Information as of 25 August 2026
This page is a relocation summary written by an advanced AI
It is not a personal opinion piece written by a human. An AI gathered official information published on the internet — municipal and national statistics, the Japan Meteorological Agency, railway companies, property portals — and rebuilt it into a form that someone considering a move can read and act on. Every figure carries a source link and the date it was checked, so please confirm anything that matters to you against the original document. Rules and prices change. Always check the latest information yourself before you sign anything.
Moving to Kumamoto
🔴 This city is living through the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake right now. Please read "What you can do now" below before you read about the houses.
With that said — Kumamoto City is a government-designated city in the middle of Kyushu. Population 733,060, area 390.44 square kilometres, divided into five wards: Chuo, Higashi, Nishi, Minami and Kita. Of Kumamoto Prefecture's population of 1,672,583, 43.83% live in this city. Kumamoto Station to Hakata Station is a single Shinkansen ride, 32 minutes at the fastest.
And the thing that sets Kumamoto apart is its water. In the city's own words, "100% of the tap water for our residents is supplied from groundwater" and "nowhere else in Japan does a city of about 740,000 people supply all of its tap water from groundwater" — there is no dam and no purification plant; about 220,000 cubic metres a day is delivered from 98 wells inside the city. There are 613 second-hand detached houses for sale.
Population
733,060 people
Estimated as of 1 July 2026 • 347,537 households
Homes for sale
613 listings
¥4,800,000– / median ¥22,980,000
To Hakata
32 min
Shinkansen Mizuho • 0 transfers • ¥5,310
Share of tap water from groundwater
100%
98 wells in the city • about 220,000 m³ a day
Sewerage coverage
91.3%
As of 31 March 2025 • flush-toilet rate 97.7%
Medical costs for children
to the end of the school year at 18
¥0 for hospital stays / ¥700–1,200 a month per clinic for outpatient care
Days above 35°C
15.1 a year
Kumamoto observatory • Tokyo has 4.8
Days below 0°C all day
0.0 days a year
1 cm of snowfall a year • there are no days that stay below 0°C
Summer (August daily high)
33.3℃
Kumamoto • 2.0°C higher than Tokyo
Winter (January daily low)
1.6℃
Kumamoto • 0.4°C higher than Tokyo
Roadside station: Suika-no-Sato Ueki / Hot springs and day bathing: Miyuki-no-Sato, Kajio Onsen, Kazokuyu, Onsentei, Takarada Onsen, Kazokuyu, Furoya Yuwaku, Kaze-no-Yu, Shiawase-no-Yu, Tennen Onsen, Yuraccusu, Kumamotojo Tennen Onsen, Ryu-no-Yu, Tomiai Sauna Land, Kikunan Onsen Spa Resort Agannasse, Tsurunoyu Kumamoto Inter, Tennen Onsen
Sources: roadside stations from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism list of "Michi-no-Eki" (checked 2026-08-25); hot springs and day bathing from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) (checked 2026-08-25). 🔴 Only the tags a place has are shown — a town without them is not inferior.
Last checked 2026-08-25
Our heartfelt sympathies go to everyone affected by the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake.
This is the situation as we confirmed it on 25 August 2026. The figures move daily. Please check the latest through the links below.
■ The earthquake (Kumamoto City Disaster Response Headquarters)
Struck 28 July 2026 (Tuesday) at 16:27 / maximum seismic intensity 7, focal depth about 16 kilometres, magnitude 7.1 / intensity 7 was recorded in Uki City and Hikawa Town. In Kumamoto City the intensity was upper 6 in Minami Ward and upper 5 in Chuo, Higashi, Nishi and Kita Wards. The Disaster Relief Act was applied on 28 July (10 cities, 10 towns and 1 village in the prefecture), and the earthquake was designated and enforced as an Extreme Disaster and a Severe Disaster on 7 August.
■ Kumamoto Prefecture as a whole (Kumamoto Prefecture Disaster Response Headquarters, report No. 43, as of 14:00 on 24 August)
Casualties 398 in total (38 deaths) / damaged dwellings 38,922 (1,664 completely destroyed) / 65 evacuation centres in 11 cities and towns, with 2,684 evacuees
■ Kumamoto City (24th meeting of the Kumamoto City Disaster Response Headquarters, as of 12:00 on 21 August)
• 🔴 0 deaths and 0 people missing (4 seriously injured, 58 moderately injured, 12 slightly injured, 3 unclassified)
• 11,982 applications for disaster victim certificates (Chuo 1,535, Higashi 1,852, Nishi 1,089, Minami 6,145, Kita 1,361) — more than half are from Minami Ward
• Of 4,778 completed housing damage assessments: 69 completely destroyed, 26 severely half-destroyed, 64 moderately half-destroyed, 285 half-destroyed, 773 partially half-destroyed and 3,383 partially damaged
• Lifelines have been restored — power is back on across the city, gas was fully restored at 11:30 on 31 July, the water outage (Jonan) was cleared at 19:30 on 3 August, the cloudy water in Kita Ward was cleared at 16:00 on 3 August, and the sewers are unaffected
• Evacuation centres stood at 7 sites with 137 households and 200 people as of 6:00 on 21 August (the prefecture's tally at 14:00 on 24 August gives 6 sites and 167 people)
• 🔴 The Kyushu Shinkansen is suspended between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata (a restart within August is thought unlikely). Trains towards Hakata are running normally (§3)
• Support has come from 8 prefectures through the National Governors' Association, 18 cities through the Designated City Mayors' Association and 21 municipalities under individual agreements, totalling 42 organisations and 4,570 people by 12:00 on 21 August
■ What you can do now
This is the situation as we confirmed it on 25 August 2026. The figures move daily. Please check the latest through the links below.
■ The earthquake (Kumamoto City Disaster Response Headquarters)
Struck 28 July 2026 (Tuesday) at 16:27 / maximum seismic intensity 7, focal depth about 16 kilometres, magnitude 7.1 / intensity 7 was recorded in Uki City and Hikawa Town. In Kumamoto City the intensity was upper 6 in Minami Ward and upper 5 in Chuo, Higashi, Nishi and Kita Wards. The Disaster Relief Act was applied on 28 July (10 cities, 10 towns and 1 village in the prefecture), and the earthquake was designated and enforced as an Extreme Disaster and a Severe Disaster on 7 August.
■ Kumamoto Prefecture as a whole (Kumamoto Prefecture Disaster Response Headquarters, report No. 43, as of 14:00 on 24 August)
Casualties 398 in total (38 deaths) / damaged dwellings 38,922 (1,664 completely destroyed) / 65 evacuation centres in 11 cities and towns, with 2,684 evacuees
■ Kumamoto City (24th meeting of the Kumamoto City Disaster Response Headquarters, as of 12:00 on 21 August)
• 🔴 0 deaths and 0 people missing (4 seriously injured, 58 moderately injured, 12 slightly injured, 3 unclassified)
• 11,982 applications for disaster victim certificates (Chuo 1,535, Higashi 1,852, Nishi 1,089, Minami 6,145, Kita 1,361) — more than half are from Minami Ward
• Of 4,778 completed housing damage assessments: 69 completely destroyed, 26 severely half-destroyed, 64 moderately half-destroyed, 285 half-destroyed, 773 partially half-destroyed and 3,383 partially damaged
• Lifelines have been restored — power is back on across the city, gas was fully restored at 11:30 on 31 July, the water outage (Jonan) was cleared at 19:30 on 3 August, the cloudy water in Kita Ward was cleared at 16:00 on 3 August, and the sewers are unaffected
• Evacuation centres stood at 7 sites with 137 households and 200 people as of 6:00 on 21 August (the prefecture's tally at 14:00 on 24 August gives 6 sites and 167 people)
• 🔴 The Kyushu Shinkansen is suspended between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata (a restart within August is thought unlikely). Trains towards Hakata are running normally (§3)
• Support has come from 8 prefectures through the National Governors' Association, 18 cities through the Designated City Mayors' Association and 21 municipalities under individual agreements, totalling 42 organisations and 4,570 people by 12:00 on 21 August
■ What you can do now
| What you can do | Where to start |
|---|---|
| ① Send a relief donation | Kumamoto City is accepting donations from 30 July to 31 October (planned). The accounts are Higo Bank, Kumamoto City Hall Branch, ordinary account 1500452 and Japan Post Bank 00900-2-198660 (both in the name of the Kumamoto City 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund). Transfers from Higo Bank's head office and branches are free of charge, and transfers at Japan Post Bank counters or through its passbook app are free too. Postage for registered cash mail is also waived. 🔴 Guidance for overseas remittances is published in English, Korean and traditional Chinese. Donation boxes are at the main city hall, each ward office, the Honmaru and Ninomaru rest houses at Kumamoto Castle, the zoological and botanical gardens and the Tokyo office. Kumamoto City, "Accepting relief donations" → |
| ② Support through the hometown tax scheme (no thank-you gift) | Kumamoto City is accepting disaster-support donations through the hometown tax portals. 🔴 Disaster-support donations come with no thank-you gift (the "hometown support donation" with gifts is a separate scheme). For bank or postal transfers, contact the Kumamoto City Hometown Tax Support Centre (050-3173-9465, weekdays 9:00–17:00). The city is also taking enquiries from municipalities considering proxy donation handling. Kumamoto City, "About disaster-support donations" → |
| ③ Volunteer (and wait for the next call) | The Kumamoto City Disaster Volunteer Centre consolidated its operations at the Minami Ward satellite (1st floor, Kumamoto City Jonan Welfare Center, 1050 Jonan-machi Miyaji, Minami Ward) on 24 August. 🔴 The third round (26–30 August) reached the number of volunteers needed as of 21 August, and applications have closed. A fresh call for activity from 31 August onwards will be announced once residents' needs are clear. Volunteers must be high-school age or older, activity runs 9:00–16:00, bring work gloves or rubber gloves, and anyone who can offer a light truck is especially welcome. Kumamoto City Council of Social Welfare → |
| 🔴 ④ Support by visiting | Kumamoto Castle reopened on 13 August and was operating normally as of 18 August. Kumamoto City Museum and the main building of the Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art are also open as usual, Sakura-no-Koji (food and shops) and the tourist information centre are open as usual, and the "Kumamoto Yokatoko Guides" volunteer guides have resumed. The Kumamoto Castle Museum Wakuwakuza is temporarily closed and the Sannomaru No. 2 car park is shut. Kumamoto Castle, "Opening information for facilities around the castle" → |
| ⑤ Keep thinking about moving here | The Kumamoto City Relocation Support Desk resumed relocation and job consultations on 17 August, and guided site visits on 24 August. The city writes: "Some of you considering a move to Kumamoto after this earthquake may feel uneasy. If you have anything you want to know or worry about — how to prepare for earthquakes, disaster measures, what it was actually like during the disaster — please feel free to ask when you consult us." Note that the desk cannot guide you to the worst-hit areas, and for the time being visits are by public transport only. Kumamoto City, "The opening status of the Relocation Support Desk" → |
| 6. First, know what is happening | The city publishes the material from every Disaster Response Headquarters meeting as it is, and on 14 August it set up an Earthquake Recovery Headquarters that is now discussing a basic recovery policy, disaster-victim case files, a general consultation desk, public exchange meetings and a recovery roadmap. Kumamoto City Disaster Response Headquarters meeting material → / Kumamoto City Earthquake Recovery Headquarters → / Kumamoto Prefecture, "Damage information for the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake" → |
CHAPTER 01First, what kind of place Kumamoto is
It sits almost in the middle of Kyushu, on a plain facing the Ariake Sea. 733,060 people live across 390.44 square kilometres, a density of 1,878 people per square kilometre. It became a government-designated city on 1 April 2012 (Heisei 24) and was divided into five wards: Chuo, Higashi, Nishi, Minami and Kita. 🔴 The foundation of this city is the Aso volcano. In the city's words, "Mt. Aso produced four huge pyroclastic-flow eruptions between about 270,000 and about 90,000 years ago. Those flows piled up thickly and made the land of Kumamoto" — the resulting layers are full of gaps and spread widely at a thickness of more than 100 metres, so rain that falls here readily becomes groundwater. The water supply in §8 and the produce in §13 both come from this.
🔴 The city calls itself "a groundwater city second to none in the world"The heading on the city's own page reads exactly that: "Kumamoto, a groundwater city second to none in the world". "100% of the tap water for our residents is supplied from groundwater" and "nowhere else in Japan does a city of about 740,000 people supply all of its tap water from groundwater".
Across the Kumamoto area (about 1,041 square kilometres, 11 municipalities, about 1,000,000 people), which includes Kumamoto City, about 2,040,000,000 cubic metres of rain falls each year. It is estimated that one third evaporates, one third reaches the Ariake Sea through the Shirakawa, the Midorikawa and other rivers, and the remaining third (about 640,000,000 cubic metres) becomes groundwater. This work won the grand prize of the 10th Japan Water Prize in June 2008 (Heisei 20) and the United Nations "Water for Life" Best Practices Award in March 2013 (Heisei 25).
The rice paddies Kato Kiyomasa built still make the groundwater todayFrom the city's explanation: "About 430 years ago, Lord Kiyomasa came to Higo, built weirs and irrigation channels in the middle reaches of the Shirakawa River (Ozu Town, Kikuyo Town and so on) and developed rice paddies on a large scale." "The soil of the paddies in the middle reaches of the Shirakawa in particular lets water through so easily that 5 to 10 times the usual amount seeps in. Locally they are even called 'colander paddies'."
🔴 Rain that falls on the western foot of the Aso outer rim is said to take about 20 years to reach the area around Lake Ezu, and about 5 to 10 years from the middle reaches of the Shirakawa. The water coming out of the tap today is rain that fell 20 years ago.
400 years as a castle town, and 14 years as a designated cityKumamoto Castle is the castle Kato Kiyomasa built in 1607 (Keicho 12) on a plateau then called Chausuyama. In the words of the city's relocation site: "Though it burned down in the Satsuma Rebellion, the people of Kumamoto kept protecting the castle and have rebuilt and repaired it again and again through the Showa, Heisei and Reiwa eras."
In modern times it became the 20th government-designated city in Japan on 1 April 2012 (Heisei 24), and five administrative wards were created. As §2 shows, these five wards are the unit the city uses when it explains "what kind of place this is" to people thinking of moving here.
🔴 More than 40% of the prefecture's residents live in this cityAs of 1 July 2026, against Kumamoto Prefecture's population of 1,672,583 in 751,796 households, Kumamoto City has 733,060 people — a share of 43.83%. Kyushu has three government-designated cities — Fukuoka City, Kitakyushu City and Kumamoto City — and Kumamoto City is the third largest of them by population (in the words of the city's vacant-house bank page, "it is the third largest government-designated city in Kyushu").
The area is 390.44 square kilometres, made up of Kita 115.34, Minami 110.13, Nishi 89.33, Higashi 50.19 and Chuo 25.45. 180,000 people live in Chuo Ward, the smallest of the five, at a density of 7,332 people per square kilometre.
What kind of city is Kumamoto?
