Things to do in Kumamoto Prefecture

We had a wonderful experience on this day tour to Kusasenri Grassland (Kusasenrigahama) and Takachiho Gorge. Our tour guide, Daisy Wu, was very lovely and friendly. She speaks both English and Chinese fluently, which made communication very easy for everyone in the group. During each stop, she also recommended different local food spots for us to try, which was very helpful. Originally, our itinerary was supposed to include Aso Crater as well. However, due to a recent helicopter accident and the ongoing rescue operations, the crater area was temporarily closed. Daisy handled the situation very well and brought us to an alternative spot instead. Luckily, the weather today was very clear, so we were still able to see Aso Crater from Kusasenri Grassland, which made the experience even more special. Overall, this is a highly recommended day tour. Thank you for the lovely keychain souvenir, it’s a nice memory from the trip. Hope to join another tour with Daisy again in the future!

Really enjoyed this trip. The guides were great, the timing was perfect, and we always had enough time to look around. Unfortunately Mt. Aso was closed on the day, so we couldn't go up, but that was out of the tour operator's control. Overall we are very happy with the experience and would recommend it.

We had such a wonderful experience on this tour, and a big part of that was because of our guide, Daisy. From the very beginning, she made everyone feel welcome and at ease. You could really feel her passion for what she does. She didn’t just give us facts — she shared stories and little local insights that made each stop more meaningful and interesting. We also really appreciated her patience and how organized everything was. Nothing ever felt rushed, and we always felt safe and well taken care of. She made sure everyone was included and enjoying themselves. Thank you, Daisy, for making this more than just a tour. It truly became one of the highlights of our trip. We’ll gladly recommend this experience to our friends and family because of you!

Sun was a very informative guide and I learned alot .The castle is impressive and well worth visiting but the view from the Aso plains is amazing.Such a strange landscape I would highly recommend this trip.

Kumamoto Castle is hassle-free and a must-visit when you are in Kumamoto. I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Kumamoto for the first time. The castle is very unique compared to Himeji and Matsumoto. The interior of the castle is modern, and there is air conditioning inside. There was also a samurai dance show outside the castle, which was very fun to watch.

We truly enjoyed the Kamishikimi – Mt. Aso – Kusasenri – Kurokawa Onsen tour. Our guide, Ms. Yang, was incredibly kind and spoke excellent English. She generously shared all the best spots and restaurant recommendations, and she was always polite and respectful throughout the trip. She even gave each of us a small token, which was such a thoughtful and sweet gesture. Our driver was also highly skilled and made us feel safe the entire time. 👏 Overall, it was a wonderful and memorable experience!

It was so rare that it started snowing right as we departed from Kumamoto ❄️. The beautiful Takachiho Gorge was a different kind of beautiful, even though the trees were more barren in winter. Along the way, sometimes there was sunshine, sometimes there was heavy snow; it was truly a super special and unexpected treat. Although we couldn't go to the planned Mount Aso due to the heavy snow, the tour guide skillfully arranged other great locations so we could see the beautiful scenery of South Aso! Many thanks to our guide, Jiang Cui, for her kind guidance and introduction, her enthusiastic help with taking photos, her detailed answers to our questions, and her warm greetings and farewells. She really added a lot of warmth to this trip. The Japanese driver always greeted us when we got on and off the bus and was very polite. It was truly an unforgettable memory in the snow that left a deep impression!

Sun was an amazing tour guide. He's informative, helpful, and went above and beyond to make sure we understand everything and have the best time on the trip even in such a cold weather. He took pictures of everyone, gave us snacks, and even shared a list of restaurants to try around Kumamoto. Our driver was impressive as well, it started raining on our way home (with almost zero visibility) but he's able to drive us back to the city safely.

Mr. sun our guide was excellent. he was informative helpful kind. boat ride in gorge was amazing although a bit chaotic as boats had to turn around and return to starting place. lunch was amazing. gorge trip was physically demanding up and down steps but views breathtaking. all in all a good trip and highly recommended. volcano trip was amazing too. but start of trip was a bit chaotic at Lawson oriental hotel as we have to look for tour guide in large crowd. perhaps giving us the number and name of guide with a sign would be better as we had to ask many Gogo guides before finding right one