Kumamoto Day Trip: Doing Good With Your Day Trip and Home to some amazing One Piece locations to…
welcome to Lost Without Japan a travel podcast about the life-changing experiences of exploring Japan and those moments we would be lost without for your listening pleasure allow me to introduce your very own Kanko Gaido Michael [Music] Welcome to this week’s episode of Lost With About Japan a podcast based on Japan and your Lost Without Moments i’m your director of travel for TKIC Studio Productions and I’m coming to you with positive thoughts and excitement for your next journey to Japan and my own return in two summers with my daughter thank you for giving me a bit of your time today if you’re returning once more to Lost Japan thank you again for your time and returning to us once more today we’re going to be doing a little bit different and I’m actually streaming live on YouTube in audio form as we are podcast uh but also recording the show in Riverside as we go through for its release uh tomorrow so those of you that are following along um on YouTube uh thanks for the listen otherwise um you’ll get this all tomorrow for everyone else uh today we’re going to be talking about the city of Kumamoto uh Japan um this is a part of the itinerary for fellow Good Times host David’s upcoming trip and also home to some amazing One Piece sites for those of you that have listened recently to our Good Time episode we had talked David and I about possibly um you know recording together this episode and him sharing his Kumamoto kind of itinerary um upon further review of Kumamoto and what it has to offer saw that there’s actually uh 10 One Piece statues of different characters from the story uh from that anime and I thought you know David uh you sharing a little bit about each one of the different characters from the anime is probably the best way to go and we can also um you know share uh you know some of his uh sightseeings and things as well if we can fit that in before his trip um or during um we’ll see but that’s the plan at the moment uh I recommend visiting anywhere in Japan as I’m sure you know you’re really going to have a wonderful time pretty much anywhere you go um that being said uh when your tourism could end up bringing money to areas that are in more need of it than others I’d recommend it even more there can be a lot of negative news from foreigners visiting Japan however visiting this area of of Kumamoto um I’d really recommend regardless of the fact that you’re you know money is going to go towards uh you know a great cause which is kind of you know building back up um this location um but it’s really um stands a chance as well for other people from within Japan seeing foreigners out and about in this area of making a positive memory of someone getting off the beaten path which is kind of what our show is about um and bringing some good uh to that area the event that I’m talking about that caused uh damage to this area was uh an earthquake that occurred on April 2016 um in Kumamoto Japan um there was a indeed a powerful series of earthquakes with uh the main um one being a magnitude 7.0 on the RTOR scale um the earthquakes caused widespread damage to the infrastructure throughout Kumamoto including Kumamoto Castle um as well as other uh temples and shrines in the areas and also resulted in numerous casualties and injuries um Umamoto Castle in particular uh being that it’s a prominent cultural landmark um really did sustain uh quite a bit of damage including a collapsed uh stone walls um and damage other parts of the building which are currently trying to be built back up and it’s not just being built back up but trying to get the stones back into the area that they were before in the position they were is going to drag that out um you know getting it done uh but these historic buildings and infrastructures um you know all of that area kind of uh suffered uh severe damage uh so much so that the earthquake caused an estimate of between 5.5 and 7.5 billion uh in US dollars in economic damage the earthquake resulted in um at least 49 direct deaths um with uh some reports having that death toll be even more um just due to indirect things that occurred afterwards uh more than a thousand people were injured and tens of thousands of people were displaced from their homes despite all of this the area has done and is doing a lot to give numerous reasons to visit the area and we’re going to cover some of those today with our day trip um if you’re asking yourself Mike you know where is Kumamoto it’s actually about six hours uh by Shinkansen from Tokyo and about 3 hours 15 minutes from Osaka um but one reason that I would kind of tack this location this city um onto it even besides One Piece is its location that it’s near Fukuoka and it’s also near Nagasaki and I feel that all three of those cities could end up uh resulting in a very nice um you know portion of your trip it’ll let you explore southern Japan kind of get off the beaten path with some of those things and um really allow you to see something outside of this you know Tokyo and Osaka for our day trip today I kind of put in some times uh to different things so you could kind of go through um all of our links for the the areas that we talk about today are going to be included in um the Google map locations that I will include in the show notes for wherever you’re listening to at 8:30 in the morning i have this kind of starting off with Fujiaki Akimongu Shrine it was once a part of Kubamoto Castle but moved to the location that