It is a government-designated city on a plain facing the Ariake Sea, almost in the middle of Kyushu. Population 733,060 (estimated 1 July 2026, 347,537 households), area 390.44 square kilometres, five wards: Chuo, Higashi, Nishi, Minami and Kita. 43.83% of Kumamoto Prefecture's 1,672,583 residents live in this city. 🔴 Its defining feature is water: 100% of residents' tap water comes from groundwater — in the city's words, "nowhere else in Japan does a city of about 740,000 people supply all of its tap water from groundwater".
CHAPTER 02Five areas, and life in each
🔴 Kumamoto City is a government-designated city, so the unit of the town is the "ward". And the city's official relocation information site "Kumamoto wa Do?" has an introduction page for each of the five wards — Chuo Ward, "a town where people gather, culture lives and the future grows" / Higashi Ward, "a town overflowing with water and greenery, where life runs at a calm pace" / Nishi Ward, "a town where city and nature, past and present, industry and daily life are layered together" / Minami Ward, "a town where craftsmanship and farming live side by side" / Kita Ward, "a town where the power of the soil and the warmth of people live on". Population, area, households, land prices and listings are all published by these five wards. This page uses the same five (population is the estimate for 1 July 2026).
| Ward | Population, Area | listings | What kind of place it is (as the city's relocation site describes it) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Higashi Ward Higashi-ku | 188,768 people 85,633 households / 50.19 km² | 145 ¥8,000,000–69,800,000 / median ¥24,800,000 | "Higashi Ward has the largest population in Kumamoto City. (…) The tram runs through the south of the ward, and the line is well served by shops, medical facilities, schools and welfare facilities. It is also blessed with nature such as Lake Ezu — the symbol of Kumamoto City's abundance of water — and the three Takuma hills (…) which makes it popular with families raising children." Lake Ezu is the largest spring-fed lake in Kumamoto City, with a spring flow of 560,000 tonnes a day (2024), and about 600 species of plants and animals live nearby. Kumamoto City Hospital and Kumamoto Red Cross Hospital are here too. Listings sit at 4.9–99.1 metres above sea level (median 45.8). |
| Chuo Ward Chuo-ku | 186,611 people 105,482 households / 25.45 km² | 44 ¥12,500,000–125,000,000 / median ¥34,990,000 | "A ward where a downtown streetscape coexists with historic scenery such as Kumamoto Castle and Suizenji Jojuen Garden. (…) Around 'Kamitori and Shimotori', the largest arcade shopping street in western Japan for shopping and dining, administrative, business, medical, educational and cultural facilities are packed compactly together." 🔴 Its density of 7,332 people per square kilometre is the highest of the five wards, and its 1.80 people per household the lowest. 🔴 Its median listing price of ¥34,990,000 is the highest of the five wards, and there are 0 listings under ¥10,000,000 |
| Kita Ward Kita-ku | 135,114 people 59,044 households / 115.34 km² | 198 ¥4,800,000–125,000,000 / median ¥19,850,000 | "A town rich in nature looking out to the Aso mountains. Blessed with fertile land and clear water, farming and daily life are closely bound together here." It grows watermelon, melon, tomatoes and rice, and has Ueki Onsen (the "beauty bath"), Tsuboigawa Green Park and the Tatsutayama Ikoi-no-Mori forest. 🔴 With 198 listings it has the most of the five wards, and its median listing elevation of 73.4 metres is the highest of the five. |
| Minami Ward Minami-ku | 132,758 people 54,974 households / 110.13 km² | 143 ¥7,300,000–120,000,000 / median ¥19,980,000 | "Minami Ward has the highest rate of population growth, and new residential districts have been appearing in recent years. Farming is strong, and across the farmland that covers more than half the ward you see rice and wheat swaying as far as the eye can see." It has Kawashiri blades, the Zuiyo Shuzo Tohi Taisho-gura brewery (founded more than 150 years ago, making akazake sweet rice wine) and the Kawaseri Rokkasho confectioners. 🔴 One of only five Shinkansen rolling stock depots in the country (the Kumamoto General Rolling Stock Depot) is here. 🔴 Of the 11,982 applications for disaster victim certificates after the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake, 6,145 came from this ward. At a median of 5.1 metres, its listings sit lowest of the five wards. |
| Nishi Ward Nishi-ku | 89,809 people 42,404 households / 89.33 km² | 83 ¥5,300,000–137,000,000 / median ¥17,980,000 | "Nishi Ward is symbolised by the grand form of Mt. Kinpo and the beauty of the sun setting into the Ariake Sea. (…) Around Kumamoto Station, the city's land gateway, urban functions have grown with the opening of the Kyushu Shinkansen. New apartment blocks line the streets and more people have been moving in of late." It has Mt. Kinpo (665 metres), Reiganto Cave, where Miyamoto Musashi wrote The Book of Five Rings, the Kumamoto Tasaki Market and Kawachi mandarin oranges. 🔴 Its listings run from 1.2 to 382.8 metres above sea level — the widest range of the five wards. |
🔴 The only ward whose population is growing is MinamiIn the 2025 census (provisional, as of 1 October 2025) Kumamoto City had 730,854 people, 8,011 fewer, or 1.1% down, from 738,865 in 2020. By ward — only Minami gained, +914 (+0.7%), while Higashi fell 494 (−0.3%), Chuo 2,089 (−1.1%), Nishi 1,579 (−1.7%) and Kita 4,763 (−3.4%).
🔴 Chuo Ward turned from growth (+1,202, +0.6%) to decline, and Kita Ward's rate of decline widened. The city's own analysis says: "the population fell in every administrative ward except Minami, and Chuo Ward has turned from growth to decline". The city's line in the §2 table that "Minami Ward has the highest rate of population growth" is borne out by these figures.
Households grew in all five wards, and household size shrankThe 2025 census counted 338,007 households, 11,087 more than in 2020, and every one of the five wards grew. Meanwhile the average household holds 2.16 people (2.26 in 2020, 2.35 in 2015).
By ward the average household is Chuo 1.80, Higashi 2.26, Nishi 2.18, Minami 2.49 and Kita 2.34. 🔴 Chuo Ward is "more households, but smaller ones" — a ward where people living alone or as couples gather. If you are looking for a family home, Minami, Kita or Higashi will buy you more land for the same budget (§4).
🔴 Listing prices differ completely from ward to wardAssigning the 613 listings to the five wards gives medians of Chuo ¥34,990,000, Higashi ¥24,800,000, Minami ¥19,980,000, Kita ¥19,850,000 and Nishi ¥17,980,000. Chuo is about twice Nishi.
There are 21 listings under ¥10,000,000 across the city (3%), broken down as Kita 9, Nishi 7, Minami 3, Higashi 2 and Chuo 0. 🔴 The share of pre-1981 buildings also differs by ward — Kita 29%, Nishi 22%, Minami 22%, Chuo 11% and Higashi 10%. As §5 shows, the year a building went up carries particular weight in this city.
The wards are also the unit for disaster response and recoveryAs §5 shows, applications for disaster victim certificates after the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake ran Minami 6,145, Higashi 1,852, Chuo 1,535, Kita 1,361 and Nishi 1,089. The city's evacuation centres are opened by ward too (as of 6:00 on 21 August: Chuo 1, Higashi 1, Nishi 1, Minami 3, Kita 1), and the general consultation desk was placed at the Jonan Community Development Center in Minami Ward.
🔴 The disaster volunteer centre was also consolidated into the Minami Ward satellite from 24 August. The figures the city publishes almost always come by these five wards. When a listing catches your eye, check which ward it is in first — hazard maps and evacuation sites are all searchable by this unit.
Where in Kumamoto City is a good place to live?
🔴 The unit of the town is the five wards, and the city's relocation site introduces each of them — Chuo Ward (Kumamoto Castle, Kamitori/Shimotori) 186,611 people / Higashi Ward (Lake Ezu, Kengun) 188,768 / Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu) 135,114 / Minami Ward (Kawashiri, Jonan) 132,758 / Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo) 89,809. Median second-hand house prices are Chuo ¥34,990,000, Higashi ¥24,800,000, Minami ¥19,980,000, Kita ¥19,850,000 and Nishi ¥17,980,000. 🔴 In the 2025 census the only ward that gained population was Minami (+914), and the biggest fall was Kita (−4,763).
CHAPTER 03Trains and cars — how you get around
🔴 Kumamoto Station to Hakata Station takes 32 minutes at the fastest on the Shinkansen Mizuho, with no transfer, for ¥5,310. Shin-Osaka is also reachable without a transfer in 3 hours 2 minutes for ¥18,960 (Mizuho No. 602 starts from Kumamoto). Tokyo is mainly reached by air: 66 minutes and ¥1,400 by airport limousine bus from in front of Kumamoto Station, then 1 hour 45 minutes from Aso Kumamoto Airport to Haneda — leave Kumamoto Station at 8:00 and you reach Tokyo Station at 12:27. Getting around the city means the Kumamoto City Tram (a flat ¥200 for adults, ¥100 for children). 🔴 Note that the Kyushu Shinkansen is currently suspended between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata (a restart within August is thought unlikely). Kagoshima-Chuo is reached by the "Kirishima-go" express coach in 3 hours 39 minutes for ¥4,200 as things stand (as of 25 August 2026).
How long it takes from Kumamoto Station, and to where (searched for the morning of Wednesday 26 August 2026)
| Destination | Time | Fare | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hakata | 32 min | ¥5,310 | Shinkansen Mizuho No. 602 (starting at Kumamoto, bound for Shin-Osaka) 8:19→8:51, 0 transfers, 118.4 km. Basic fare ¥2,420 plus a non-reserved limited express ticket at ¥2,890. A commuter pass is ¥140,440 a month. The all-stops Tsubame No. 308 takes 55 minutes (calling at Shin-Tamana, Shin-Omuta, Chikugo-Funagoya, Kurume and Shin-Tosu) |
| Shin-Osaka | 3 hr 2 min | ¥18,960 | Shinkansen Mizuho No. 602, a single train, 0 transfers (8:19→11:21). 🔴 It starts at Kumamoto, so you can sit the whole way |
| Tokyo | 4 hr 27 min | ¥58,218 | Leave in front of Kumamoto Station at 8:05 on the airport limousine bus (Kyushu Sanko Bus), ¥1,400 → Aso Kumamoto Airport at 9:11 / Solaseed Air flight 14 departs 9:45 → Haneda 11:30 / Tokyo Monorail plus the JR Keihin-Tohoku Line reaches Tokyo at 12:27. 3 transfers |
| Oita | 2 hr 46 min | ¥12,060 | 1 transfer. 🔴 The Hohi Main Line, which crosses Aso, links Kumamoto and Oita (see the lower part of §3) |
| Kagoshima-Chuo | 3 hr 39 min | ¥4,200 | 🔴 With the Shinkansen suspended, this is now the "Kirishima-go" express coach (Kyushu Sanko Bus). Depart in front of Kumamoto Station at 8:48 → arrive in front of Kagoshima-Chuo Station at 12:15, 0 transfers, 190.1 km. It calls at Sakuramachi Bus Terminal, Torichosuji, Suizenji-koen-mae, Kumamoto Kencho-mae and others |
Departures a day from Kumamoto Station (counted by this site for a weekday, 25 August 2026)
| Line and direction | Services | First and last departure | What it is like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hohi Main Line (towards Higo-Ozu and Miyaji) | 56 | 5:23／23:40 | 🔴 The busiest line at Kumamoto Station. It links stations across the built-up area such as Shin-Suizenji, Suizenji, Musashizuka and Hikarinomori. Even in the middle of the day there are 2 to 4 an hour |
| 🔴 Kyushu Shinkansen (towards Shin-Osaka and Hakata) | 52 | 6:30／23:16 | 2 to 6 an hour. 6 in the 7 o'clock hour, 5 in the 19 o'clock hour |
| Kagoshima Main Line (towards Ginsui and Tosu = north) | 40 | 5:27／23:36 | Towards Kami-Kumamoto, Sojodaigakumae, Nishisato, Ueki and Tamana. 2 an hour through the day, steadily |
| 🔴 Kagoshima Main Line (towards Yatsushiro and Uto = south) | 20 | 6:30／23:42 | 🔴 Services are reduced at the moment (Kumamoto–Uto runs with fewer trains, Uto–Yatsushiro is suspended). There is nothing at all in the 13 o'clock or 21 o'clock hours |
| Misumi Line (towards Misumi) | 18 | 6:17／22:56 | It branches off at Uto towards Amakusa. There is nothing at all in the 14 o'clock hour |
| 🔴 Kyushu Shinkansen (towards Kagoshima-Chuo) | 0 | — | 🔴 Kumamoto–Shin-Minamata is suspended (as of 25 August 2026; a restart within August is thought unlikely) |
🔴 Getting around the city means the tramThe Kumamoto City Tram, run by the Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau, charges a flat ¥200 for adults (junior-high age and above) and ¥100 for children (elementary age and below). In the words of the city's relocation site: "The Kumamoto City Tram, running through the city centre, links the main sights, the shopping areas and Kumamoto Station, and is the residents' own transport. For anyone commuting to school or work it is indispensable."
It links Kumamoto-ekimae, Karashima-cho, Kumamotojo-Shiyakusho-mae, Torichosuji, Suizenji-koen and Kengun-machi among others, and to change between the Kami-Kumamoto direction and the Tasakibashi direction you transfer at Karashima-cho. 🔴 One infant (aged 1 to under 6) travels free with each accompanying passenger, and babies under 1 travel free. The city writes: "'I want to move to the countryside, but I want to live without a car' — in Chuo Ward, even that wish might come true."
The hub for express coaches is Sakuramachi Bus TerminalFrom the city's explanation: "From Sakuramachi Bus Terminal in the city centre, express coaches leave for destinations across the prefecture and all over Kyushu." Services run to Fukuoka (the Hinokuni-go), Kagoshima (the Kirishima-go), Miyazaki, Oita and Nagasaki.
Local buses are run by four companies: Kyushu Sanko Bus, Kumamoto Dentetsu Bus, Kumamoto Bus and Kumamoto Toshi Bus. 🔴 In areas more than 500 metres from a bus stop, the city runs on-demand shared taxis (under its basic public transport ordinance) — four of them: Mikan Taxi (Tensui and Kawachi), the Kumamoto City Ueki shared taxi "Yamamoto-go", Choisoko Kumamoto Seinan and Choisoko Kumamoto Ueki.
🔴 Three railway companies serve the cityJR Kyushu (the Kyushu Shinkansen, the Kagoshima Main Line, the Hohi Main Line and the Misumi Line), the Kumamoto City Tram, and the Kumamoto Electric Railway. The Kumamoto Electric Railway links Fujisakigu-mae, Kita-Kumamoto and Miyoshi among others, and it appears as the nearest station on the listings in §4, as in "Kumamoto Electric Railway 'Uchigoshi', 8 minutes on foot".
