Kumamoto Airport — Kumamoto, Japan

KMJ serves Kumamoto on Kyushu, a city best known for its reconstructed seventeenth-century castle and for its proximity to Mount Aso, one of the largest volcanic calderas on Earth and still an active, closely monitored volcano that occasionally disrupts regional flight paths with ash. A powerful sequence of earthquakes struck the region in April 2016, badly damaging Kumamoto Castle's stone walls and causing part of the airport terminal's ceiling to collapse, an incident that forced temporary closure and led to a substantially rebuilt facility in the years that followed. Agriculture remains central to the surrounding plain, particularly rice, watermelon, and dairy farming, while the city has also gained lighthearted fame through Kumamon, a bear mascot created for regional promotion that became one of Japan's most recognized characters nationwide. Domestic flights connect KMJ to Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities, supporting both business travel and visitors heading toward Aso's crater rim and surrounding grasslands.