it’s at now after being burned down during the Seai War um this is a popular shrine to people who live in the area um but it’s kind of less known for the t the tourists one thing um that is kind of cool about this because of it being such a part of the area when you visit this shrine you actually stand the chance to stumble across numerous different events happening such as a wedding there are archery contests that happen there Shento ceremonies and even a pretty large festival that takes place in autumn and that is again um the shrine of Fujasaki Hachimangu uh from that location um which is like kind of near we have some of these things that are close to each other um I have us kind of taking in one of the 10 statues we’ll talk about later with um David and that is uh the the monkey D Luffy like Luffy statue um that is kind of like the main character of One Piece and Luffy stands guard uh on the front entrance path to uh Kumamoto’s prefectural offices and although this statue is not in downtown Kumoto um and will require you to take a bus or tram uh to get to it comfortably from that downtown area um it’s very much uh kind of worth it uh to add on the things we’re going to talk about next um like I said there are 10 statues in this area that we’ll talk about later um but actually um these statues are part of a tourism effort and the creator of One Piece actually um has donated I want to say it’s like might be up a little bit but like a 7 to9 million um in restoration efforts and part of that being the statues that are there um they’ve been rolled out at different times to get people to kind of visit different areas with it um but again going to the the statue even if you’re not an anime fan will get you to our next location which is where we’re going to have lunch very nearby um our lunch that we have picked out for today is Ajisan Ramen’s uh global flagship now um obviously ramen for those of you that have traveled a lot in China um you’re like “Hey Mike I see a lot of these ramen kind of like locations and things like that in airports all throughout China.” Um is this you know worth me setting aside something that I normally see in an airport now normally um I’d say no uh you know uh like a lot of the places that were are within airports um are not something if they had a location outside of it that I necessarily recommend you go to visit um but this is um definitely different it’s just a three-minute walk from the statue and it is the flagship store and it is something that has been around for some time and it has more to do with the area than just being you know the flagship of of some you know chain but it is actually where uh kumo sto ramen is said to have been invented the founder of Ajisan Ramen added garlic to the Kurum style ramen uh to create the Kumamoto style ramen um there are currently over 800 locations in 14 countries around the world um Ajisend ramen is characterized by its um brown sauce with senmi oil which adds richness and flavor to uh the normally like you know white tonkatu soup which really does uh from reviews that I was looking through seem to pair perfectly with the noodles that they have you can also um look to see fried garlic that is part of this dish um adding something a little bit different um and all of this together ends up making what is considered to be the Kumamoto style uh ramen for that area and although there there are chains like I said this is a chain location multiple locations for these restaurants um this is this location will you know come off like when you visit it is not part of a chain it is does not look new you know it looks like it’s been around for a while and it is the only place from what I’ve read that you can get the Kumamon Kuro um charcoal noodles uh with black garlic oil um this is the only location that does that in the Kumoto style ramen as well um you get to order from a touch screen which can be a very positive thing um as you’re able to use your Google Translate on your phone so with that um like one last thing of note is when you go to visit this location um if you happen to be visiting on the 22nd of any month uh reg you know of what month it is if you’re there on the 22nd um this location um that’s already busy uh gets even busier uh because of a sale that is run on the 22nd of every day of every month so if it is the 22nd and you’re going to be in the area for a while you might want to skip that day or um you know like just like I said kind of avoid it just because it gets even busier um also um if you’re driving and not just taking public transportation and kind of like walking in the area um parking is said to be very hard to find uh for um your kind of information I do have the Google map location um for booking you can call 81-96123-45678 i don’t think that’s right that’s what was listed uh online my friend so let’s just say no um but uh if you’re looking to uh book this area this like the ramen restaurant portion of things and you speak Japanese you could look to try to make a booking ahead of time um as this will take a you know like getting there I’d say get there early um if you’re looking to attend um from our ramen restaurant um next up is uh Kumamoto Castle uh Museum um which uh was damaged like we said um in that earthquake but it is just a 4-minute walk from uh where we were having our ramen um and it’s home to some of Japan’s finest samurai artifacts outside of uh like what you find in like you know super fancy museums in Tokyo uh the castle can end up being very crowded regardless of construction