Counting the nearest stations of the 613 listings in §4 gives, in order, Ueki 42, Kengun-machi 41, Nishi-Kumamoto 41, Musashizuka 38, Tomiai 30, Tokai-Gakuen-mae 20 and Horikawa 20. 🔴 The mix of JR, tram, Kumamoto Electric Railway and bus is what makes Kumamoto distinctive, so please check on each card which operator the "◯◯ Station, ◯ minutes on foot" refers to.
The airport is outside the city, linked by busAso Kumamoto Airport (Kumamoto Airport) is in Mashiki Town, not inside Kumamoto City. It is 66 minutes and ¥1,400 by airport limousine bus from in front of Kumamoto Station, calling on the way at ANA Crowne Plaza Kumamoto, Kawara-machi, Kumamoto Sakuramachi Bus Terminal, Torichosuji, Misotenjin, Suizenji-koen-mae and Kumamoto Kencho-mae — a design that lets you board from anywhere in the built-up area.
The port is Kumamoto Port (Nishi Ward), from which Kumamoto Ferry and Kyusho Ferry cross to Shimabara. 🔴 The city also has the "Charichari" shared-bicycle service.
✈ Airports
The closest is Kumamoto Airport (a hub airport managed by the state), about 14.6 km as the crow flies. Next is Saga Airport (about 51.9 km as the crow flies). 🔴 These are straight-line distances. They are neither road distances nor journey times — please check each operator's timetable for how to actually get there.
🛣 Expressway junctions
This area has 4 entrances and junctions.
Kyushu Expressway, Kagoshima Route = Kita-Kumamoto SIC, Jonan SIC, Ueki, Kumamoto
How long does it take from Kumamoto to Hakata or Tokyo?
🔴 Kumamoto Station to Hakata Station is a single Shinkansen Mizuho, no transfer, 32 minutes at the fastest, ¥5,310 (a commuter pass is ¥140,440 a month). Shin-Osaka is also a single ride, 3 hours 2 minutes for ¥18,960. Tokyo means 66 minutes and ¥1,400 by airport limousine bus from in front of Kumamoto Station, then Aso Kumamoto Airport to Haneda, 4 hours 27 minutes in all. 🔴 Note that the Kyushu Shinkansen is suspended between Kumamoto and Shin-Minamata (as of 25 August 2026), and Kagoshima-Chuo is 3 hours 39 minutes and ¥4,200 by express coach.
CHAPTER 04Homes actually on the market right now
SUUMO lists 613 houses, and all 613 are included here (the five wards were counted one by one and added together). From ¥4,800,000 to ¥137,000,000, with a median of ¥22,980,000. 21 (3%) are under ¥10,000,000. The median plot is 199 square metres (about 60 tsubo) and the median building 110 square metres. The median build year is 1990, and 126 (21%) date from 1981 or earlier (the old earthquake code). Elevations run from 1.2 to 382.8 metres (median 30.8). 🔴 In Kumamoto both price and elevation differ completely from ward to ward — look at the ward names in §2 first. The city's vacant-house bank also has 6 listings right now (¥500,000–18,000,000) (§9).
"Nearest the station first" converts everything to minutes — a walk of ◯ min, ◯ min by bus plus ◯ min from the stop, ◯ km by car (reckoned at 30 km/h) — and compares those. Listings with no such information always appear last, whatever the sort.
Kita Ward Shimizu Mangoku 5¥4,800,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 30 m / Land 315 m² (95 tsubo) / Building 117 m² (36 tsubo) / built 1970 / 北津留 bus stop 6 min walk4 photos →
Nishi Ward Okishin-machi¥5,300,000Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo, Kawachi)Elev. approx. 0 m / Land 554 m² (167 tsubo) / Building 98 m² (30 tsubo) / built 1965 / Nishi-Kumamoto Station 79 min walk1 photos →
Kita Ward Uchigoshi-machi¥5,800,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 30 m / Land 203 m² (61 tsubo) / Building 104 m² (31 tsubo) / built 1989 / Uchigoshi Sta. 8 min walk10 photos →
Nishi Ward Hanazono 6-4番37号¥5,900,000Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo, Kawachi)Elev. approx. 30 m / Land 184 m² (56 tsubo) / Building 88 m² (27 tsubo) / built 1978 / 中尾 bus stop 5 min walk10 photos →
Nishi Ward Shimasaki 6¥6,000,000Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo, Kawachi)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 100 m² (30 tsubo) / Building 52 m² (16 tsubo) / built 1974 / Sugidomo tram stop, 16 min7 photos →
Kita Ward Shimosuzurikawa 2¥6,800,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 50 m / Land 198 m² (60 tsubo) / Building 135 m² (41 tsubo) / built 1978 / Nishisato Station 13 min walk10 photos →
Minami Ward Jonan-machi Miyaji 487-17¥7,300,000Minami Ward (Kawashiri, Jonan, Tomiai)Elev. approx. 10 m / Land 168 m² (51 tsubo) / Building 96 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1981 / Tomiai Station 72 min walk4 photos →
Nishi Ward Shimasaki 5 main district¥7,500,000Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo, Kawachi)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 204 m² (62 tsubo) / Building 75 m² (23 tsubo) / built 1973 / Daniyama-machi tram stop, 18 min9 photos →
Kita Ward Uchigoshi-machi¥7,500,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 222 m² (67 tsubo) / Building 59 m² (18 tsubo) / built 1963 / Kita-Kumamoto Sta. 14 min walk3 photos →
Kita Ward Shimizu Kamei-machi¥7,800,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 30 m / Land 271 m² (82 tsubo) / Building 108 m² (33 tsubo) / built 1966 / Kamei Sta. 7 min walk8 photos →
Higashi Ward Ezuhigashi 1 main district¥8,000,000Higashi Ward (Lake Ezu, Kengun, Takuma)Elev. approx. 0 m / Land 117 m² (35 tsubo) / Building 59 m² (18 tsubo) / built 1953 / Doshokubutsuen-iriguchi tram stop, 2.1km9 photos →
Kita Ward Shimizu Hon-machi 26-9¥8,000,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 20 m / Land 92 m² (28 tsubo) / Building 71 m² (22 tsubo) / built 1978 / Kamei Sta. 7 min walk10 photos →
Kita Ward Ueki-machi Daiwa¥8,500,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 80 m / Land 183 m² (55 tsubo) / Building 95 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1978 / Ueki Station 17 min walk10 photos →
Minami Ward Jonan-machi Naga 1501-1¥8,990,000Minami Ward (Kawashiri, Jonan, Tomiai)Elev. approx. 10 m / Land 672 m² (203 tsubo) / Building 124 m² (38 tsubo) / built 1982 / Kawashiri Sta., 6.6km10 photos →
Kita Ward Asoda 5-32-35¥8,990,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 60 m / Land 170 m² (51 tsubo) / Building 140 m² (42 tsubo) / built 1987 / Suya Sta. 22 min walk10 photos →
Higashi Ward Oyama 2¥9,500,000Higashi Ward (Lake Ezu, Kengun, Takuma)Elev. approx. 70 m / Land 140 m² (42 tsubo) / Building 95 m² (29 tsubo) / built 1992 / 小山団地 bus stop, 6 min walk10 photos →
Nishi Ward Hanazono 4¥9,750,000Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo, Kawachi)Elev. approx. 30 m / Land 86 m² (26 tsubo) / Building 36 m² (11 tsubo) / built 1979 / Kenritsu-taiikukan-mae tram stop, 13 min10 photos →
Nishi Ward Kawachi-machi Funatsu¥9,800,000Nishi Ward (Kumamoto Station, Mt. Kinpo, Kawachi)Elev. approx. 0 m / Land 218 m² (66 tsubo) / Building 94 m² (28 tsubo) / built 2013 / 河内亀石 bus stop 2 min walk10 photos →
Minami Ward Jonan-machi Fujiyama¥9,800,000Minami Ward (Kawashiri, Jonan, Tomiai)Elev. approx. 40 m / Land 610 m² (185 tsubo) / Building 151 m² (46 tsubo) / built 1995 / Matsubase Sta. 95 min walk7 photos →
Kita Ward Ueki-machi Iwano¥9,990,000Kita Ward (Ueki, Shimizu, Tatsuda)Elev. approx. 90 m / Land 266 m² (81 tsubo) / Building 104 m² (31 tsubo) / built 1976 / Ueki Station to 6.6km10 photos →
The photographs are the images carried on SUUMO. They disappear once a listing ends. Check the real condition of a property on site.
See all 613 listings on SUUMO →🔴 613 is the third largest count on this siteSet against the other towns here — Kochi 823, Kagoshima 785, Utsunomiya 618, Kumamoto 613 and Oita 529 — Kumamoto is a town with plenty of choice. By ward: Kita 198, Higashi 145, Minami 143, Nishi 83 and Chuo 44.
🔴 Kita Ward (135,114 people) has more listings than Higashi Ward (188,768), which has the largest population. As §2 shows, Kita Ward fell 3.4% in the 2025 census, the steepest drop of the five wards. "Houses come onto the market where people are leaving" — that relationship shows up directly in the numbers.
🔴 The cheapest, at ¥4,800,000, is in Kita WardThe lowest price is ¥4,800,000 in Shimizu Mangoku 5-chome, Kita Ward (land 315 square metres, building 117 square metres, built January 1970, 6 minutes' walk from the 北津留 bus stop (Kumamoto Dentetsu Bus), elevation 29.5 metres). Next come ¥5,300,000 in Okishin-machi, Nishi Ward (land 553 square metres, built December 1965, elevation 1.2 metres) and ¥5,800,000 in Uchigoshi-machi, Kita Ward (land 202 square metres, built January 1989, 8 minutes' walk from Uchigoshi on the Kumamoto Electric Railway).
21 listings (3%) are under ¥10,000,000, broken down as Kita 9, Nishi 7, Minami 3, Higashi 2 and Chuo 0. 🔴 Almost all of them are buildings from the 1980s or earlier. As §5 shows, the build year leads straight to the earthquake-code question in this city, so look at the year before the price.
The expensive end is new houses close to a stationAt the top are ¥137,000,000 in Kasuga 4-chome, Nishi Ward (land 558 square metres, building 258 square metres, built October 2008, 13 minutes' walk from Kumamoto on the JR Kagoshima Main Line), two houses at ¥125,000,000 in Obiyama 6-chome, Chuo Ward (both land 335 square metres, building 178 square metres, built October 2021) and ¥125,000,000 in Kajio-machi, Kita Ward (built May 2024, 2 minutes' walk from the 梶尾温泉 bus stop (Kumamoto Dentetsu Bus)).
🔴 Chuo Ward has only 44 listings, so its median is high at ¥34,990,000 and there are 0 under ¥10,000,000. Looking for a second-hand detached house within walking distance of Kamitori and Shimotori is the narrowest search in Kumamoto.
🔴 Elevation differs strikingly by wardThe median elevation of the 613 listings is Kita 73.4, Higashi 45.8, Chuo 12.7, Nishi 7.0 and Minami 5.1 metres. Kita is 14 times Minami. The highest is 382.8 metres in Nishi Ward (the foot of Mt. Kinpo) and the lowest 1.2 metres, also in Nishi Ward (Okishin-machi) — a difference of 380 metres inside a single ward.
As §5 shows, the low ground of the Kumamoto Plain is exposed both to flooding of the Shirakawa, the Midorikawa and the Tsuboigawa and to liquefaction. 🔴 Use the sort bar on the listings to order them by elevation, low to high or high to low, and lay that against the hazard map.
Akiya bank — 6 listings
All 6 houses for sale registered on the At Home municipal vacant-house bank (as confirmed on 25 August 2026). They are listed cheapest first. One of them does not publish a floor area, so the floor-plan button does not appear for it.
Kumamoto City Minami Ward Kawaguchi-machi¥500,000
Akiya bank of View listing →
Kumamoto City Kita Ward Mitsugu-machi¥1,480,000
Akiya bank of View listing →Kumamoto City Nishi Ward Kawachi-machi Funatsu¥1,500,000
Akiya bank of View listing →
Kumamoto City Chuo Ward Rempei-cho¥2,800,000
Akiya bank of View listing →Kumamoto City Minami Ward Ujiguchi-machi¥8,500,000
Akiya bank of View listing →
Kumamoto City Kita Ward Asoda 1-chome¥18,000,000
Akiya bank of View listing →How much do second-hand houses cost in Kumamoto City?
All 613 SUUMO listings are included. From ¥4,800,000 to ¥137,000,000, with a median of ¥22,980,000. 21 (3%) are under ¥10,000,000, the median plot is 199 square metres and the median building 110 square metres, and the median build year is 1990, with 126 (21%) from 1981 or earlier. Elevations run from 1.2 to 382.8 metres (median 30.8). 🔴 By ward the counts are Kita 198, Higashi 145, Minami 143, Nishi 83 and Chuo 44, and the cheapest at ¥4,800,000 is in Shimizu Mangoku, Kita Ward.
CHAPTER 05Is the ground safe?
🔴 Kumamoto City has been through two earthquakes of intensity 6 or above in ten years. In the Kumamoto Earthquake of April 2016 (Heisei 28) the city saw 69 deaths and 125,453 disaster victim certificates (5,717 buildings completely destroyed); in the earthquake of 28 July 2026 (Reiwa 8) it saw upper 6 in Minami Ward, 11,982 certificate applications (as of 21 August) and 0 deaths. In 2016 about 326,000 households lost water and about 278,400 lost power, whereas in 2026 power, gas and water were all restored by early August. There are 1,298 landslide-warning zones (1,168 of them special warning zones). 🔴 And in 2016 about 2,900 homes in the city suffered liquefaction and about 4,300 suffered slope failures — the damage differed completely from place to place. Check at the level of the individual address.
Is this town inside a national earthquake-preparedness zone?
For each major earthquake, national law designates the areas where preparation is to be advanced. Whether a town is designated tells you directly how the national government views the shaking and tsunami expected there.
| Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area | Designated |
|---|---|
| Tokyo Inland Earthquake Emergency Measures Area | Not covered (the whole of Kumamoto Prefecture is outside the scheme) |
| Japan Trench / Kuril Trench Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area | Not covered (the whole of Kumamoto Prefecture is outside the scheme) |
| Shaking of intensity 6-lower or above within 30 years | 11.3% (1.8% for upper 6 or above) At the city hall site. The surface ground is AVS30 300 m/s, a gravelly terrace |
This probability is for the single 250-metre grid square the city hall stands in.
Kumamoto City Hall stands onsandy-gravel plateau (AVS30 300 m/s), and the 11.3% above is the value at that point. Even within Kumamoto City it changes a great deal between the low ground along the rivers and the terraces.
When a listing interests you, look it up by its street address.Enter an address on the J-SHIS map and it shows the probability and the ground for that 250-metre mesh.
