Edo

Discover Tsujun Bridge in Kumamoto, Japan's first civil engineering National Treasure. Built in 1854, this magnificent stone aqueduct bridge features spectacular water discharge displays and showcases remarkable Edo period engineering that still irrigates farmland today.

Discover the Ota Family Residence (Otake Jutaku), an Important Cultural Property in Taragi, Kumamoto. This late Edo-period thatched farmhouse showcases the unique L-shaped "kagiya" architecture of the Hitoyoshi-Kuma region and the legacy of 700 years of Sagara clan rule.

Shōzen-in Kannon-dō in Mizukami Village, Kumamoto Prefecture, is a nationally designated Important Cultural Property built in 1625. Known as the Cat Temple, it enchants visitors with its lavish lacquer and polychrome interior and a dramatic Sengoku-era legend of a vengeful cat spirit.

Japan's only surviving cabin from a daimyo's seagoing ceremonial barge, once used by the lords of Kumamoto, with lacquered ceilings of 171 painted panels.

Rebuilt in 1815 after a fire, the main house of the Ueda Family Residence in Amakusa is the commanding home of the Takahama headmen who founded the local porcelain kiln.

Discover the Eto Family Residence Main House (Eto-ke Jutaku Shuoku), a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Ozu Town, Kumamoto. This late Edo-period farmhouse showcases the distinctive architecture of zaigokenin rural samurai families near Mt. Aso.

The Bishamondō of Takaderain Temple in Yamae Village, Kumamoto Prefecture, is a three-bay Buddhist hall built in 1655 and registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Featuring distinctive thick rafters with pronounced upward curvature unique to the Kuma region, this modest yet elegant hall serves as an important chronological benchmark among the many surviving medieval and early modern temple buildings in the area. Located within the grounds of the oldest temple in the Kuma District, the hall once enshrined nationally designated Important Cultural Property Bishamonten statues.

The stone torii gate of Bairin Tenmangu Shrine in Tamana City, Kumamoto, is a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property built in 1659. Standing 4.8 meters tall, this myojin-style gate features uniquely carved dairin-style column tops and exceptionally thick pillars reflecting Kyushu regional craftsmanship. The shrine, founded in 936, also offers yabusame horseback archery and beautiful plum blossoms.

Bairin Tenmangu in Tamana City, Kumamoto Prefecture, is a historic shrine founded in 936 as one of the earliest branch shrines of Dazaifu Tenmangu. Its worship hall (haiden), registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property, is a refined late Edo-period structure featuring a karahafu canopy, openwork carvings, and the distinctive plum blossom crest of Sugawara no Michizane. Each November 25, the shrine hosts a spectacular yabusame mounted archery ritual designated as a prefectural folk cultural property.

The Main Hall of Bairin Tenmangu Shrine in Tamana City, Kumamoto Prefecture, was originally founded in 936 CE when the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane was enshrined from Dazaifu Tenmangu. Rebuilt during the late Edo period, the hall features an elegant hipped-and-gabled roof with copper plating and exquisite carvings concentrated in its upper structure, including wave-motif panels and openwork tie-beam ornaments. Registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2003, the shrine also hosts an annual yabusame horseback archery ritual on November 25, designated as a Kumamoto Prefecture Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and a component of the Kikuchi River Basin Japan Heritage.

Bairin Tenmangu, on the left bank of the Kikuchi River in Tamana City, Kumamoto, was founded in 936 as a branch shrine of Anrakuji Tenmangu, the forerunner of Dazaifu Tenmangu. The late-Edo two-storied tower gate (romon) was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003, together with the main hall, worship hall and stone torii, for its contribution to Japan's historical landscape. This guide introduces travellers to the atmospheric gate, the rice-field shrine grove that surrounds it, and the shrine's celebrated Yabusame horseback archery ritual held each 25 November.

In Kumamoto's Koshima port district, Hamada's late-Edo soy sauce shop wears a plastered, two-toned front with namako tilework, registered for the historic street.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Mashiki, Kumamoto: the former home of a rural Higo-domain samurai, its single-storey roof part hip-and-gable, part hipped.

A Registered Tangible Cultural Property in Kumamoto. Built by the Iseri family in 1832, this tall plastered townhouse anchors the old Miyahara post town.