choose

From Kumamoto Station by tram: 17 minutes to “Kumamoto-jo / Shiyakusho-mae”, then 10 minutes on foot. The “Shiro-meguri-n” loop bus takes about 30 minutes.
By car: Ninomaru car park (210 spaces, ¥400 for up to 2 hours).
On weekends and holidays: you can enter by either the north gate or the south gate. On weekdays, only by the south gate.
On a busy day: you can buy admission tickets on the web up to the day before (no cancellation or date change).
If you visit twice or more a year: the annual pass (¥1,600 for high school students and older), worth two admissions, valid for one year.

2. Admission fees and opening hours

Admission for individuals is ¥800 for high school students and older and ¥300 for elementary and junior high school students; preschool children are free. A family of 2 adults and 2 elementary or junior high school children pays ¥2,200. For paying groups of 30 or more, it is ¥640 for high school and older and ¥240 for elementary and junior high. Free admission applies to elementary and junior high school students enrolled in Kumamoto City, people holding a physical disability certificate and similar, people aged 65 or over living in Kumamoto City, and holders of a “joshu tegata” (lord’s pass). Show your proof at the ticket office and receive a free ticket.

The annual pass is ¥1,600 for high school students and older (not sold for elementary and junior high school students or younger), valid from the day of issue until the day before the same date next year. It is issued at the Ninomaru ticket office from 8:45 to 16:00, and your face photo is taken. A joint ticket with the Kumamoto Castle Museum Wakuwaku-za is ¥850 (high school and older) and ¥300 (elementary and junior high), and a three-facility ticket that adds the Kumamoto Museum is ¥1,100 and ¥400. Wakuwaku-za is temporarily closed because of the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake and is planned to reopen in December.

Opening hours are 9:00 to 17:00 from September to June (last entry 16:00, last climb of the main keep 16:30) and 9:00 to 19:00 in July and August (last entry 18:00, last climb 18:30). Ticket sales at the Ninomaru ticket office end at 16:00 all year. The castle is closed on December 29. The ticket offices accept credit cards, transport IC cards and PayPay among others (official visitor information (Japanese)).

3. What you can see in the main keep and on the special viewing path

Restoration of the whole main keep is complete, and its exhibits and the view from the top floor have been open since April 26, 2021. The basement has exhibits built around the remains of stone walls and a well; the 1st floor covers the building of the castle by Kato Kiyomasa; the 2nd floor the Hosokawa family era; the 3rd floor the burning in the Satsuma Rebellion and the 1960 reconstruction; and the 4th floor the damage and restoration from the Kumamoto earthquake. The 6th floor is the observation floor. Photos and videos inside the main keep are allowed for personal records only, and visitors are asked to refrain from posting them on social media.

From the special viewing path you pass in order the stone storage area of Bugyomaru, the Iidamaru Five-Story Turret, the two styles of stone wall and the important cultural properties at Higashi-Takenomaru. Uto Turret, the only multi-story turret surviving from the castle’s original construction, has been under dismantling and restoration since 2022, with completion planned for 2032 (official highlights of the special viewing (Japanese)).

Kumamoto Castle keep and cherry blossoms seen over the stone wall — The keep and cherry blossoms seen over the stone wall (photo: Kumamoto Prefecture Tourism Federation)

4. Parking fees and number of spaces

For standard cars you can use Ninomaru (210 spaces), Sannomaru No. 1 (101), Sannomaru No. 2 (231), Miyauchi (41) and the Sakura-no-Baba Tourism Exchange Facility (58) car parks. Everywhere, the fee for a standard car is ¥400 for up to 2 hours and ¥200 per hour after that. Hours are 8:00 to 18:30 (last entry 17:30) from September to June and 8:00 to 20:30 (last entry 19:30) in July and August; only the Sakura-no-Baba Tourism Exchange Facility car park is open 8:00 to 22:30 (last entry 21:30). Standard cars longer than 5 meters and semi-medium vehicles cannot use Ninomaru and are directed to the bus area of Sannomaru No. 1.

After the 2026 Kumamoto earthquake, the official notice as of September 18 said the Sakura-no-Baba Tourism Exchange Facility car park was partly closed. Traffic restrictions around Hyakken Stone Wall were lifted on September 17, and Sannomaru No. 2 reopened the same day, but restrictions toward Kato Shrine continue (official access and parking page (Japanese), official notice of September 17 (Japanese)).

To look for other car parks near the castle, you can search on a Japanese-language site: Search for parking on Tokupi (Japanese site) (ad).

Stone walls and the keep seen from the special viewing path (photo: Kumamoto Prefecture Tourism Federation)

5. Getting to Kumamoto Castle from Kumamoto Station and Kumamoto Airport

From Kumamoto Station, take the tram 17 minutes to “Kumamoto-jo / Shiyakusho-mae” and walk 10 minutes. By local bus, it is about 10 minutes to Sakuramachi Bus Terminal and then 10 minutes on foot. The Kumamoto Castle loop bus “Shiro-meguri-n” takes about 30 minutes from Kumamoto Station, and its one-day ticket comes with discount coupons for nearby facilities. From Aso Kumamoto Airport, the airport limousine bus takes about 50 minutes to Sakuramachi Bus Terminal. A free shuttle bus links Sakura-no-Baba Josaien, the south gate and the Ninomaru car park from 9:00 to 17:00 at 10 to 15 minute intervals.

By car, the Ninomaru car park is about 30 minutes from Kumamoto IC on the Kyushu Expressway, about 40 minutes from Ueki IC and Mifune IC, and about 45 minutes from Mashiki-Kumamoto Airport IC and from Aso Kumamoto Airport.

Kumamoto Castle (official channel: Kumamoto Castle [Official], @kumamotojou_official)

Address: Kumamoto-ken Kumamoto-shi Chuo-ku Honmaru 1-1 (inside the Kumamoto Castle Operation Center / Disaster Prevention Center) · Google Maps · Tel: 096-223-5011

Official information checked on October 16, 2026 (Japan time). Fees and hours can change.