Look up an address on J-SHIS → Designations from the Cabinet Office list of designated municipalities (Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area／Tokyo Inland Earthquake Emergency Measures Area／Japan Trench / Kuril Trench Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area ) / probability and surface ground from theNational Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, J-SHIS earthquake hazard information API(2024 edition • average case • all earthquakes), queried at the coordinates of the city hall / checked 2026-08-25
Look up an address on J-SHIS → Designations from the Cabinet Office list of designated municipalities (Nankai Trough Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area／Tokyo Inland Earthquake Emergency Measures Area／Japan Trench / Kuril Trench Earthquake Disaster Prevention Promotion Area ) / probability and surface ground from theNational Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, J-SHIS earthquake hazard information API(2024 edition • average case • all earthquakes), queried at the coordinates of the city hall / checked 2026-08-25
The 2016 (Heisei 28) Kumamoto Earthquake — what happened in Kumamoto City (as of 31 March 2017)
| Item | Number | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Deaths | 69 people | 6 direct deaths (including 2 in secondary disasters) and 63 disaster-related deaths. 0 missing, 728 seriously injured. 🔴 Nine in ten of those who died were disaster-related deaths |
| 🔴 Disaster victim certificates | 125,453 listings | 5,717 completely destroyed, 8,895 severely half-destroyed, 37,703 half-destroyed, 73,128 partially damaged and 10 undamaged |
| 🔴 Liquefaction | about 2,900 homes | About 1,600 homes in the 4 districts the city surveyed (Chikami to Kawashiri, Tsuchigawara, Nakabaru and Akitsu-machi Akita) and about 1,300 elsewhere. 🔴 All 4 districts are on low ground in Minami and Higashi Wards |
| Slope failures | about 4,300 homes | The number of damaged homes including sites on deformed developed land (an estimate derived from the results of the damaged-site risk assessment and other sources) |
| Water outages | about 326,000 households | After the main shock on 16 April. Water reached the whole city again at 18:00 on 30 April (about 85,000 households were cut off after the foreshock) |
| Power cuts | about 278,400 households | As of 2:00 on 16 April. Cleared across the whole city by the afternoon of 18 April |
| Gas | about 100,900 households | Supply suspended as of 1:25 on 16 April. Fully restored on 30 April |
| Roads and bridges | about 8,060 sites | About 7,400 stretches of road were damaged (179 closures in total) and about 660 bridges (21 closures in total, including the Shirakawa Bridge and the Kamizono Bridge) |
| 🔴 Secondary disaster | 2 people | Heavy rain from 19 to 23 June 2016 (Heisei 28) caused a landslide in Tsunoura-machi, Kita Ward that killed 2 people. The city records it as "a landslide caused by ground loosened by the Kumamoto Earthquake — a secondary disaster" |
🔴 2016 and 2026 shook different placesThe 2016 (Heisei 28) earthquake registered intensity 7 in Mashiki Town and Nishihara Village, and in Kumamoto City upper and lower 6 across a wide area of the built-up city. The 2026 (Reiwa 8) earthquake registered intensity 7 in Uki City and Hikawa Town, and in Kumamoto City upper 6 in Minami Ward and upper 5 in the other four wards.
🔴 That difference shows directly in the damage — of the 11,982 certificate applications in 2026, 6,145 (51%) came from Minami Ward. Against the 125,453 of 2016 that is about a tenth. Even though both carry the name "Kumamoto Earthquake", the place that shook and the scale were different things.
🔴 The national probability is the "2024 edition" and does not include this earthquakeThe 11.3% chance of intensity lower 6 or above in 30 years in the table above is the value returned by J-SHIS (2024 edition) from the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience for the coordinates of the city hall. The earthquake of 28 July 2026 is not reflected in that model.
🔴 It is also the figure for a single 250-metre square, the one the city hall stands on. Kumamoto City Hall sits on a gravelly terrace (AVS30 300 m/s). The low ground along the Shirakawa and the terraces of Takuma and Mt. Tatsuda differ greatly, even inside the same city. When a listing catches your eye, look it up on J-SHIS by its address.
There are 1,298 landslide-warning zonesIn the list published by Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto City has 1,298 landslide-warning zones. Of those, about 1,150 are steep-slope failure zones, 143 are debris-flow zones and 3 are landslide zones, and 1,168 of them are special warning zones (red zones). The latest notification was 10 March 2026 (some zones were released and re-designated).
The densest areas are Matsuo-machi, Kawachi-machi and Taniozaki-machi in Nishi Ward (around Mt. Kinpo) and Araki-machi, Yomogi-machi, Mitsugu-machi, Kusuno-machi and Kajio-machi in Kita Ward (the edge of the terrace). 🔴 It looks like a town on a plain, but along the hills there are more than 1,000 designated zones.
🔴 The surest way to check is the city's disaster portalThe city publishes the "Kumamoto City Disaster Information Portal", where hazard maps, evacuation sites, evacuation notices, shelter information and the city's response status can all be seen, including on a smartphone. An "emergency information" band always sits at the very top of the city's official site.
On the prefecture's "Bosai Joho Kumamoto" you can see the evacuation tab, the traffic-restriction tab and the river-level tab by municipality. 🔴 Before you go to view a house, put its address into both of these once. Low ground means flooding, the edge of the hills means landslides, the rim of the terrace means ground deformation — in Kumamoto these three swap places from spot to spot.
How great is the earthquake risk in Kumamoto City?
🔴 The city has been through two earthquakes of intensity 6 or above in ten years. In the earthquake of 28 July 2026 it saw upper 6 in Minami Ward and upper 5 in the other four wards, with 11,982 applications for disaster victim certificates and 0 deaths in the city (as of 21 August). In the 2016 (Heisei 28) Kumamoto Earthquake there were 69 deaths and 125,453 certificates (5,717 buildings completely destroyed), with about 2,900 homes hit by liquefaction and about 4,300 by slope failures. The national model (J-SHIS 2024 edition) gives an 11.3% chance of intensity lower 6 or above in 30 years (at the city hall site). There are 1,298 landslide-warning zones.
CHAPTER 06What summer and winter are like
🔴 Kumamoto has a Japan Meteorological Agency surface observatory (station number 47819). The 1991–2020 normals give an annual mean of 17.2°C and annual rainfall of 2,007.0 mm. The average daily high in August is 33.3°C and the average daily low in January 1.6°C. By days: 15.1 days above 35°C, 80.7 days above 30°C, 156.1 days above 25°C, 29.1 tropical nights, 25.2 days with a low below 0°C and 0.0 days that stay below 0°C. 🔴 Days above 35°C are 3.1 times Tokyo's (4.8) and tropical nights 1.6 times Tokyo's (17.8) — summer in Kumamoto is plainly hot. On the other hand there are 0.0 days that stay below 0°C all day, and the year's total snowfall is 1 centimetre. The wettest month is June with 448.5 mm and the driest January with 57.2 mm.
🔴 Be ready for a hot summer15.1 days above 35°C means almost half a month a year over 35°C. 80.7 days go above 30°C — one day in every 4.4 of the year. There are also 29.1 tropical nights, and the figures for the average daily low — 24.2°C in July and 24.8°C in August — show that it does not cool down at night either.
As §1 shows, Kumamoto City sits on a plain facing the Ariake Sea, in a basin-like landform ringed by hills on three sides. Treat air conditioning here as a necessity, not a luxury, when you budget. As §8 shows, electricity is money you pay every year.
Winter brings almost no worry about snow0.0 days that stay below 0°C, 1 centimetre of snowfall a year and a deepest snow cover of 1 centimetre. There are 25.2 days with a low below 0°C, so a few mornings a month do drop below freezing. January's average daily low is 1.6°C and its average daily high 10.7°C.
🔴 Studless tyres are not something you use every year in the built-up area. That said, the terraces of Kita Ward and the area around Mt. Kinpo in Nishi Ward are colder than the city centre, and heading out to Aso or the Kyushu Mountains is another matter. Look at the elevations of the listings in §4 (1.2–382.8 metres) before you decide.
🔴 June's 448.5 mm is this city's defining numberMonthly rainfall runs 448.5 mm in June, 386.8 in July, 195.4 in August and 172.6 in September — 835.3 mm across June and July alone, or 41.6% of the annual 2,007.0 mm in those two months. Against the driest month, January's 57.2 mm, June is 7.8 times as wet.
As §5 shows, the Shirakawa, the Midorikawa and the Tsuboigawa run through the city. 🔴 Think of June and July not as "the rainy season" but as "the season to prepare for flooding", and check the hazard map and your evacuation site in the month you move in.
This rain becomes the groundwaterAs §1 shows, the city explains: "Japan's average rainfall is about 1,700 mm a year, but the Kumamoto area gets about 2,000 mm and Mt. Aso as much as 3,000 mm. The abundance of rain is one reason the groundwater here is so plentiful."
🔴 The figure of 2,007.0 mm a year leads straight to the "100% groundwater tap water" of §8. Here, heavy rain and abundant water are one and the same thing. Lake Ezu's spring flow is 560,000 tonnes a day (2024) — that much spring water comes up from inside the built-up city every day (§2, Higashi Ward).
The twelve months of temperature, set out as they are
The left end of each bar is the average daily minimum for that month and the right end the average daily maximum (Kumamoto, the 30-year average for 1991–2020).
29.1 days / 25.2 days
29.1 tropical nights (Tokyo 17.8) and 25.2 days with a low below 0°C (Tokyo 15.2).
These are the numbers for how summer nights and winter mornings compare with Tokyo
These are the numbers for how summer nights and winter mornings compare with Tokyo
| Days per year | Kumamoto | Tokyo |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical nights minimum 25°C or above | 29.1 days | 17.8 days |
| Days above 35°C maximum 35°C or above | 15.1 days | 4.8 days |
| Days above 30°C maximum 30°C or above | 80.7 days | 52.1 days |
| Frost days minimum below 0°C | 25.2 days | 15.2 days |
| Days below freezing all day maximum below 0°C | 0.0 days | 0.0 days |
For snow, the annual total snowfall is 1cm and the normal for maximum snow depth is 1cm.
Source:Japan Meteorological Agency, normals for Kumamoto (by month) /the same, day counts by class (view=a2)／the same, Tokyo (all 30-year averages for 1991–2020) / verified 2026-08-14 Source:Japan Meteorological Agency, "Normals for Kumamoto (Kumamoto Prefecture), annual and monthly values"(statistical period 1991–2020, station number 47819 / annual mean temperature 17.2°C, annual rainfall 2,007.0 mm, annual average daily high 22.2°C, average daily low 12.8°C / by month: January rainfall 57.2 mm, mean 6.0°C, high 10.7°C, low 1.6°C / February 83.2, 7.4, 12.4, 2.6 / March 124.8, 10.9, 16.1, 5.9 / April 144.9, 15.8, 21.4, 10.6 / May 160.9, 20.5, 26.0, 15.6 / June 448.5, 23.7, 28.1, 20.2 / July 386.8, 27.5, 31.8, 24.2 / August 195.4, 28.4, 33.3, 24.8 / September 172.6, 25.2, 30.1, 21.2 / October 87.1, 19.6, 25.0, 14.9 / November 84.4, 13.5, 18.8, 8.8 / December 61.2, 8.0, 12.9, 3.4) andthe same page (normals by number of days)(15.1 days above 35°C, 80.7 days above 30°C, 156.1 days above 25°C, 29.1 tropical nights, 25.2 days with a low below 0°C, 0.0 days that stay below 0°C) andthe same page (snow normals)(1 cm of snowfall a year, deepest snow cover 1 cm) / the comparison with Tokyo uses the same agency's normals for Tokyo (station number 47662) (4.8 days above 35°C, 17.8 tropical nights) / the link between the Kumamoto area's rainfall and its groundwater comes fromKumamoto City, "Kumamoto, a groundwater city second to none in the world"("Japan's average rainfall is about 1,700 mm a year, but the Kumamoto area gets about 2,000 mm and Mt. Aso as much as 3,000 mm. The abundance of rain is one reason the groundwater here is so plentiful") / Lake Ezu's spring flow comes from"Kumamoto wa Do?" Higashi Ward("the largest spring-fed lake in Kumamoto City, with a spring flow of 560,000 tonnes a day (2024)") / checked 2026-08-25What are summer and winter like in Kumamoto?
🔴 Summer is plainly hot, and it hardly ever snows in winter. The normals for the Japan Meteorological Agency's Kumamoto observatory give 15.1 days above 35°C (Tokyo 4.8), 29.1 tropical nights (Tokyo 17.8) and 80.7 days above 30°C, with an average daily high of 33.3°C in August. On the other hand there are 0.0 days that stay below 0°C and a total of 1 centimetre of snowfall a year, January's average daily low is 1.6°C and there are 25.2 days with a low below 0°C. Annual rainfall is 2,007.0 mm, and the wettest month is June with 448.5 mm.
CHAPTER 07Shops, hospitals, schools
🔴 If your child runs a fever in the night, Kumamoto Regional Medical Center (5-16-10 Honjo, Chuo Ward, 096-363-3311) is open until morning. Paediatrics runs from 18:00 to 8:00 the next morning on weekdays, and from 8:00 to 8:00 the next morning on Sundays and public holidays — through the night, every day. The city writes that "Kumamoto City ranks 1st among government-designated cities for hospitals per head of population" (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, "2023 Survey of Medical Institutions"). Schools number 93 elementary, 52 junior high and 27 senior high (13 of them public), plus 10 universities (2 of them national or public). Children's medical costs are covered to the end of March following the child's 18th birthday: hospital stays are free, outpatient care costs ¥700 or ¥1,200 a month per clinic, and pharmacies are free at every age.
If you fall ill in the night (Kumamoto City, August 2026)
| Where to go, or where to call | Reception hours | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Holiday and night emergency centre (paediatrics) Kumamoto Regional Medical Center | Weekdays 18:00–7:30 next day Saturdays 18:00–8:00 next day Sundays and holidays 8:00–7:30 next day | 5-16-10 Honjo, Chuo Ward, 096-363-3311. Consultation hours run about 30 minutes longer than reception (weekdays 18:00 to 8:00 the next day). 🔴 You need a My Number health insurance card (or a qualification confirmation certificate); without one you pay the full cost yourself. If you have a fever, always telephone before you go |
| Holiday and night emergency centre (internal medicine and surgery) | Weekdays and Saturdays 18:00–22:00 Sundays and holidays 8:00–22:00 | The same Kumamoto Regional Medical Center. Consultations run until 23:00 |
| Holiday duty doctor | Sundays and holidays 9:00–17:00 | It runs on the cooperation of medical institutions. Reception may close within these hours if it gets busy |
| 🔴 Telephone advice (children) | Weekdays 19:00–8:00 next day Saturdays 15:00–8:00 next day Sundays and holidays 8:00–8:00 next day | Kumamoto Prefecture children's medical advice line #8000 (from a dial line, IP phone or fibre phone, 096-364-9999). Roughly up to junior-high age |
| Telephone advice (adults) | 24 hours, every day of the year | Emergency advice centre #7119 (from a dial line, IP phone or fibre phone, 03-6456-3290). Adults and children aged 15 and over |
Children's medical costs (the Himawari Card) — what you pay per clinic per month
| Category | Ages 0–2 | Ages 3–6 | Elementary years 1–6 | Junior-high year 1 to senior-high year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Hospital stays (medical and dental) | ¥0 | ¥0 | ¥0 | ¥0 |
| Outpatient (medical) | ¥0 | ¥700 | ¥700 | ¥1,200 |
| Outpatient (dental) | ¥0 | ¥0 (ages 3–4) / ¥700 (ages 5–6) | ¥700 | ¥1,200 |
| 🔴 Pharmacies | ¥0 | ¥0 | ¥0 | ¥0 |
🔴 The city writes that it ranks 1st among designated cities for hospitalsFrom the "Medical care and welfare" page of the city's official relocation site: "Kumamoto City also has a strong medical and welfare system. Kumamoto City ranks 1st among government-designated cities for hospitals per head of population (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, '2023 Survey of Medical Institutions'), and with emergency care available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, its medical system is strong by national standards. Thanks in part to that system, life expectancy for both men and women ranks 1st or 2nd among designated cities."
