Kumamoto Station

Kumamoto Station (熊本駅) has existed since the railway reached Kumamoto in 1891 (then under the name 春日停車場). The 2019 station building is the fourth, after those of 1914 and 1958, the latter renovated in 1991.

It comes out of the elevation of the Kagoshima and Hōhi main lines, a project begun by the prefecture in 2001 that removed 15 level crossings. The initial plan followed a standard design; it was replaced by a design aiming at a station worthy of being the gateway to Kumamoto. In October 2006, a top-level meeting of the governor, the mayor, the president of JR and business leaders raised the idea of a landmark station entrusted to a renowned architect. In January 2007, design sketches were requested from Tadao Ando and unveiled in March 2007. In August 2008, the prefecture, the city and JR agreed on his design; in September 2008, JR commissioned him for the basic design. The station design was presented in March 2010, and the building was completed in March 2019, with a ceremony on 16 March on the square in front of the Shirakawa exit. The square itself was completed in March 2021.

Since March 2011 the station has also served the Kyushu Shinkansen. The side of the conventional station, to the east, is called the Shirakawa exit; the west exit, created with the Shinkansen, is called the Shinkansen exit (新幹線口). Ando's building is that of the conventional station, on the Shirakawa exit side.

The concept fits in one line: a powerful and beautiful station evoking Kumamoto's castle and forest. It sets four principles: an imposing outer wall that recalls the mushagaeshi of Kumamoto Castle, the use of timber from the prefecture, a place staged to stay in the heart of everyone who comes, and universal accessibility.

The outer envelope takes up the curve of the mushagaeshi seen in the castle's stone walls.

The platform roofs emphasise the volume of a timber structure, giving the feeling of standing under trees, in the image of the "city of trees" (森の都) that Natsume Sōseki saw in Kumamoto; the timber brings calm and ease to passengers. Compared with the standard design, the platform roof is curved, its frame is timber and the windbreak screens are upgraded, also curved. The conventional lines have two island platforms.

Three workshops on universal accessibility, with academics, associations and the local neighbourhood council, were held in October 2013, November 2016 and March 2018; their comments were taken into account as far as possible.

It is a working JR Kyushu station: it serves the Kagoshima and Hōhi main lines and the Kyushu Shinkansen. Before the building was completed, the square at the Shirakawa exit and the one at the Shinkansen exit were linked only by a temporary passage 6 m wide, which forced a detour; people now move freely between the two.

The station is about 2 km south-west of the centre of Kumamoto (castle, city hall, shopping district). The ticket office is open every day from 7:00 to 21:00, though staff may be away for a while.

Ando's facade is on the east side, behind the square at the Shirakawa exit.