going on so one thing that I saw mentioned uh by some reviews um is the fact that you know go ahead and head to like the basement first floor of the basement um where less people end up going because a lot of people are going up uh you know for some views or things if you end up feeling overwhelmed this is a great place to start um and it’s kind of called like uh like that wing of area has some like hidden treasures or things some artifacts and things at the time of like those reviews that they are when you go you know things do change but I hope they’re there for you um but one thing that numerous um like their website and other things said uh you can end up waiting in a very long line to buy tickets uh if you don’t buy them before you go so buy your ticket online through their website and I know this seems uh counter uh intuitive or like not what you normally would do back home uh but once you purchase those tickets make sure to print things off in a physical copy on paper you could recycle it after the fact um but just um at times I found like when I bought tickets things you need a physical copy you can’t just show your phone screen which will most likely be in English um one other thing that I would very much recommend because the website says that it is important um and listen to the interwebs whenever you can um those are our robot robot overlords uh but they mention that it is very important for you to bring your own sunglasses on your visit um and to make sure that you’re hydrated before you go um as it can get very hot during the summer um the castle um which was damaged during the 2016 earthquake um has some sections that are closed off but it is still very much worth a visit and you know knowing despite like seeing everything that is there the money that you’re spending at that point in time is going towards hoping to you know build back up uh this location and they have saying that it’s going to take two decades to get it done but let’s hope maybe we can get some tourism uh tourists you know and things going there maybe get that done just a bit sooner um from the Aisan Ramen it’s just a 4-minute walk um with hours uh being between 8:30 a.m and 5:30 p.m with last entry at 5 um but I would probably say no later than 4:30 uh just so you can get to and see what you like um from that um we have uh kind of 3:30 p.m uh Haku tunnel and it’s not near the locations I’ve talked about and it’s the one thing that’s kind of an oddity but it is well worth uh to me at least um and I hope to those of you that are listening um a very photogenic uh place to go to it’s a 41 minute drive away or a bus ride that could range between 1 hour and 22 minutes to two hours to get there so really make sure that you’re picking your times wisely um when you go um what we’re going out to like Mike while heading out to this uh tunnel um it is known as an octagonal tunnel um and it’s the remains of a Kuban Obu railway that has not been around for some time it is more popular with your railway tourists or people that just love seeing things um from you know the past this as the name suggests it’s it’s an unusual tunnel u with an octagonal crosssection and kind of very much a retro atmosphere of the brick structures makes it um you know I just can’t describe it you need to just open up the Google links that I provided and look at these pictures um it’s great um if you take a bus to location make sure you head down and across the bridge um they keep going forward to see signs for the location um reviews mention that if you go off of just where it says it is in Google Maps location alone um you can spend spend quite a bit of time just walking around back and forth trying to find it so I recommend um rather than kind of just going off Google Maps um especially if you’re driving or can start from this um the Fuma Matsaba Bashi parking lot which I have in Google Maps for today’s episode um one thing that they do note is wear comfortable shoes um it’s not paved um it’s not something that’s set up you know per se for tourists uh to be there it’s not something that I would go to at night make sure that it is not raining you know you know a lot of different things you’re getting very much off the beaten path here as it was part of a railway that was there i’m enclosed more than 50 years ago um there are many people that still visit the spot uh the light coming in from you know kind of just the all the different tunnel parts that are there um really can I think make a perfect you know spot uh for photos just of everything that is there um the hidden spot like I said um recommended by railway fans and enthusiasts you know that are part of abandoned railways or ruins or just people that enjoy photography at 6:30 um making it back into our area um I have uh for us um we’re going to go to Yaku like a Yakoboku which is um an award-winning bar and not just an award-winning bar uh for Asia I should say not just award winning bar for Japan but all of Asia um there was an article published in 2024 um that of like Asia’s top 50 bars so all of Asia right and it came in outside the top 50 at 64 um but that’s amazing i mean you can find 64 bars in Tokyo in an incredibly small area so you know this is really something and from what I can see like you know Kumamoto as a whole is not like this place that people have to beat the pat down to and it is something to where people that find this bar don’t even know that it was you know ranked as highly as it is um but people that do find it end up going multiple times on their