As §2 shows, Higashi Ward has Kumamoto City Hospital and Kumamoto Red Cross Hospital, and Chuo Ward has Kumamoto University Hospital. The core hospitals sit inside the built-up city — that is how this city is laid out.
The number and size of the schools (FY2025, School Basic Survey)93 elementary schools (1 national, 92 municipal) with 40,270 pupils in 1,772 classes / 52 junior high schools (1 national, 43 municipal, 8 private) with 21,246 pupils / 27 senior high schools (13 public = 11 prefectural and 2 municipal, 14 private) with 25,535 pupils. There are 10 universities (2 of them national or public).
🔴 8 private junior high schools hold 1,200 pupils, and 14 private senior high schools hold 12,800 — half of all senior high pupils are at private schools. Within the prefecture, the choices for junior-high and senior-high entrance exams are concentrated here.
🔴 The city writes "zero children on waiting lists" and "1st among designated cities for the birth rate"From the "Childcare and education" page of the city's official relocation site: "Kumamoto City has the highest birth rate among government-designated cities, and at the same time has achieved zero children on childcare waiting lists. It also certifies companies that make it easy to combine work and child-rearing as 'excellent childcare support companies', and puts effort into care for sick and convalescing children, promoting an environment where you can work while raising a family."
"The city has 27 senior high schools (13 of them public) and 10 universities (2 of them national or public), so you can choose a path from a wide range of educational options." Vacancies at nurseries and at sick-child and convalescent-child care can be checked on the "Kumamoto City Children and Child-rearing Support Site".
For shopping, people go to "machi"In the words of the city's relocation site: "If someone in Kumamoto invites you to 'go and eat in machi', they mean a meal around Kamitori and Shimotori." Kamitori and Shimotori are the largest arcade shopping street in western Japan, described as "the department store where you were bought your school satchel, the restaurant where the family often ate".
By ward there is "Pia Cress", a neighbourhood shopping street in front of the Kengun-machi tram stop in Higashi Ward (greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, electrical shop, tea shop), the "Kumamoto Tasaki Market" in Nishi Ward (10 minutes by car from JR Kumamoto Station, with market food such as seafood rice bowls) and "Hinokimi Marche" in Minami Ward (the Jonan district produce hall). 🔴 There are large shopping centres along the main roads and supermarkets dotted about as well.
What are the hospitals and schools like?
🔴 At night the paediatric department of Kumamoto Regional Medical Center (5-16-10 Honjo, Chuo Ward, 096-363-3311) is open until morning — 18:00 to 8:00 the next day on weekdays, and 8:00 to 8:00 the next day on Sundays and holidays. The city writes that "Kumamoto City ranks 1st among government-designated cities for hospitals per head of population". Schools number 93 elementary, 52 junior high, 27 senior high (13 of them public) and 10 universities. Children's medical costs are covered to the end of March following the child's 18th birthday: hospital stays and pharmacies are ¥0, outpatient care is ¥700 or ¥1,200 a month per clinic.
CHAPTER 08What it costs you every year after you buy
🔴 Kumamoto City's urban planning tax applies only to land and buildings inside the urbanisation promotion area. The city explains: "The urban planning tax is an earmarked tax whose entire revenue goes to the cost of urban planning projects such as roads, parks and sewers, or to land readjustment projects, and it is levied on land and buildings inside the urbanisation promotion area." So it is 1.4% property tax plus 0.3% urban planning tax = 1.7%, but only 1.4% in an urbanisation control area. Water and sewerage come to ¥4,986 for 20 cubic metres over two months on a 13 mm connection (water ¥2,640 plus sewerage ¥2,346). 🔴 Sewerage coverage is 91.3% with a flush-toilet rate of 97.7%, so in the built-up area almost every house is connected.
Water and sewerage (13 mm connection, usage over two months, tax included)
| Use over two months | Water charge | Sewerage charge | Total | Rough guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10m³ | ¥1,155 | ¥1,036 | ¥2,191 | Living alone |
| 20m³ | ¥2,640 | ¥2,346 | ¥4,986 | A couple |
| 30m³ | ¥4,400 | ¥4,074 | ¥8,474 | A household of 3 to 4 |
| 40m³ | ¥6,435 | ¥5,803 | ¥12,238 | A household of 4 to 5 |
| 60m³ | ¥11,275 | ¥9,627 | ¥20,902 | A household that uses a lot |
🔴 Basic water and sewerage charges are being waived right nowAs a measure against rising prices, the city is using the national "extraordinary grant for regional revitalisation to give priority support against rising prices" to waive the basic charge on household water and sewerage for 4 months (updated 20 August 2026). Ordinary households and apartment management associations with a supply contract with the Kumamoto City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau need make no application; the waiver is applied automatically.
In addition, anyone whose home suffered damage at the partial half-destroyed level or worse in the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake and who is on the register of affected households has their water and sewerage charges waived in full (updated 17 August 2026). 🔴 Households on well water with a septic tank, or on a vault toilet, must apply (households registered as residents of the city on 1 July 2026 are eligible).
Meters are read every two months, in different months in the east and the westKumamoto City reads meters once every two months, split so that the eastern districts are read in even months (August, October and so on) and the western districts (including the former Tomiai and Jonan towns) in odd months (September, November and so on). The usage in the table above is for two months.
🔴 The ordinary volume charge is progressive: the more you use, the higher the unit price per cubic metre. For apartment buildings and the like there is a separate way of calculating the charge. Don't forget the water and sewerage paperwork when you move, the bureau writes (customer centre 096-381-1118).
🔴 The property tax exemption threshold rises from FY2027The city explains: "If the total taxable value of the assets one person owns within a single ward falls below the following amounts, no property tax is levied" — ¥300,000 for land, ¥200,000 for buildings and ¥1,500,000 for depreciable assets. And: "from FY2027 the threshold rises to ¥300,000 for buildings and ¥1,800,000 for depreciable assets".
🔴 Note the phrase "within a single ward". Because this is a designated city, the threshold is judged ward by ward. The tax is the taxable value × 1.4% (the urban planning tax is the taxable value × 0.3%). Land is revalued once every three years.
Houses damaged in the earthquake qualify for a reductionThe city states: "Anyone who suffered damage in the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake may be eligible for a reduction in property tax and urban planning tax according to the extent of the damage to the fixed asset." For buildings, a loss of value of 20% to under 40% brings a 4/10 reduction, 40% to under 50% a 6/10 reduction, and 50% or more a full waiver. For land, a damaged area of 20% to under 40% brings a 4/10 reduction, and 80% or more a full waiver.
🔴 The counters for municipal tax reductions (Municipal Tax Division and Property Tax Division) and for deferral of payment (Tax Collection Division) will be on the 2nd floor of the Jonan Community Development Center in Minami Ward from 26 August (the general consultation desk in §14).
What does it cost every year once you have bought?
Property tax at 1.4%, plus urban planning tax at 0.3% inside the urbanisation promotion area, comes to 1.7% in total (only 1.4% in an urbanisation control area). Water and sewerage come to ¥4,986 for 20 cubic metres over two months on a 13 mm connection (water ¥2,640 plus sewerage ¥2,346). 🔴 Sewerage coverage is 91.3% with a flush-toilet rate of 97.7%, so in the built-up area almost every house is connected. The basic charge is currently waived for 4 months as a measure against rising prices, and households whose home suffered damage at the partial half-destroyed level or worse in the earthquake have their charges waived in full.
CHAPTER 09What happens when you want to sell
🔴 In the 2026 land price announcement, residential land in Kumamoto City rose 3.4% year on year. Kumamoto Prefecture as a whole was +2.8%, so Kumamoto City rose faster than the prefectural average. By ward: Chuo +5.9%, Higashi +3.7%, Kita +2.4%, Minami +2.3% and Nishi +1.1% — all five rose. Commercial land rose 5.0% across the city (Chuo +6.2%). The most expensive residential point in the prefecture is 1-chome Shinyashiki, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City at ¥285,000 per square metre (+10.0%), the 8th year in a row since 2019 (Heisei 31). 🔴 On the selling side, the city runs the "Kumamoto City Vacant House Bank", which currently lists 6 properties (¥500,000–18,000,000).
The 2026 land price announcement (Kumamoto Prefecture) — average rate of change by ward
| Category | Residential land | Commercial land | All uses | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuo Ward | +5.9% 23 points (previous year +5.0%) | +6.2% 24 points (previous year +5.3%) | +6.0% previous year +5.2% | 🔴 The 3rd fastest-rising municipality in the prefecture (1st Ozu Town +11.5%, 2nd Kikuyo Town +6.9%). The rise is wider than the year before |
| Higashi Ward | +3.7% 23 points (previous year +3.3%) | +5.1% 6 points (previous year +6.0%) | +4.3% previous year +4.4% | Industrial land rose 13.3% (previous year +21.0%). It is still rising, but the rise has narrowed |
| Kita Ward | +2.4% 17 points (previous year +3.0%) | +3.2% 4 points (previous year +2.4%) | +2.6% previous year +2.9% | As §2 shows, this is the ward whose population is falling fastest of the five, and yet its land prices are rising |
| Minami Ward | +2.3% 16 points (previous year +2.4%) | +3.0% 3 points (previous year +2.4%) | +2.9% previous year +2.8% | Industrial land rose 8.1% (previous year +6.8%), the only one of the five wards whose rise widened |
| Nishi Ward | +1.1% 14 points (previous year +1.3%) | +3.1% 7 points (previous year +3.3%) | +1.8% previous year +1.9% | The gentlest rise of the five wards |
| 🔴 Kumamoto City total | +3.4% 93 points (previous year +3.2%) | +5.0% 44 points (previous year +4.6%) | +4.1% previous year +3.9% | Of the 120 residential points that rose, 80 were in Kumamoto City (Chuo 22, Higashi 22, Minami 15, Kita 13, Nishi 8) |
| Kumamoto Prefecture total | +2.8% 160 points, average ¥62,800/m² | +3.4% 76 points, average ¥227,300/m² | +3.2% Average¥112,800/m² | The 9th consecutive year of increase since 2018 (Heisei 30). 189 points rose, 25 held level and 26 fell |
🔴 The most expensive residential land in the prefecture is Shinyashiki in Chuo WardIn the 2026 land price announcement, the highest-priced residential point in Kumamoto Prefecture was 1-chome Shinyashiki, Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City, lot 10-14 and others = ¥285,000 per square metre (¥259,000 the year before, +10.0%). It has been 1st in the prefecture for 8 years in a row since 2019 (Heisei 31). Next come ¥247,000 in 3-chome Kasuga, Nishi Ward (+6.0%) and ¥209,000 in 6-chome Oe, Chuo Ward (+7.7%).
For commercial land, ¥2,480,000 per square metre at 1-chome Shimotori, Chuo Ward, lot 3-3 is the highest in the prefecture (1-chome Shimotori lot 12-23 is ¥1,490,000 and Kamitori-cho lot 1-16 ¥1,250,000). 🔴 With the prefecture's residential average at ¥62,800, Shinyashiki is 4.5 times that.
🔴 The city's vacant-house bank registers listings by wardKumamoto City's vacant-house bank is a municipal site on the "nationwide vacant house bank" run by At Home Co., Ltd. (kumamoto-c43100.akiya-athome.jp), and registration is by ward. As of 25 August 2026 there are 1 in Chuo, 0 in Higashi, 1 in Nishi, 2 in Minami and 2 in Kita = 6 in all.
Prices run from ¥500,000 (Kawaguchi-machi, Minami Ward, land 463 square metres, building 92 square metres, 6DK) to ¥18,000,000 (1-chome Asoda, Kita Ward). 🔴 One listing offers 1,013 square metres of land for ¥1,480,000 (Mitsugu-machi, Kita Ward, 21 minutes' walk from JR Nishisato Station). It is a separate entrance from the SUUMO listings in §4, so look at both.
There are city grants when you buy🔴 The "second-hand house purchase grant for movers and relocators" is worth up to ¥500,000. It covers (1) people moving to Kumamoto City from outside Kumamoto Prefecture and (2) child-rearing households and young married households moving from "outside" to "inside" the city's residential guidance area. The FY2026 application period runs from 22 April to 25 December, and the quota is about 20 grants (first come, first served).
🔴 "You must apply for the grant and receive a decision before you sign a contract to buy a second-hand house" — applying after you have signed is too late. Applications are in principle electronic (post is also accepted). If more valid applications arrive on the day the budget cap is reached than there are places left, the grants are allocated by lot.
There is help with removal costs tooThe "Kumamoto City moving cost grant" covers half of what you pay a removal firm for transporting and packing your household goods, for people who move to Kumamoto City from outside Kumamoto Prefecture and meet the employment conditions. The cap is ¥150,000 if you bring one household member under 18, ¥200,000 for two or more, and ¥100,000 otherwise. The FY2026 application period runs from 1 May to 26 February 2027.
🔴 The former "Kumamoto City relocation grant" (for movers from the Tokyo area) ended with FY2025 — no applications can be made from FY2026 onwards. What is available now is this moving cost grant and the second-hand house purchase grant.
Are land prices in Kumamoto City rising?
🔴 In the 2026 land price announcement, residential land in Kumamoto City rose 3.4% (the prefecture as a whole +2.8%) — all five wards rose. By ward: Chuo +5.9%, Higashi +3.7%, Kita +2.4%, Minami +2.3% and Nishi +1.1%, and commercial land rose 5.0% across the city. The most expensive residential point in the prefecture is 1-chome Shinyashiki, Chuo Ward at ¥285,000 per square metre (+10.0%), the 8th year in a row since 2019 (Heisei 31). The city's vacant-house bank lists 6 properties (¥500,000–18,000,000).
CHAPTER 10Who lives here, and how many
🔴 In the 2025 census (provisional) Kumamoto City had 730,854 people. That is 8,011 fewer, or 1.1% down, from 738,865 in 2020. Households numbered 338,007, 11,087 more than in 2020 — people down, households up. The average household holds 2.16 people (2.26 in 2020, 2.35 in 2015). The estimate based on the Basic Resident Register gives 733,060 people in 347,537 households as of 1 July 2026. 🔴 43.83% of Kumamoto Prefecture's 1,672,583 residents live in this city. Of the five wards, only Minami gained population (+914, +0.7%), and the biggest fall was Kita (−4,763, −3.4%).
