Getting around Kumamoto

Getting inHow you arrive in Kumamoto

Kumamoto Airport · Kumamoto Station (shinkansen) · 40 min from Hakata, 50 min from Kagoshima

Confirmed journey times

Fastest services, checked on the date shown.

From Tokyo: About 6 hours in total, changing at Hakata — Nozomi to Hakata, then Sakura or Mizuho. Most visitors fly to Kumamoto Airport instead.
Checked 2026-08-16
From Hakata: Hakata to Kumamoto by Sakura or Mizuho — Mizuho makes fewer stops.
Checked 2026-08-16

A Japan Rail Pass does not cover Nozomi or Mizuho. What a rail pass covers

In this prefecture you will probably use Kumamoto Dentetsu — a private railway, not JR. A Japan Rail Pass does not cover it.

An IC card works on most of them. Signs and station names are in English.

Worth it the moment you leave the main city. What you need to drive here

Permit neededDrive left

Clean, safe and metered. Show the address on your phone rather than saying it. Doors are often opened for you.

Show the address

City: Usually around midnight
Country: Far earlier — sometimes mid-afternoon. Ask at the stop when you arrive, not when you want to leave
If you miss it: Ask your inn to call a taxi before the last bus goes, not after

ATMs: Use 7-Eleven or Japan Post for a foreign card. Bank ATMs are hit and miss
Carry: ¥10,000–20,000 on a day out of the city. Rural areas have very little
Small places: Cash only is common. Ask “Card OK?” before you order

Lockers: At the main station, paid by IC card. They fill by mid-morning
Send it: Any convenience store will deliver it to your next hotel, usually next day. Cheaper than carrying it up stairs
At your inn: They will hold it before check-in and after check-out