visit they mention and this is key for um a lot of us that are traveling um that it is uh you know their bartenders uh Shinyasan and Kintosan are superb uh very friendly and my friends do not mind communicating in English when seeing how highly ranked this bar was I was worried that there might be a language barrier and I’m happy to see that there’s not and on top of that when looking at pictures of the bar I also saw that the there were menus in English with pricing and descriptions of the drinks that you can get this is a super small location with very limited seating after doing that that bar that I’m gonna have be at someday with my son Sam again top 64 in all of Asia come on can’t pass that up um at 8:30 p.m for the evening experience um I have kind of making our way back to Kumamoto Castle to enjoy the castle lit up at night they you know it’s called Kumamoto Castle illuminations um from uh the castle ground itself uh Nin Nino Maru area of the castle um and it’s kind of one of those things that the locals in the area know and tourists don’t um but it is a great place to view the castle at night uh and when you’re done with that again that castle illumination viewing I have set set up for like 8:30 p.m um and Yakuri where we can add drinks to it um I have the location marked in Google Maps um and also kind of in um like the pages that I’ll put on our Patreon um but this Yakuri location is um you know one that I’ve not been to myself but I’d recommend stopping by when it opens or preferably um the day before to make a reservation using basic English and Google Translate um you can expect a smoky environment because it is a Yakuri location with their grills um and if that doesn’t bother you um the food looks simply amazing and revent the reviews mention the owners are friendly although there is no mention at all of any English or in what I could see from our menus um no English as well um so you know but like I what I found in the past you find a a friendly friend friendly you know owner or group of people um they’re way more welcome to you know be open to uh foreigners in general especially when you are open warm and friendly yourself so after that is also um you know nearby um the castle um very close and be included um for our lodging um for this trip for what we have my friends um I have uh two I have a budget option of Dormy in uh Kumamoto and then I have an upscale um the blossom of Kumamoto and for both of those I do have Google map uh for both um the Dormy in um Kumoto um I’ve you know grown to be a kind of fan in of if you’re looking for budgets um and even more so than um the APA hotels as they the more I’m like you know see them pop up and things the more that they seem to offer um one thing I’d like to point out though is I would um I read recently um that booking through KO and other um discounted um travel sites and not directly with some uh chain locations in Japan is um at times uh ending up with people ending up with no reservation and having to talk back with Cluke and other places to figure that out um so when you can um I would start again and I’m going to start saying this in other day trips is just book directly with those um locations um when you’re able to um with uh our dormian uh reviews and things like that u mentioned again um a very friendly um staff this is not a super new um dormian location but it is uh close to uh the main bus terminal and some shopping districts in the area there’s also a hotring um there uh you know it’s what you’re going to expect it’s going to from like a a business you know hotel and things uh small rooms within Japan um but again there are tram stops um you know there are uh you know all the different shopping and things that are in that area um and I really does kind of like when you start looking at uh other things that are in the area give you bit a bit to go to um and kind of look for so that is our uh number one um thing that’s here and again even as late as 6 months ago uh people say that the hotel is clean and staff is friendly and that the hotel provides free soba at night after 9:30 p.m um there’s a laundry area um free ice cream even at times um and and vending machines even for drinks so enjoy it um one other thing that some um reviews mention is that there are some cycle tour uh groups that come through through uh and cycle the area so that could be something to look to add onto your trip but just Google you know kind of some cycling tours we’ve talked to some people that do cycling as well um in the past uh friends of our you know show um that you could look to as well so all great things there that is our budget option dor me in right now for uh June 29th through 30th it is around $70 US a night uh for our upscale option as I said um I have uh the Blossom Bumamoto um and it is uh one that is considered to be a four-star hotel uh for those of you listening uh to the show um on Monday June 23rd and happen to be near uh Japan uh there are some amazing deals going on currently with this it’s about 32% less than normal um so putting things around like $86 to $97 um a night like you know $100 something you know US uh for your bookings um it looks pretty cool um on the outside um with uh you know 911 reviews and having almost uh a five like it’s 4.6 in Japan is is great um it is very nice and it’s says that you know it’s a peaceful um location hotel near the main railway uh station for Kumamoto Kumamoto station um which is honestly the more I travel um and I know that I’m going to be going to and from like an