🔴 "People down, households up" is happening in all five wardsFrom 2020 to 2025, households rose by 2,981 in Chuo, 3,042 in Higashi, 1,267 in Nishi, 2,905 in Minami and 892 in Kita — all five wards grew. Population, meanwhile, fell in the four wards other than Minami. The city's own analysis says: "as in the 2020 census, this trend is common to every administrative ward".
The average household is 1.80 in Chuo, 2.18 in Nishi, 2.34 in Kita, 2.26 in Higashi and 2.49 in Minami. 🔴 Chuo's 1.80 is the smallest of the five — a ward where people living alone or as couples gather. As §4 shows, Chuo also has the narrowest choice of detached houses, with 44 listings at a median of ¥34,990,000.
Here is how the month-by-month movement looks (during June 2026)From the "population dynamics" in the city's estimated population — 436 births and 642 deaths = a natural change of −206. Arrivals were 1,724 from within the prefecture, 860 from outside it and 243 other, and departures 1,714 within the prefecture, 1,026 outside it and 128 other = a social change of −41. Together that is −247 in a month.
🔴 Against 860 arrivals from outside the prefecture, 1,026 left for outside it. Meanwhile 1,724 arrivals from within the prefecture and 1,714 departures within it are almost the same. Kumamoto City is a place where people from within the prefecture keep changing over while a few move out of the prefecture — that shape shows in the monthly figures.
🔴 Higashi has the largest population; Chuo is the densestAs of 1 July 2026: Higashi 188,768, Chuo 186,611, Kita 135,114, Minami 132,758 and Nishi 89,809. Density runs Chuo 7,332, Higashi 3,761, Minami 1,205, Kita 1,171 and Nishi 1,005 people per square kilometre.
Chuo Ward, at 25.45 square kilometres, is the smallest of the five, while Kita at 115.34 and Minami at 110.13 square kilometres are more than four times its size. 🔴 Even within "the same Kumamoto City", life in Chuo is seven times as dense as in Kita — read that alongside the listing elevations in §4 (Chuo 12.7, Kita 73.4 metres).
More than half of census responses came over the internetIn the 2025 census, Kumamoto City's internet response rate was 51.4%, its postal response rate 34.7%, and the two together 86.1%. The remaining 13.9% was collected directly or by interview by enumerators. The city explains: "the internet response rate is 12.5% higher than last time (2020), so more than half of households answered over the internet".
🔴 That figure is also a guide to how well the city's procedures cope with going digital. The second-hand house purchase grant in §9 and the consultations in §14 are both electronic in principle.
Share of foreign residents
1.56%national average 3.26%
Of the 728,700 people living in Kumamoto City, 11,389 are foreign residents. That is below the national average (3.26%).
Nationwide, foreign residents make up 3.26% of the total population (4,031,159 out of 123,767,642).
34 municipalities across the country are above 10%.
Source: calculated by this site from the municipality-level tables of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Population, population change and households based on the Basic Resident Register" (as of 1 January Reiwa 8, published 2026-07-29). The ministry's publication page / verified 2026-08-17
Is Kumamoto City's population growing or shrinking?
🔴 People down, households up. The 2025 census (provisional) gives a population of 730,854 — 8,011 fewer, or 1.1% down, from 738,865 in 2020. Households, meanwhile, rose 11,087 to 338,007, and the average household holds 2.16 people (2.26 in 2020). Households grew in all five wards. By ward, only Minami gained (+914, +0.7%) and Kita fell most (−4,763, −3.4%).
CHAPTER 11Community life and the year's events
🔴 Community life in Kumamoto City right now starts from "doing the recovery together". After the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake, staff came to the city from 8 prefectures through the National Governors' Association, 18 cities through the Designated City Mayors' Association and 21 municipalities under individual agreements, and 42 organisations and 4,570 people in total had worked here by 12:00 on 21 August. The disaster volunteer centre was consolidated into the Minami Ward satellite from 24 August, and it accepts volunteers of high-school age and above from outside the city too (see the top of the page). 🔴 The year's events are not running as usual either — the summer "Hinokuni Festival" was cancelled because of the earthquake, and the Fujisaki Hachimangu autumn festival in September has cancelled the Shinko-shiki rite (the Shinko procession, the Zuibyo warrior procession and the decorated horses), keeping only the rites and offerings before the shrine.
The main events of 2026 (Reiwa 8) — the schedule as confirmed on 25 August 2026
| When | Event | Where it stands now |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Early August | the Hinokuni Festival the Otemoyan Sodori dance parade | 🔴 Cancelled. The city's relocation site also announces: "Because the Hinokuni Festival was cancelled following the earthquake of 28 July, this event has been cancelled too (as of 29 July)." There had been a plan for movers, prospective movers and host residents to form a team and join the grand dance, and it had reached its quota by 26 June |
| month 9 13, 14, 15, 19, 20 days | Fujisaki Hachimangu autumn festival the guardian shrine of Kumamoto | 🔴 The Shinko-shiki rite (the Shinko procession, the Zuibyo warrior procession, the decorated horses and so on) is cancelled. The shrine announces: "In 2026 (Reiwa 8), following the Kumamoto Earthquake, the Shinko-shiki rite (the Shinko procession, the Zuibyo warrior procession, the decorated horses and so on) will be cancelled. The rites and offerings before the shrine will be conducted solemnly on the dates below." 13 September brings the first-day rite, the Shishi-kazari-oroshi (an intangible folk cultural property of Kumamoto City, by the Shinmachi Shishi Preservation Society), an offering dance and the Daikagura, and 14 September the second-day rite and the tea offering rite (Higo Koryu Tekitekisha), among others |
| All year | Kumamoto Castle | Reopened on 13 August and operating normally as of 18 August. The city writes that "cherry blossom and autumn leaves colour the castle with the seasons". The Kumamoto Castle Omotenashi Busho-tai perform talks and photo sessions at Josaien (no sword dances) from 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:30 to 15:30 |
| All year | Meeting other movers | The city continues to run the "Kumamoto newcomer mothers' meet-up", an online relocation consultation desk (every month) and the "Kumamoto Migration Lab @ Tokyo" seminar and consultation event. 🔴 Relocation and job consultations resumed on 17 August, and guided site visits on 24 August |
🔴 The city is now setting up public exchange meetingsThe agenda of the second Earthquake Recovery Headquarters meeting on 19 August included "holding the '2026 Kumamoto Earthquake exchange meetings towards rebuilding lives and recovery'". The other items were the draft basic recovery policy, preparing disaster-victim case files, setting up the general consultation desk and the recovery roadmap.
Disaster-victim case files are a way of recording each person's situation and linking it to support. 🔴 The city publishes all of this material as PDFs — it is putting "what this city is about to decide" into a form outsiders can read.
The places supporting the city are places that have been through disastersAmong the municipalities with individual agreements working in Kumamoto City is Suzu City (Ishikawa Prefecture) — the town worst hit by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake. Others are Minato City in Tokyo, Sapporo, Kyoto, Okayama, Hiroshima, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Fukui, Miyazaki, Kainan, Takatsuki, Matsuyama, Susaki, Seiyo, Soja and Nagano, plus Arao City, Yamaga City, Oguni Town and Nagasu Town from within the prefecture.
🔴 18 cities came through the Designated City Mayors' Association (Sapporo, Sendai, Saitama, Chiba, Yokohama, Kawasaki, Sagamihara, Niigata, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Sakai, Kobe, Okayama, Hiroshima and Fukuoka). Being a designated city is itself a support network.
Each ward has a community development centreThe counters for advice and paperwork are the ward offices and the community development centres. The general consultation desk in §14 was placed on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Jonan Community Development Center in Minami Ward (1050 Jonan-machi Miyaji, Minami Ward). The counters for the water and sewerage waiver are also five in number: the 1st floor of the Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau, the 1st floor of Kumamoto City Hall (inside the Chuo Ward office), the 1st floor of the Western Community Hall (inside the Nishi Ward office), the 1st floor of the Northern Community Development Center and the 3rd floor of the Jonan Community Development Center.
🔴 Because Kumamoto City is a designated city, most everyday paperwork is completed at the ward office. When you settle on where to move, look up where that ward's office and community development centre are as well.
The city runs a year-round counter called "Higomaru Call"For questions about city procedures and events there is the Kumamoto City call centre "Higomaru Call", 096-334-1500, open every day of the year from 8:00 to 20:00. The city's official site also has an AI chatbot.
🔴 A button to switch to plain Japanese and language switches for English, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Korean sit at the top of every page of the city's official site. As §14 shows, the guidance on relief donations is also published in English, Korean and traditional Chinese.
What is community life like, and what about the yearly events?
🔴 Right now it starts from "doing the recovery together". Staff came from 8 prefectures through the National Governors' Association, 18 cities through the Designated City Mayors' Association and 21 municipalities under individual agreements, and 42 organisations and 4,570 people in total had worked here by 12:00 on 21 August. The disaster volunteer centre was consolidated into the Minami Ward satellite from 24 August. 🔴 In 2026 the "Hinokuni Festival" was cancelled because of the earthquake, and the Fujisaki Hachimangu autumn festival in September has also cancelled the Shinko-shiki rite (the Shinko procession, the Zuibyo warrior procession and the decorated horses), keeping only the rites and offerings before the shrine.
CHAPTER 12Things nearby that move land prices
🔴 What moves land prices in Kumamoto most is a semiconductor plant outside the city. In the summary of the 2026 land price announcement, Kumamoto Prefecture writes: "Ozu Town, Kikuyo Town and Koshi City have risen sharply in recent years under the influence of TSMC's arrival, but in the 2026 announcement the scale of the rise narrowed." Those three sit immediately east of Kumamoto City, and their all-use rates of change were Ozu Town +11.5%, Kikuyo Town +6.9% and Koshi City +5.7% — 1st, 2nd and 4th in the prefecture. 3rd was Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City at +6.0%. 🔴 Minami Ward in Kumamoto City also has a semiconductor plant, the Jonan Industrial Park and the distribution park, and the city calls it "the district that carries the core of Kumamoto City's manufacturing and transport industries". There is one more thing here: an ordinance to protect the groundwater.
🔴 The rise narrowed compared with last yearLining up three years of all-use average change — Ozu Town 17.8% (2024) → 20.0% (2025) → 11.5% (2026), Kikuyo Town 13.0% → 14.5% → 6.9%, Koshi City 10.0% → 9.0% → 5.7%. Meanwhile Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City went 4.1% → 5.2% → 6.0%, widening for three years in a row.
🔴 The phase of "the land around the plants jumping" is shifting towards a phase of "the centre of the prefectural capital rising steadily" — that is what the prefecture's material shows. As §9 shows, residential land rose in all five wards of Kumamoto City.
🔴 An ordinance protecting the groundwater underlies all developmentIn March 1976 (Showa 51) the city council resolved a "Groundwater Conservation City Declaration", and in 1977 (Showa 52) the city enacted the "Kumamoto City Groundwater Conservation Ordinance". The city writes that the trigger was a campaign against a block of flats near the Kengun water source.
What troubles the city now is "the shrinking recharge area" — "when land that was once paddy or field is covered with asphalt and concrete, rain finds it harder to soak into the ground" and "as this 'non-recharge area' spreads, the groundwater decreases". 🔴 Here, more housing land and less tap water are directly connected. The city continues its water-source forest projects and paddy-flooding projects.
Minami is the ward of manufacturing and logisticsFrom the Minami Ward page of the city's relocation site: "It also has a semiconductor plant, the Jonan Industrial Park and the distribution park that serves as the prefecture's logistics hub, which makes it the district that carries the core of Kumamoto City's manufacturing and transport industries." As §9 shows, industrial land in Minami Ward rose 8.1% (previous year +6.8%), the only one of the five wards whose rise widened.
🔴 And Minami is also the ward that shook hardest in the 2026 Kumamoto Earthquake (upper 6). Its 6,145 certificate applications are 51% of the city's total. As §2 shows, Minami was the only ward to gain population in the 2025 census — the growing part of the city is the part that shook hardest.
A debate about rebuilding the tram is under wayThe Kumamoto City Transportation Bureau is running the "Kumamoto City Tram Renewal Project", and published its "direction of reform" on 27 May 2026 and information on an "expert panel" on 4 June. As §3 shows, the tram is a flat ¥200 for adults and runs straight through the city centre.
🔴 Whether a house is on the tram line matters to its price in Kumamoto. As §2 shows, of Higashi Ward: "the tram runs through the south of the ward, and the line is well served by shops, medical facilities, schools and welfare facilities". Among the listings in §4, Kengun-machi (41) and Tokai-Gakuen-mae (20) are near the top. Where this debate lands matters to the value of the line.
What outside circumstances are affecting land prices and daily life in Kumamoto?
🔴 A semiconductor plant outside the city. In the 2026 land price announcement, Kumamoto Prefecture states that "Ozu Town, Kikuyo Town and Koshi City have risen sharply in recent years under the influence of TSMC's arrival, but in the 2026 announcement the scale of the rise narrowed" (for all uses, Ozu Town +11.5%, Kikuyo Town +6.9% and Koshi City +5.7%, with 3rd place going to Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City at +6.0%). Minami Ward also has a semiconductor plant, the Jonan Industrial Park and the distribution park. There is one more thing: the city has the "Kumamoto City Groundwater Conservation Ordinance", enacted in 1977 (Showa 52), and more housing land is directly connected to less groundwater.
CHAPTER 13What this place makes
What a place earns its living from shows up both at your dinner table and in your work once you live there. The amount raised through the hometown tax scheme is a rough measure of how many products a place has that people all over Japan choose.
¥1,606,750,000
Hometown tax donations received in FY2025 (134,617 donations).
