Not to be confused with Utö in Finland and Sweden.

Uto (宇土うと) is a city in Kumamoto (prefecture) on the island of Kyushu, Japan.

Understand

The city has some 40,000 inhabitants on 75 km².

Tourist information site

The local tourist association has a Japanese-only guide site with basic navigation in English.

Get in

Uto is a stop on the JR Kagoshima Line.

By train

From Hakata station in Fukuoka, take the Relay Tsubame or Ariake limited express train to Kumamoto and transfer to the Kagoshima line local train for the run to Uto (1 hour 40 minutes, ¥4090). Local trains from Fukuoka take about 2½ hours at a cost of ¥2420 (at least one change of trains is required).

Do

The Uto Jizo Festival is held yearly on 23-24 August.

Eat

There are some famous and delicious foods in Uto city.

• Utomochi (うと餅もち) and Kosodemochi (小袖こそで餅もち): Small rice cake with red bean paste inside. Two shops near the station sell them with different tradenames. Around \300 per pack.

Go next

• Uki
• Jonan
• Kumamoto
• Hikawa
• Kosa
• Yatsushiro
• Kamiamakusa
• Amakusa
• Kashima

Routes through Uto

Fukuoka ← Kumamoto ←

N  S

→ Ogawa → Kagoshima