airport or a train station i like to have my lodging there unless you know like you’re looking to do something that takes you outside of that area like you know a lot of the activities and things it’s really great because at the end of the day um you’re always back where you need to be um and train stations for those of you um that may not want to run out and hit other things always have a lot of different um you know options it seems for as far as you know uh usually around it uh some dining and things to do so just great um it’s about uh you know from the city center uh from there is about 10 minutes by bus or by you know the tram uh that runs through the area um and so many different people um you know mentioned this having a fantastic experience being near the JR train station where your Shenconson’s going to come in um there are like they said they keep on mentioning um you know public bath and in this restaurant like the location being very clean and modern um you know very clean hotel the gym that is uh said is not very large in any way shape shape or form um only that it has um you know like a treadmill a an elliptical machine you know like or just a very few of them um you know and I’m looking through pictures and things that are here it’s just looks wonderful um has a lot of restaurants and things that are in here um and you know went so far as some reviews just mentioning that they were disappointed um that they only were able to spend one night there um that says a lot you know um that it’s not just the uh city and the area and things you have but the fact they had wish they had more than um one location um people mentioned that the um that book throughtrip.com that check-in was a breeze um and that the just everything they had like as far as an experience somebody else was superb um just awesome it said furnish like the all your like beddings and things seem to be new um and uh from the um the lodging actually has direct access to a mall um and the parking being right below the hotel um they say don’t mind the pricey but when it is more expensive than it is right now being on sale is worth it so um and they even mentioned that for uh some of the rooms that are there that they are larger than your typical uh Japanese uh room so it could be very well worth the price um for you um so it’s it’s great it’s great um with that um we have all of our lodging options um the one last thing I’m going to say about the area is that I would recommend getting a tram pass uh for 600 yen you can get a one-day pass from Kumamoto station which is you know hey all the more reason to be staying in that area um my friends that’s that tram pass for the area um covers all of like the key stops for the area and coming in at 600 yen when you’re running around for the day doing different things um is going to more than pay for itself um remember um for those of you listening to our show you can reach out to me um at any time at lostwith withoutjapgmail.com or lost without japan on Instagram if I can ever answer questions or assist you during your journey um you know we can be there together or even uh when you’re traveling by yourself uh so just feel free to reach you out if you ever have questions um happy uh to look back out to you um with that um we’re going to be bringing that uh our day trip for the day uh to an end and hope you uh enjoy um all the different suggestions uh for the area there is so much more than what I even was able to share in our one day itinerary for it um and I look forward to hearing what David has to offer as well when he gets back um look forward to having you join us again in a regularly scheduled episode in two more weeks and if you don’t mind uh please give a follow like or comment on your favorite streaming service or follow our the show on our Instagram at Lost Without Japan u before we get completely out today um I ended up for the first time ever I’ll share this again when Dave is back and for our four-year episodes going to be coming up in August uh but for the first time um this show is located in the top 100 um for uh you know shows having to do with Japan which is huge because the list is of a thousand different podcasts and I I like the fact it’s it’s different than a lot of those the awards or things that you see where you pay to be a part of and I feel like you’re paying to just have your name be mentioned in something so I just happened to check on it recently and ran a story on my Instagram about it if you’d like to check that out uh but thank you for all of your listens and following the shows and all the different things you had to get us to that point um truly appreciate it um if you enjoyed today’s show uh please support it by joining the show’s Patreon that will also be linked in today’s show notes um thank you to our members who continue to donate um I’m looking to save tour microphones um that I’m going to use to record various sounds and things like that when I go with Addison um in two more summers on behalf of Lost Japan and its entire crew I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip um we look forward to seeing you on board again in two weeks for our next episode where we will kind of talk about those 10 different statues located throughout the Kumamoto um area uh so to everyone out there a ginky day stay well my friends [Music]
Kumamoto Day Trip: Doing Good With Your Day Trip and Home to some amazing One Piece locations to visit in Japan, Lost Without Japan Episode 114
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