202nd of all 1,788 municipalities and 7th within Kumamoto Prefecture
202nd of all 1,788 municipalities and 7th within Kumamoto Prefecture
What this town names as its own products
🔴 Kumamoto City has 15 items the city itself designates as "Higo vegetables". In the city's words: "In FY2006 (Heisei 18) Kumamoto City designated 15 vegetables as 'Higo vegetables' on four concepts: (1) grown here since long ago, (2) suited to Kumamoto's land and climate, (3) bound up with Kumamoto's food culture and (4) connected with Kumamoto's place names and history." It also registered the name as a trademark in FY2007 (on 25 January 2008). And as §2 shows, each ward grows different things — Kita Ward grows watermelon, melon, tomatoes and rice, Nishi Ward mandarin oranges and nori, and Minami Ward rice, wheat, aubergines, tomatoes and flowers, plus nori, clams and hard clams. As §1 and §6 show, what supports all of this is groundwater from Aso and 2,007 mm of rain a year. The 15 Higo vegetables — Kumamoto kyona, Suizenji moyashi, Kumamoto naga-ninjin, hitomoji, zuiki, renkon, Suizenji-na, Kasuga bobura, imo-no-me, Kumamoto aka-nasu, Kumamoto negi, Suizenji seri, Kumamoto ingen, Kumamoto kurokawa-kabocha and Suizenji nori. 🔴 Four of the 15 carry the name "Suizenji" — the area around Suizenji in Chuo Ward (§2) is land where vegetables have long been grown on spring water. The city says: "Many of these are not widely known by name, so we run recipe competitions, publish information and promote them at events to make them better known inside and outside Kumamoto." • Watermelon, melon, tomatoes and rice (Kita Ward) — from the Kita Ward page of the city's relocation site: "Blessed with underground water from Aso and spread with fertile soil, Kita Ward is one of Kumamoto's leading farming districts. Watermelon, melon, tomatoes, rice — what grows on this land is nature's own bounty." "Near the fields stand greenhouses growing the area's watermelon and melon, with houses among them." At weekends you can pick produce at a local farm, and the direct-sales stands are lined with vegetables and fruit picked that morning • Kawachi mandarin oranges (Nishi Ward) — in the city's words: "In the hilly Kawachi district, mandarin oranges nurtured by sunlight and a gentle sea breeze are the speciality, and the fragrant 'Kawachi mandarin' in particular is the pride of the area." "The local direct-sales stands are lined with seasonal vegetables and fruit grown with care by producers you can see." As §2 shows, Kawachi lies west of Mt. Kinpo, on slopes facing the Ariake Sea • Seafood from the Ariake Sea (Nishi and Minami Wards) — "fishing is strong in the Ariake Sea along the coast of Nishi Ward", and "at the 'Kumamoto Tasaki Market' (officially the Kumamoto Regional Wholesale Market), about 10 minutes by car from JR Kumamoto Station, you can buy freshly landed fish and shellfish and enjoy market food such as seafood rice bowls". Minami Ward too is "blessed with marine resources such as nori, clams and hard clams" • Rice, wheat, aubergines, tomatoes and flowers (Minami Ward) — "Minami Ward has the largest number of farming households of the five, and besides grains such as rice and wheat, greenhouse horticulture growing aubergines, tomatoes and flowers is strong." "When the rice harvest comes, golden ears spread as far as the eye can see." You can buy them at the Jonan district produce hall, "Hinokimi Marche" • Kawashiri blades (Minami Ward) — "Kawashiri in Minami Ward was a port town that flourished on water transport in the Kamakura period. It thrived as a rice-growing area, craftsmen gathered and a culture of its own blossomed. The traditional craft that symbolises Kawashiri is the 'Kawashiri blade'. At the Kumamoto Craft Center in the middle of town you can still watch Kawashiri blade craftsmen at work." • Akazake (Minami Ward, the Zuiyo Shuzo Tohi Taisho-gura brewery) — "At the Zuiyo Shuzo Tohi Taisho-gura brewery, founded more than 150 years ago, they make akazake — the local Kumamoto drink that is indispensable as New Year's toso and as sacred sake — and it is a town of character where people carry Kumamoto's good old history into the present." Akazake is the drink Kumamoto takes at New Year, and it is used as a cooking sake too • The Japanese confectionery of Kawashiri, the "Kawaseri Rokkasho" (Minami Ward) — "Out of a wish to 'somehow bring it back to life' as Kawashiri lost its bustle as a port town, six local Japanese-confectionery shops joined hands to form the 'Kawaseri Rokkasho'. Spurring one another on, they are reviving the town through confectionery, and lately the image of Kawashiri as a town of Japanese sweets has taken hold in the city." "Among them is a confectioner with more than 200 years of history.".
Source:Kumamoto City, "About Higo vegetables" (updated 15 January 2025 / "In FY2006 (Heisei 18) Kumamoto City designated 15 vegetables as 'Higo vegetables' on four concepts: (1) grown here since long ago, (2) suited to Kumamoto's land and climate, (3) bound up with Kumamoto's food culture and (4) connected with Kumamoto's place names and history. It also registered 'Higo vegetables' as a trademark in FY2007 (on 25 January 2008)" / the 15 designated vegetables = Kumamoto kyona, Suizenji moyashi, Kumamoto naga-ninjin, hitomoji, zuiki, renkon, Suizenji-na, Kasuga bobura, imo-no-me, Kumamoto aka-nasu, Kumamoto negi, Suizenji seri, Kumamoto ingen, Kumamoto kurokawa-kabocha, Suizenji nori)／Kumamoto City's official relocation information site "Kumamoto wa Do?", Kita Ward ("Blessed with underground water from Aso and spread with fertile soil, Kita Ward is one of Kumamoto's leading farming districts. Watermelon, melon, tomatoes, rice — what grows on this land is nature's own bounty", "Near the fields stand greenhouses growing the area's watermelon and melon, with houses among them", "At weekends you can pick produce at a local farm, and the direct-sales stands are lined with vegetables and fruit picked that morning")／the same site, Nishi Ward ("Fishing is strong in the Ariake Sea along the coast of Nishi Ward. At the 'Kumamoto Tasaki Market' (officially the Kumamoto Regional Wholesale Market), about 10 minutes by car from JR Kumamoto Station, you can buy freshly landed fish and shellfish and enjoy market food such as seafood rice bowls", "Meanwhile, in the hilly Kawachi district, mandarin oranges nurtured by sunlight and a gentle sea breeze are the speciality, and the fragrant 'Kawachi mandarin' in particular is the pride of the area. The local direct-sales stands are lined with seasonal vegetables and fruit grown with care by producers you can see")／the same site, Minami Ward ("Kawashiri in Minami Ward was a port town that flourished on water transport in the Kamakura period. It thrived as a rice-growing area, craftsmen gathered and a culture of its own blossomed. The traditional craft that symbolises Kawashiri is the 'Kawashiri blade'. At the Kumamoto Craft Center in the middle of town you can still watch Kawashiri blade craftsmen at work", "At the Zuiyo Shuzo Tohi Taisho-gura brewery, founded more than 150 years ago, they make akazake — the local Kumamoto drink that is indispensable as New Year's toso and as sacred sake", "Out of a wish to 'somehow bring it back to life' as Kawashiri lost its bustle as a port town, six local Japanese-confectionery shops joined hands to form the 'Kawaseri Rokkasho'", "Among them is a confectioner with more than 200 years of history", "Minami Ward has the largest number of farming households of the five, and besides grains such as rice and wheat, greenhouse horticulture growing aubergines, tomatoes and flowers is strong. It is also blessed with marine resources such as nori, clams and hard clams", "Fresh ingredients can be bought at nearby supermarkets and at the Jonan district produce hall, 'Hinokimi Marche'")/ Verified 2026-08-25You can support a town without living there
Even if a move is still some way off, you can be involved from today through the hometown tax scheme. Your donation goes straight to the municipality, and you choose what it is spent on. A way to give something back to a place you got to know here.
Source:Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Survey on the state of the hometown tax scheme (conducted FY Reiwa 8)", the table of amounts and numbers received (provisional FY Reiwa 7 settlement), tallied by this site. The rank is out of all 1,788 municipalities in that table / verified 2026-08-14What are Kumamoto City's local specialities?
🔴 There are 15 "Higo vegetables" designated by the city — Kumamoto kyona, Suizenji moyashi, Kumamoto naga-ninjin, hitomoji, zuiki, renkon, Suizenji-na, Kasuga bobura, imo-no-me, Kumamoto aka-nasu, Kumamoto negi, Suizenji seri, Kumamoto ingen, Kumamoto kurokawa-kabocha and Suizenji nori (designated in FY2006 and registered as a trademark on 25 January 2008). By ward, Kita Ward grows watermelon, melon, tomatoes and rice, Nishi Ward Kawachi mandarin oranges and Ariake Sea seafood, and Minami Ward rice, wheat, aubergines, tomatoes and flowers, plus Kawashiri blades, akazake and Japanese confectionery. Hometown tax donations in FY2025 came to ¥1,606,750,000 from 134,617 donations (202nd nationally, 7th in Kumamoto Prefecture).
CHAPTER 14A message from Kumamoto City
🔴 The catchphrase on Kumamoto City's relocation site is "It must be Kumamoto's doing." And after the earthquake the city wrote this: "Some of you considering a move to Kumamoto after this earthquake may feel uneasy. If you have anything you want to know or worry about — how to prepare for earthquakes, disaster measures, what it was actually like during the disaster — please feel free to ask when you consult us." Relocation and job consultations resumed on 17 August, and guided site visits on 24 August. The desk is the Kumamoto City Relocation Support Desk (Employment Policy Division, 8th floor, Kumamoto City Hall, 1-1 Tetorihon-cho, Chuo Ward), weekdays 10:15–17:00, freephone 0120-131-619. Consultation, registration and use are all free.
🔴 The city apologises for the delayFrom the notice reopening the Relocation Support Desk, word for word: "Since this earthquake we have received many enquiries from people outside the prefecture who are considering a move, asking about the situation in Kumamoto City and at the support desk. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has been concerned for us."
"We also apologise to those considering a move to this city for the delay in getting back to you, and for the inconvenience caused because we could not respond fully to consultations and visits while support for the disaster-hit areas took priority." 🔴 "As we will continue to run the desk while also handling the disaster response, our guidance may at times be limited. We ask for your understanding."
What the desk can and cannot do right nowWhat the city states clearly is that relocation and job consultations have been possible since Monday 17 August, with bookings taken from Monday 10 August, and guided site visits since Monday 24 August, also booked from Monday 10 August. However, "because disaster recovery work takes priority, we cannot guide you to the worst-hit areas" and "for the time being, visits are by public transport only".
"We will announce the schedule from time to time on our website and elsewhere", "please note that our response may change depending on the situation" — 🔴 always check this page for the latest before you go.
Consultations come in two strands: work and daily lifeThe Relocation Support Desk has both an employment support specialist and a relocation support specialist. In the city's words: "An employment support specialist will answer your worries and questions about finding work one to one, and will look for and introduce jobs in Kumamoto that match your wishes and conditions." "A relocation support specialist will answer a wide range of worries and questions about life in Kumamoto City, such as 'how do I look for a home? what are the going rates?'"
Register for the UIJ-turn scheme and you will receive news of job fairs, relocation consultation events and trial-stay tours by email newsletter. 🔴 Telephone 0120-131-619 (freephone) or 096-355-7733, email uij@city.kumamoto.kumamoto.jp, fax 096-324-7004.
🔴 "It must be Kumamoto's doing."These are the words on the front page of the city's official relocation information site: "In a city where rich nature and living history and culture meet, people's smiles will welcome you warmly. Whether you want a day of quiet calm or a day of cheerful bustle, Kumamoto can give you both. Why not start a life that is your own? A new life slowly fills the heart. It must be Kumamoto's doing."
The introduction to the city begins like this: "The bustle of a city, and the calm of nature. A centre lined with large shopping complexes and cafés. More urban than you expect, yet never hurried. That 'just-rightness' is what makes daily life here comfortable."
What does Kumamoto City offer people who move there?
🔴 The Kumamoto City Relocation Support Desk (Employment Policy Division, 8th floor of Kumamoto City Hall, weekdays 10:15–17:00, freephone 0120-131-619) takes consultations with both an employment support specialist and a relocation support specialist. Consultation, registration and use are all free. Relocation and job consultations resumed on 17 August, and guided site visits on 24 August. The financial support is two schemes: the second-hand house purchase grant for movers (up to ¥500,000, quota about 20) and the moving cost grant (capped at ¥100,000–200,000).
CHAPTER 15A year in Kumamoto
🔴 Kumamoto's year is defined by rain and heat. The normals for the Japan Meteorological Agency's Kumamoto observatory give 448.5 mm in June and 386.8 mm in July — 41.6% of the year falls in those two months. Summer brings 15.1 days above 35°C and 29.1 tropical nights; winter brings 0.0 days that stay below 0°C and 1 centimetre of snow a year, with 25.2 days whose low dips below 0°C, so only the mornings are cold. The main events are the Hinokuni Festival in early August and the Fujisaki Hachimangu autumn festival in September, but 🔴 in 2026 both were affected by the earthquake (§11). In the fields and on the table there are watermelon, melon and tomatoes from spring to summer (Kita Ward), mandarin oranges from autumn to winter (Kawachi, Nishi Ward), rice all year (Minami Ward), and the 15 "Higo vegetables" throughout the year (§13).
| Month | Climate | The town at that time of year |
|---|---|---|
| 1–month 2 | 1.6–2.6°C normal average daily low / rain 57–83 mm | The driest stretch of the year (January 57.2 mm). With 25.2 days a year whose low dips below 0°C, a few mornings a month fall below freezing. 0.0 days stay below 0°C, and the year's snowfall totals 1 centimetre. This is the season for Ueki Onsen in Kita Ward (the "beauty bath") |
| 3–month 5 | 5.9–15.6°C rain 125–161 mm | Cherry blossom at Kumamoto Castle, and in Higashi Ward Jieitai-dori and the approach to Kengun Shrine (the city names them as blossom spots). 🔴 14 and 16 April are the dates of the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. Mt. Kinpo (665 metres) in Nishi Ward takes 1 to 1.5 hours to climb, and from the top the whole city is spread out, with Nagasaki and Unzen visible in the distance |
| 6–month 7 | 20.2–24.2°C rain 448.5 mm / 386.8 mm | 🔴 The two wettest months of the year. June's 448.5 mm is 7.8 times January's. As §5 shows, in June 2016 ground loosened by the earthquake gave way and 2 people died. Think of it as the season for checking the hazard map and your evacuation site. In Kita Ward it is the season for watermelon and melon |
| month 8 | 24.8–33.3°C rain 195.4 mm • the month with the most days above 35°C | The Hinokuni Festival (the Otemoyan Sodori dance parade) is usually the heart of summer, but 🔴 in 2026 it was cancelled because of the earthquake of 28 July. There are 29.1 tropical nights and 15.1 days above 35°C a year — a month you cannot get through without air conditioning. Of Lake Ezu in Higashi Ward: "in summer it fills with children splashing freely at the water's edge and the voices of people crossing the lake on SUPs and pedal boats" |
| month 9 | 21.2–30.1°C rain 172.6 mm | The Fujisaki Hachimangu autumn festival (13, 14, 15, 19 and 20 September). 🔴 In 2026 the Shinko-shiki rite (the Shinko procession, the Zuibyo warrior procession, the decorated horses and so on) is cancelled, and the rites and offerings before the shrine (the Shishi-kazari-oroshi, the offering dance, the Daikagura, the tea offering rite and others) will be held. Days above 30°C continue through this month |
| 10–month 12 | 3.4–14.9°C rain 61–87 mm | The rain drops away sharply from October (September 172.6 mm → October 87.1 mm). Autumn leaves at Kumamoto Castle, and mandarin oranges from Kawachi in Nishi Ward. The sun setting into Mt. Kinpo turns the town orange (the city's words). At the Zuiyo Shuzo Tohi Taisho-gura brewery in Minami Ward, the akazake used for New Year's toso and as sacred sake is brewed |
The information on this site is gathered by an AI that visits primary sources — municipalities, the Japan Meteorological Agency, national statistics — on a regular cycle, and it is updated with a source and a date of verification attached.
How does a year in Kumamoto unfold?
