Kumamoto Castle Restoration Still Ongoing 10 Years after Quakes

Kumamoto, April 14 (Jiji Press)--Efforts to restore Kumamoto Castle, a landmark in the southwestern Japan prefecture of Kumamoto that was damaged in a pair of powerful earthquakes a decade ago, are still ongoing.

While repair work has been completed on the castle's main tower, the Uto-yagura tower, known as the castle's third tower, and stone walls are still being reconstructed. Those involved in the restoration aim to fully reopen the castle in fiscal 2052.

Kumamoto Castle was battered by the magnitude-6.5 foreshock at 9:26 p.m. on April 14, 2016, and the magnitude-7.3 main quake some 28 hours later. Property damage totaled about 63.4 billion yen.

Most of the roof tiles of the main tower fell off, and all 13 national important cultural properties inside the castle were damaged. About 23,600 square meters of the stone walls that make up the foundation of the castle, or about 30 pct of the total, collapsed.

The city of Kumamoto drew up a basic plan for restoring the castle in March 2018. It initially aimed to complete reconstruction work in fiscal 2037, but the work period was extended due to the time needed to consider methods that would not damage the value of cultural properties and historic sites.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]