Kumamoto

Kumamoto, ken (prefecture), located in central Kyushu, Japan, facing the Amakusa Sea and including the Amakusa Islands. The city of Kumamoto is the prefectural capital.

The prefecture, once predominantly agricultural, now has a strong manufacturing and service-oriented economy. Rice, fruits and vegetables, and livestock all contribute to agricultural production. Forestry is important in the interior mountains, as is fishing along the coasts and islands. Manufactures include electronics (notably semiconductors), automobiles, and processed foods. Tourism, of growing importance, centres on the enormous volcanic crater of Mount Aso in Aso-Kujo National Park in the northeast and the peninsular and island area of Unzen-Amakusa National Park in the southwest that includes Mount Unzen. Yatsushiro, on the coast, was linked by Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kagoshima (south) in 2004, and the segment extending north to connect with Fukuoka (Hakata station) opened in 2011. Area 2,859 square miles (7,404 square km). Pop. (2010) 1,817,426.