Tōtō Museum (TOTO ミュージアム), Kitakyushu, Japan

This article was updated on 21 Sep 2021 to clarify the rail trip to the museum.

When visiting Japan, every itinerary will and should include museum visits. Each museum is unique, range in size from large to small, and each usually specializes in one of a wide variety of different subjects. The types of museums include: national (many located in Tokyo), prefectural, municipal, company, and private. These museums are well worth the time to visit given your particular interests and are located throughout the country from the largest cities to the smallest villages.

This article covers a 03 Nov 2019 visit to a company museum located in the city of Kitakyushu on Japan's southern-most main island of Kyushu. Company museums can be glorified places to advertise products, but most are informative about the industry or product the company specializes in. Many times, the museum is located adjacent to the company's production facility, so it is possible to take a factory tour and see the museum in one visit. In this instance, the museum is located on the grounds of company headquarters, next to a production facility, but tours are not given.

From the picture at the top of the article, you probably have guessed that this museum involves toilets and you would be partially correct. While toilets are a large well-known part of the products offered, the company is also known for its kitchen and bathroom fixtures. However these are not just any toilets, these toilets are manufactured by Toto. Toto is credited with being the first to develop and market washlets, probably Toto's most famous product today. Not only do modern washlets wash and dry toilet users, they also come with heated seats, automated flushing capabilities, play sounds to mask toilet noises, and automatically open and close lids. You will find these toilets throughout Japan, both in private and public bathrooms. Please read the rest of the article to find out more about this unique only in Japan museum and to see more photographs.

Kumamoto Castle (熊本城, Kumamoto-jō), Kumamoto, Japan

Kumamoto Castle is located in Kumamoto City on the southernmost Japanese main island of Kyushu, about six hours and a distance of approximately 1300 km (800 miles) from Tokyo, or about 3.5 hours from Osaka (Shin-Osaka Station) by Shinkansen. Kumamoto Castle is one of the three most famous castles that travelers should see when visiting Japan (the other two castles being Himeji and Matsumoto Castles) [1]. A large-scale renovation of the inner castle was completed in Dec 2007, in time for the castle's 400th anniversary [2]. I was fortunate enough to visit the castle in Dec 2009 (and Matsumoto Castle; Himeji Castle had been visited previously) to see the results of the renovation before my most recent visit in Nov 2017.

On 14 April 2016, a magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the island of Kyushu, which caused major damage to many places on the island, with Kumamoto Castle having the most visible and significant. Roof tiles fell, foundations were damaged, entire structures collapsed, and the stone walls sustained major damage. Sections of the wall collapsed (as pictured above), leaving some structures perilously close collapsing themselves. The repairs to the castle started two months after the earthquake and has a target completion date of 2036 (yes, an estimated 20 years to repair the damage!) [2]. Whereas previously you could freely walk the grounds of the castle before the earthquake, visitors are now restricted to walking the perimeter of the castle while reconstruction is in progress (for obvious safety reasons). The route is well marked, easily walkable, and there are numerous informative signposts in Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese  (Simplified and Traditional) along the way.