🔴 The rain concentrates in June and July, and the heat peaks in August and September. Rainfall is 448.5 mm in June and 386.8 mm in July, those two months making up 41.6% of the year. January's 57.2 mm is the driest month. The events are usually the Hinokuni Festival in early August and the Fujisaki Hachimangu autumn festival in September, but in 2026 both were affected by the earthquake. In the fields there are watermelon and melon in Kita Ward from spring to summer and mandarin oranges from Kawachi in Nishi Ward from autumn to winter. The rain drops away sharply from October (September 172.6 mm → October 87.1 mm).
CHAPTER 16The people who run this city
When you are thinking about moving, who is running this town now, and where they are trying to take it, is something the people about to live here want to know even more than those already living here. This chapter sets out, with sources, only what Kumamoto City publishes itself. 🔴 As of 25 August 2026, following the official site, I (the AI) could find 2 of the 6 items below. The mayor of Kumamoto City is Onishi Kazufumi (confirmed on the city's own introduction page).
| What is published | Published | What you can read |
|---|---|---|
| About the mayor | The mayor's profile | Name, career, greeting |
| Policy address | Could not find one | What they say they will do this year |
| List of council members | Could not find one | Who the members are, and their groupings |
| Council broadcasts and recordings | Could not find one | Whether you can watch the council in session |
| Searchable minutes | Could not find one | Whether you can search past debates by wording |
| Master plan | The comprehensive plan | How many years ahead this town has decided |
The mayor of Kumamoto CityOnishi Kazufumi .
🔴 The day this page was made (25 August 2026) is 82 days before the Kumamoto mayoral election (15 November 2026).The city's election commission has set the dates for the"Kumamoto mayoral election on the expiry of the term on 2 December 2026", andthe notice day is Sunday 1 November 2026 and polling day Sunday 15 November 2026, with early votingfrom 2 to 14 November 2026. The current mayor isOnishi Kazufumi——born in Kumamoto City on 9 December 1967。first elected to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly in December 1997 and serving 5 terms, andelected mayor of Kumamoto City in November 2014 and taking office as the 32nd mayor that December。the 33rd in December 2018 and the 34th in December 2022——now in his third term. His education wasa degree in psychology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University (March 1992), a master's degree from the Graduate School of Law, Kyushu University (March 2010), and withdrawal from the same school's doctoral programme after completing the coursework (September 2014)。Source:Kumamoto City, "The dates for the Kumamoto mayoral election have been decided" (updated 30 June 2026 / "The Kumamoto City election commission has decided the polling day and notice day for the Kumamoto mayoral election on the expiry of the term on 2 December 2026, as follows" / polling day: Sunday 15 November 2026 / notice day (day for filing candidacies): Sunday 1 November 2026 / "Note: early voting runs from Monday 2 November 2026 to Saturday 14 November 2026") and the same city's "The mayor's profile" (updated 3 December 2022, page ID 7065 / name: Onishi Kazufumi / date of birth: 9 December 1967 / 9 December 1967 born in Kumamoto City / March 1986 graduated from Kumamoto Prefectural Kumamoto Kita High School / March 1992 graduated in psychology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University / March 2010 completed a master's course in public and social law at the Graduate School of Law, Kyushu University / September 2014 withdrew from the doctoral programme in legal and political theory at the same school after completing the coursework / December 1997 first elected to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly / April 2011 elected to a 5th term in the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly / October 2014 resigned from the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly / November 2014 elected mayor of Kumamoto City / December 2014 took office as the 32nd mayor of Kumamoto City / December 2018 took office as the 33rd mayor / December 2022 took office as the 34th mayor)/ Verified 2026-08-25
🔴 Age and gender have not been guessed from the name.Only what is published is reproduced here, as published.Kumamoto City's introduction page →
🔴 The day this page was made (25 August 2026) is 82 days before the Kumamoto mayoral election (15 November 2026).The city's election commission has set the dates for the"Kumamoto mayoral election on the expiry of the term on 2 December 2026", andthe notice day is Sunday 1 November 2026 and polling day Sunday 15 November 2026, with early votingfrom 2 to 14 November 2026. The current mayor isOnishi Kazufumi——born in Kumamoto City on 9 December 1967。first elected to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly in December 1997 and serving 5 terms, andelected mayor of Kumamoto City in November 2014 and taking office as the 32nd mayor that December。the 33rd in December 2018 and the 34th in December 2022——now in his third term. His education wasa degree in psychology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University (March 1992), a master's degree from the Graduate School of Law, Kyushu University (March 2010), and withdrawal from the same school's doctoral programme after completing the coursework (September 2014)。Source:Kumamoto City, "The dates for the Kumamoto mayoral election have been decided" (updated 30 June 2026 / "The Kumamoto City election commission has decided the polling day and notice day for the Kumamoto mayoral election on the expiry of the term on 2 December 2026, as follows" / polling day: Sunday 15 November 2026 / notice day (day for filing candidacies): Sunday 1 November 2026 / "Note: early voting runs from Monday 2 November 2026 to Saturday 14 November 2026") and the same city's "The mayor's profile" (updated 3 December 2022, page ID 7065 / name: Onishi Kazufumi / date of birth: 9 December 1967 / 9 December 1967 born in Kumamoto City / March 1986 graduated from Kumamoto Prefectural Kumamoto Kita High School / March 1992 graduated in psychology from the College of Humanities and Sciences, Nihon University / March 2010 completed a master's course in public and social law at the Graduate School of Law, Kyushu University / September 2014 withdrew from the doctoral programme in legal and political theory at the same school after completing the coursework / December 1997 first elected to the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly / April 2011 elected to a 5th term in the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly / October 2014 resigned from the Kumamoto Prefectural Assembly / November 2014 elected mayor of Kumamoto City / December 2014 took office as the 32nd mayor of Kumamoto City / December 2018 took office as the 33rd mayor / December 2022 took office as the 34th mayor)/ Verified 2026-08-25
🔴 Age and gender have not been guessed from the name.Only what is published is reproduced here, as published.Kumamoto City's introduction page →
How much of the council can you see?A list of members, live or recorded broadcasts of full sessions, and searchable minutes — where these three are published, you can read a town's debates for yourself before you ever move there.
🔴 The names, photographs and social media of individual council members are not carried on this site. We point you to where you can read them.
Once you have moved, when your own turn to decide comes round is something those three will tell you.
🔴 The names, photographs and social media of individual council members are not carried on this site. We point you to where you can read them.
Once you have moved, when your own turn to decide comes round is something those three will tell you.
How many years ahead has been decidedIn Kumamoto City,Comprehensive plan. A master plan usually sets outwhat the town has decided to do and by whenand ,where it intends to halt its population decline. 🔴 The period and the population target are not copied out on this site — plans get revised, and a misreading changes the meaning.Please check the official text from the link below.Comprehensive plan →
🔴 What I do not do in this chapter① I do not try to guess sex or age from a name. Only what is published is shown. ② I do not write judgements of good or bad. Only "what they set out" and "the source for it". ③ I do not compare election candidates.
🔴 And mayors change. This site always records the date checked (25 August 2026), and reopens the original page each time to verify by machine that the name is still there. If you notice that it has nevertheless gone out of date, please let us know.
🔴 And mayors change. This site always records the date checked (25 August 2026), and reopens the original page each time to verify by machine that the name is still there. If you notice that it has nevertheless gone out of date, please let us know.
Who is running Kumamoto City now?
The mayor of Kumamoto City is Onishi Kazufumi (confirmed on the city's introduction page on 25 August 2026). What this site looks for are six things: an introduction to the head of the municipality, a policy statement, a list of assembly members, live or recorded assembly broadcasts, a searchable record of proceedings and a comprehensive plan. 🔴 We are not judging any of it good or bad. Only whether it is published or not.
CHAPTER 17Where to go on a day off
What never shows up in the numbers of a house search, yet bears directly on how satisfied you are once you live somewhere, is days off. This chapter counts, on the same measure across every area, the places you can go on a day off in Kumamoto and the places family and friends can stay. This area currently has 32 hot springs and day-bathing facilities, 2 amusement parks, zoos or aquariums, and 1 roadside station. 🔴 All the counts are the number registered in map data (OpenStreetMap) — in reality there may well be more.
| What | Number counted, and names |
|---|---|
| ♨ Hot springs and day baths | Miyuki-no-Sato / Wellness Square / Waraku, Kajio Onsen, Kazokuyu / Hanamizuki, Onsentei / Yu-an, Takarada Onsen / Takara-no-Yu, Kazokuyu / Fuji-no-Se, Furoya Yuwaku, Kaze-no-Yu and 32 facilities in all |
| 🏯 Castles and castle sites | Special Historic Site Kumamoto Castle, Kumamoto Castle (2 sites) |
| 🎡 Amusement parks, zoos and aquariums | Kenmotsudai Arboretum Forest Museum, Kumamoto City Zoological and Botanical Gardens (2 sites) |
| 🖼 Museums, galleries and memorial halls | Yoshida Tsukasake Treasure Hall, Jonan-machi Museum of History and Folklore, Shimada Museum of Arts, Tokutomi Memorial Garden, Newspaper Museum, Kumamoto International Folk Craft Museum, Kumamoto City Museum, Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art and 18 in all |
| ⛩ Shrines and temples | Shrines 77, temples 41. Those with a Wikipedia entry are Honmyoji, Kitaoka Shrine, Yuge Shrine, Rendaiji, Kumamoto Masjid and Islamic Center, Izumi Shrine, Kengun Shrine and the Peace Pagoda |
| 🚗 Roadside stations | Suika-no-Sato Ueki |
| 🐕 Dog runs | Not found in the map data |
Somewhere to stay — for family and friends, and for your own travels
| What | Number counted |
|---|---|
| 🏨 Hotels and ryokan | 32 |
| 🏠 Guesthouses and hostels | 6 |
| ⛺ Campsites and auto-campsites | 3 sites (the names were not registered in the map data) |
| 🏕 Glamping | Not found among the campsite or hotel names |
| 🚐 RV parks (overnight in your vehicle) | Not found in the map data |
This table is the result of me (an AI) putting the same question to the map data for every area (areas are retrieved in batches, so the verification date on some pages is a day apart). Facilities not registered on the map are not counted. "Not found" does not mean "there are none" — nor that the town is any the lesser for it.
Sources: the counts and names of facilities fromOpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL) / RV parks fromJapan RV Association, list of certified "Kuruma-tabi" RV parks / roadside stations fromMinistry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, list of "michi-no-eki" roadside stations/ Verified 2026-08-25Are there places to go on a day off, and places to stay?
Counting from map data (OpenStreetMap) and the lists from the Japan RV Association and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, we found 32 hot springs and day-bathing facilities, 2 amusement parks, zoos or aquariums, 1 roadside station and 32 hotels and inns. Facilities not on the map are not counted, so there may well be more (see §17 for details).
What I (an AI) was able to find on this town's official site
This site reads the official websites of every area it covers against the same 30 items, out of 100, measuring how quickly someone thinking of moving can reach the information they need. What was measured is the official website of Kumamoto City, and the total was 56 points (measured 25 August 2026).
"Not found" does not mean "there is none." It means I followed the official site and could not find it. Tell us the published page and the next measurement will reflect it.
| Area | Score | What was found |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started with a move | 11 / 20 | There is a relocation and settlement page; a contact point (department, telephone, opening hours); support schemes state amounts and conditions |
| Housing | 9 / 15 | There is an akiya bank; listings carry photographs, price, year built and floor area; completed deals are organised |
| The money side of living here | 10 / 15 | Water and sewerage charges are readable from a rate table; child-raising support is specific about amounts and scope; there are explanations of national health insurance tax and fixed asset tax; and 1 more |
| Disaster information | 9 / 20 | Hazard maps are published by district, in a machine-readable form (a map system or text PDF), and there is more than one way of giving warning |
| Industry and local produce | 7 / 10 | A list of local speciality products on the official site; support schemes for businesses and industry |
| Transport | 7 / 10 | There is a community bus timetable; fares are stated |
| Can an AI read it? | 3 / 10 | Every page carries an updated date; statistics are published as Excel or CSV; open data is published |
See all 30 items and the pages used to judge them
3 / 3 There is a relocation and settlement pageAbout the FY2026 second-hand house purchase grant for movers and relocators (common) Go and see → 0 / 3 There is a dedicated relocation site
Only pages within the official site 3 / 3 A contact point (department, telephone, opening hours)
3 of department, telephone and opening hours were stated Go and see → 5 / 5 Support schemes state amounts and conditions
Both amounts and conditions Go and see → 0 / 3 There is trial housing or a trial-stay scheme
Not found 0 / 3 Vacancies in trial housing are published
Not found 4 / 4 There is an akiya bank
There is a municipal akiya bank 1 / 4 Listings carry photographs, price, year built and floor area
2 of 6 (33%) have all 4 items 4 / 4 Completed deals are organised
No completed deals appear in the list 0 / 3 The conditions of use are stated
Not found 1 / 5 Water and sewerage charges are readable from a rate table
There is a water and sewerage page Go and see → 5 / 5 Child-raising support is specific about amounts and scope
The scope of free and subsidised care is stated down to the age Go and see → 2 / 3 There are explanations of national health insurance tax and fixed asset tax
Either the rate or the amount is stated Go and see → 2 / 2 Tie-ups with banks for mortgages and the like
Go and see → 5 / 5 Hazard maps are published by district
40 documents by district Go and see → 0 / 5 Flood, landslide and earthquake are all covered
Not found Go and see → 0 / 3 The year the assumptions were last reviewed is stated
Not found Go and see → 1 / 4 Is it machine-readable (a map system or a text PDF)?
A page only Go and see → 3 / 3 Disasters are announced through more than one channel
A disaster app / social media / the disaster radio system Go and see → 5 / 5 A list of local speciality products is on the official site
8 items (the city's official site) Go and see → 0 / 3 Hometown tax results are published year by year
Not found 2 / 2 There are support schemes for businesses and industry
Commerce and industry Go and see → 4 / 4 There is a community bus timetable
Go and see → 3 / 3 Fares are stated
Go and see → 0 / 3 The date of the last revision is given
Not found Go and see → 1 / 3 Every page carries an updated date
2 of the 20 pages read Go and see → 0 / 2 There is a sitemap.xml
Not found 0 / 2 Site search runs on the server side
We could not find a search form Go and see → 1 / 2 Statistics are published as Excel or CSV
There is a statistics page Go and see → 1 / 1 Open data is published
Go and see →
Compare with other towns → For municipalities and local organisations (get in touch here) →
Measurement by this site. The URL of the official website was taken from the municipal information published by Furusato Choice. The score is a score for information publishing, not a score for how easy the place is to live in / checked 2026-08-25Compare with other areas
Every page has the same 17 chapters in the same order. Move between them and you can compare the same line.
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This page is made by an AI. A number transposed, a scheme that has since changed, a link that no longer works — if you find one, please tell us. No name and no email address are needed. Just what is wrong, and how.
Anything you report is checked by me (an AI) against the primary source before it is corrected. When it is corrected, the "Last verified" date on this page changes.
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