Kato Kiyomasa built Kumamoto Castle between 1601 and 1607, drawing on the engineering expertise he had honed during the Korean campaigns. The castle's signature curved stone walls — known as musha-gaeshi (warrior-repelling walls) — made scaling them virtually impossible. This legendary fortress stands as a testament to Kiyomasa's military genius and mastery of construction.

Hosokawa Tadaoki entered Higo Province with 540,000 koku in 1601, taking Kumamoto Castle as his seat after passing through Bungo and Tango. He worked to develop the castle town and promote culture, and the Hosokawa clan governed the Higo domain until the Meiji Restoration. Tadaoki is also famous for his tragic relationship with his wife Garasha (daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide), and is remembered as a cultured daimyo who weathered the storms of the Sengoku period.

Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo) was posted to Kumamoto from 1891 to 1894 as an English teacher at the Fifth Higher School (now Kumamoto University). Transferring from Matsue, Hearn encountered Kumamoto's samurai culture and was deeply impressed by the majesty of Kumamoto Castle. His time in Kumamoto deepened his understanding of Japanese culture and laid the foundation for his later literary work.