New landmark of Hitoyoshi Kuma overlooking the Kuma River HASSENBA HITOYOSHI/KUMAGAWA is a sightseeing complex where visitors can discover new attractions of Hitoyoshi Kuma. While preserving the culture of Kuma River rafting, the facility demonstrates values discovered but often overlooked by the locals. The facility demonstrates the charms of nature, culture, food, and other attractions centering on Kuma River rafting.

Hotel Sun Hitoyoshi is popular for its excellent location overlooking the Kuma River, one of the three fastest rivers in Japan, and for its easy access to transportation, which is about a 5-minute walk from JR Hitoyoshi Station and about 7 minutes from the Hitoyoshi Interchange on the Kyushu Expressway. The hotel is surrounded by wonderful natural beauty and pristine views of the river flowing by outside. The hotel boasts excellent service and Wi-Fi in all rooms.

This restaurant offers home-cooked Japanese style cuisine prepared by Hitoyoshi Kuma's grannies. They use seasonal ingredients from the local area and their homely dishes are a nostalgic nod to simple, hearty and healthy food.

This is the place to enjoy Hitoyoshi Onsen, which has been selected as a Japanese Heritage Site. The two large public baths and open-air guest rooms with views of Hitoyoshi Castle ruins and the Kuma River, as well as the footbath, which is available free of charge to non-guests, all have free-flowing hot-spring water. The modern Japanese-style rooms and kaiseki cuisine made from local ingredients offer the guest a sense of peace and tranquility, relaxing and healing the mind from the stress of daily life.

Mt.Ichifusa, with its breathtaking 1,000-year-old Ichifusa cedar trees, is also known as one of Japan's top 200 mountains and one of Kyushu's top 100 mountains. The mountain is well-equipped with camping sites, hot springs, and other nearby facilities, and the trail is paved up to the halfway point, making it relatively easy for even beginners to take on the challenge of mountain climbing. The view of the surrounding mountains from the 1722-meter-high Mt.Ichifusa is breathtakingly beautiful during the autumn color season.

The "Farmer's Inn Chanomi," a renovated former barn featuring a tea garden, is recommended for those who want to feel the traditions and nature of Hitoyoshi Kuma. The inn prides itself on its cuisine which uses home-grown vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, wild vegetables, wild game, and other ingredients that are gentle on the body.
Visitors can experience tea making from June to August, and strawberry picking and jam making from March to April.

Hayashi Shuzojo, a brewery founded in the mid-Edo period, brews authentic rice shochu called "Gokuraku" for those in the know. The secret of its flavor lies in the outstanding natural environment, with the clear Miyako River running right in front of the brewery. Its taste is not overpowering, and can be enjoyed by everyone from shochu enthusiasts to beginners. Visitors can observe the shochu brewing process which is carried on in the traditional stone koji room where they value quality over quantity, as well as the jar brewing process.

Myoukenno Nature Forest Observation Park is a leisure facility where visitors can enjoy sky sports, hiking, and camping. From the observatory, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Hitoyoshi Kuma Basin, and in winter, a sea of clouds can be seen. At night, you can relax under a star-filled sky so beautiful that it will make you sigh. The park can also be reached by walking up approximately 1,000 steps. There is no drinking water available along the way or in the park, so be sure to bring your own drink.

Aoi Aso Shrine, a shrine designated as a national treasure, was built in the first year of Daido (806). The current shrine was built by Sagara Nagatsune between 1610 and 1613.
90% of the nationally and prefecturally designated shrine and temple buildings in Kumamoto Prefecture are located in the Kuma region, and Aoi Aso Shrine is one of them. While it inherits a highly original architectural style, it also shows the splendid ornamentation of the Momoyama Period.

One of the 100 most famous castles in Japan.The castle was the base of the Sagara family for approximately 700 years, from the Kamakura period to the end of the Edo period. The castle was built with the Kuma River and the Mochi River as natural moats, and the entire castle site is a national historic site. It is also called Sengetsu Castle, or Crescent Castle, because a stone with a crescent moon pattern was excavated when the Sagara clan was repairing the castle. From the Ninomaru and Sanomaru areas, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the Hitoyoshi city area. In spring, the castle is a popular spot for cherry blossom viewing, attracting many visitors.

The Ota family residence in an old house typical of the local architectural style of Hitoyoshi Kuma. It is said that the Ota family lived in this house during the Kamakura period, when they accompanied the Sagara clan on an excursion, and later established a residence in Nakabaru, Taraki Town, where they engaged in farming and brewing. Designated as a National Important Cultural Property in 1973 and a component cultural property of the Japan Heritage Hitoyoshi Kuma in 2015, component No. 24, the building is a symbol of residential architecture in Hitoyoshi Kuma and is preserved and exhibited.

Tanimizu Yakushi is one of Japan's Seven Great Yakushi, and was originally built by Gyoki Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Gyoki), who was told by a priest to build a hall and enshrine a statue of Nyorai Buddha of his own creation. It is said to bring good luck if a chewed piece of paper is thrown at the statue of Nio, standing at the temple gate, and it sticks to the part of the body that is ailing. Behind the main hall, there is a spring called "Gekkosui" that is said to be effective against illness. It is also said to bring good luck in marriage. A grand festival is held four times a year, and many people visit the shrine.