Cruises departing from Kumamoto

Kumamoto City offers insight into both Japan's samurai past and its modern-day love of kawaii cuteness. Check out the city's old downtown area dominated by Kumamoto Castle, a reconstruction of the fortress from which samurai lords ruled their domain. Cruise to Kumamoto and walk alongside the Shirakawa River past traditional Japanese gardens the homes of prominent 19th- and 20th-century writers — pop into the former residence of Lafcadio Hearn, one of the first Western writers to settle in Japan. Then, see ancient and modern art and relax in the calming stone garden at the Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, or head to Musashizuka Park to see the tomb and statue of famous swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.