Aso, one of the world's largest calderas. Amakusa-Gokyo bridges and a saw-toothed coast add to the splendor.

Kumamoto is situated in the center of Kyushu at the western end of Japan. Mt. Aso-san stands in the east and the Chikuhi Mountains lie to the north, while the Shira-kawa River, the Kuma-gawa River, and other rivers flow from the mountains to the western part of the lower current area, forming the Kumamoto Plain and Yashiro Plain. The Uto-hanto Peninsula juts out to the southwest from the Kyushu mainland, and the Amakusa Islands lie beyond the peninsula.

Kumamoto has two national parks, namely Aso-Kuju and Unzen-Amakusa, and two quasi-national parks, namely Mt. Yabahita-hiko-san and the Kyushu Central Mountains. The total area of these natural parks occupies 20 percent of the prefecture. The Aso district has an active volcano, Mt. Aso-san, with one of the largest calderas in the world and many hot springs. The Amakusa district has the Amakusa-Gokyo (five bridges), historic sites with tragic stories of Christian martyrs, and scenic sites of the islands and a saw-toothed coast. The central mountainous area attracts people with its valleys, virgin forests, and beautiful mountain sights.

Other must-sees in Kumamoto include Kumamoto City with Kumamoto Castle noted for its stonewalls with 'musha-gaeshi,' a special defense designed to prevent enemy attacks, and the Suizenji-joju-en Garden, hot spring villages and valleys in the basin of the Kikuchi-gawa River, which empties into Shimabara Bay, and the Hitoyoshi and Kuma area with abundant historical sites from the 12th to 14th centuries.

Location of an active volcano and many hot springs. See inside the volcano crater from the safety of the Aso Volcano Museum.

Mt. Aso-san is located at the center of Aso-Kuju National Park in Kumamoto and Oita, which lies roughly in the center of Kyushu. The mountain is a typical complex volcano composed of an outer rim with a total circumferential length of 128 kilometers, a caldera (circular volcanic basin) with three municipals inside, and five mountains (Aso Gotake) on the central plateau, including the active Mt. Naka-dake.

Many hot spring villages, including Tarutama, Jigoku, Aso, and Yunotani, are located inside and outside Aso-Kuju National Park. The Aso Uchinomaki-onsen-kyo Hot Spring Village, with more than 100 hot springs, is the largest among them.

The 1,506-meter-high summit of Mt. Naka-dake, one of the major volcanoes of the world, where the air is filled with the smell of sulfur, can be reached by a ropeway and car. It is the sole place in Japan where tourists at the summit can take a close-range look at the dynamic fumes rising from the crater, which extends about one kilometer north and south and about four kilometers east and west. Since it is an active volcano, shelter dugouts are provided around the crater. Pictures of the interior of the crater taken with two TV cameras at the crater can be seen, under the viewer's control with push buttons, in the Aso Volcano Museum. Kusasenri, covered with volcanic ash, is located on the northern mountainside of Mt. Eboshi-dake, where you can relax while seeing cows and horses grazing or by riding a horse (accompanied by an instructor).