The matchlock joins people and skill,
and carries them into the future.
The Ashikita Matchlock Gun Corps Experience The Ashikita Matchlock Gun Corps Experience
November 14 & 15 /
December 5 & 6, 2026
多言語
音声ガイド Multilingual
Audio Guide
The experience
A day with the samurai spirit,
handed down across four hundred years.
Ashikita, in southern Kumamoto, sat on the old border between Higo and Satsuma. The Ashikita Matchlock Gun Corps still keeps the skill and the manners of the matchlock, handed down since the age of war. The matchlock was one of the first true machines Japan ever held: a screw, a linked trigger and precise metalwork, all in a single gun.
You walk Sashiki-juku, the post town on the old Satsuma Highway with an audio guide, then watch the corps fire at close range at Sashiki Castle, above the Yatsushiro Sea. Lunch is a bento of local ingredients; on the castle hill you take a bowl of tea to the sound of the koto. Members of the corps then teach you the stance and the handling of the matchlock, and you are photographed in armor.
This is not sightseeing. It is a day spent as one of the corps.
The sound you hear from a matchlock today is the same sound they heard in the age of war.
You can hear it only because people have kept that skill, and the way it is done, for hundreds of years.
What you do
Six scenes in one day with the corps.
Walk the highway, eat, stand in the smoke, drink tea, raise a gun, stand before the banners.
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01Guided walk on the Satsuma Highway
The houses of Sashiki are arranged at an angle, in a saw-tooth line, so that defenders could wait out of sight. An audio guide unpicks what you are looking at. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Atsuhime and Saigō Takamori all travelled this road, and you walk it on your own feet.
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02A bento of local ingredients
A bento made for the day from the produce of Ashikita's hills and sea, eaten on the castle hill above the Yatsushiro Sea. Waiting for the demonstration is part of the day too.
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03The corps' demonstration
The matchcords are lit, the command is given, the guns come up. One breath of silence. Then the roar, and white smoke across the stone walls. From a few metres away, the sound and the shock do not survive a screen.
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04Open-air tea, with koto music
Red felt on the castle hill, a paper parasol, and the koto playing. A bowl of matcha and a sweet. The quiet that follows the gunsmoke is the other half of this day.
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05Handling a matchlock
A member of the corps stands beside you and teaches the hold, the stance, and the way the gun is given back. The captain's phrase is: not the look, the spirit. Take the same posture as four hundred years ago. You do not fire the gun.
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06Photographs in armor (option)
Real armor, a matchlock in your hands, and the corps' banners behind you. Fitting and photographs are an option (30,000 yen), and numbers are limited. What is left at the end of the day is you, in this town.
The day, hour by hour
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7:45 – 10:00Kumamoto Station to Ashikita
- Meet at Kumamoto Station
- Depart by private coach (pick-up at Shin-Yatsushiro Station 9:00)
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10:00 – 12:00Sashiki-juku, Satsuma Highway
- Arrive at Sashiki-juku on the Satsuma Highway; orientation
- Guided walk on the old Satsuma Highway
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12:00 – 15:20Sashiki Castle ruins
- Move up to Sashiki Castle; lunch
- Armor fitting (for guests who booked the option)
- Matchlock demonstration by the corps
- Open-air tea, with koto music
- Handling and stance with a matchlock
- Photographs
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15:20 – 17:20Ashikita back to Kumamoto Station
- Leave Sashiki (Shin-Yatsushiro Station 16:20)
- Back at Kumamoto Station
Order and times may change with the weather. In rain, parts of the programme may move indoors.
On the meet-on-site plan the day runs from 10:00 at Sashiki-juku to 15:20.
The Ashikita Matchlock Gun Corps
Not a show. Four hundred years of skill.
The corps carries on the gunnery of the Inatomi school and the tradition of the Ashikita Ogorizutsu, the local gunners who served the Hosokawa lords. It was re-formed in the early 2000s and is based in Ashikita. Its members are ordinary residents of this town.
It has performed more than 750 times: at the Tower of London, at the 150th anniversary of Japanese immigration to Hawaii, in Korea, and at Rugby World Cup 2019.
Dates & prices
Four days in 2026. Book from one guest.
Dates
- Sat November 14Book by November 7
- Sun November 15Book by November 8
- Sat December 5Book by November 28
- Sun December 6Book by November 29
Bookings close at 6 pm (JST), 7 days before the tour date.
The dates follow the corps' own gunnery training schedule.
Price, tax included
From Kumamoto / Shin-Yatsushiro StationPrivate coach included · about 9 hours
Monitor tour special price
- Adult (per person)73%OFF
30,000yen8,000yen- Child (per person)9%OFF
8,800yen8,000yen
Meet on siteMeet us in Sashiki · about 6 hours
Monitor tour special price
- Adult (per person)75%OFF
20,000yen5,000yen- Child (per person)9%OFF
3,300yen3,000yen
As this is a monitor tour, we ask you to fill in a questionnaire. Photos will be taken during the tour for our records and may be used in printed materials. Thank you for your understanding.
Armor fitting and photographs are an option (30,000 yen). Numbers are limited.
You can book from one guest. Each departure runs with 15 to 20 guests.
Meet and finish: Kumamoto Station 7:45 / 17:20 (Shin-Yatsushiro 8:50 / 16:20). Meet-on-site: Sashiki 10:00 / 15:20.
Included
- Matchlock demonstration by the corps
- Handling and stance with a matchlock
- Guided walk on the Satsuma Highway
- Open-air tea (tea and a sweet) with koto music
- Lunch: a special bento of local ingredients
- Multilingual audio guide (English)
- An original tenugui cloth
- Travel insurance
- Private coach there and back (coach plan only)
Not included
- Travel to the meeting point
- Food and drink other than lunch
Choose your plan, then pick your date and the number of guests on the booking page. Cancellation terms and payment methods are shown there too.
