Fishing Spot Japan

Fishing rules in Kumamoto

What Kumamoto adds on top of national law, and what we still do not hold for it. Rules stack downwards: the prefecture may restrict more than the nation, and a cooperative more than the prefecture. None may permit what a layer above forbids.

Legal gear

These are the gear a non-professional may use in Kumamoto’s sea areas. The list is exhaustive: anything not shown here may not be used at all, which catches out visitors who assume a speargun or diving apparatus is merely restricted rather than banned.

Kumamoto

×Trolling●Hand line & rod fishing●Landing net●Scoop net●△Cast net●Fishing spear (excluding harpoons)●Rake / clam tool●Hand gathering
○ Permitted● Permitted, but lights / fish-attracting lamps are prohibited△ Permitted, but not from a vessel※ Permitted, but chumming is prohibited▲ Permitted, but chumming from a vessel is prohibited× Prohibited
Source: https://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/j/yugyo/y_kisei/kisoku/todo_huken/index.htmlAs of 2026-03-31✓ checked 2026-08-25

If you are not a Japanese national

Under the Act on the Regulation of Fishing Operations by Foreign Nationals (Act No. 60 of 1967), recreational fishing by foreign nationals in Japanese waters is limited to 'gathering or catching of aquatic animals or plants on a minor scale'. What you may use depends on the size of the boat you are on.

Method / gearShore (no vessel)Vessel under 3 GTVessel 3 GT or more
Rod fishing, handlineyesyesguide-only
Landing net, scoop net, fishing spear, clam rake or knifeyesyesguide-only
Cast netyesnono
Trollingn/ayesguide-only

On a vessel of 3 gross tons or more, a foreign national may fish ONLY when the trip is run by a Japanese vessel under the control of a Japanese fisher — that is, a registered charter (yugyosen) or fishing boat. Most serious offshore boats are over 3 GT, so for offshore fishing a licensed Japanese guide is not a convenience. It is the law.

Up to 3 years' imprisonment, a fine of up to ¥30,000,000, or both — for breaching the gear and method rules that apply specifically to foreign nationals.

This is national law and applies in Kumamoto exactly as everywhere else. It sits on top of the prefecture’s gear list above — you need to clear both.

Size limits and closed seasons

Kumamoto VERIFIED

Set by the Kumamoto Fisheries Adjustment Rules (arts. 35, 40, 48) and the Fisheries Act.

Applies to: Sea and inland. The sea rows come from the prefecture's sea guidance; the inland rows from its river and lake guidance. Each row says which water it applies to, because the ayu closure is genuinely different in the two.

Closed seasons

Ayu (sweetfish)1 Dec – 31 MarSea
Pen shell1 Jun – 30 SepSea
Soft-shell clam1 Jun – 30 SepSea
Abalone1 Nov – 20 DecSea Also nationally protected.
Spiny lobster1 May – 20 AugSea
Sea cucumber1 Apr – 30 SepSea Also nationally protected.
Ayu (sweetfish)1 Jan – 31 MayInland All sizes. Note this differs from the sea closure above.
Yamame and amago1 Oct – end of FebInland All sizes.

May not be taken at or under this size

Amberjack (buri)15 cm total length or underSea
Red seabream5 cm total length or underSea
Crimson seabream5 cm total length or underSea
Japanese eel21 cm total length or underSea
Flathead grey mullet10 cm total length or underSea
Spiny lobster15 cm body length or underSea
Kuruma prawn10 cm body length or underSea
Common octopus100 g or under (by weight)Sea
Manila clamunder 1.2 cm shell widthSea
Hard clam3 cm shell length or underSea
Abalone10 cm shell length or underSea
Horned turban2.5 cm operculum diameter or underSea
Pen shell15 cm shell length or underSea
Soft-shell clam4.5 cm shell length or underSea
Japanese eel21 cm total length or underInland A committee directive also closes eel over 21 cm from 1 Oct to 31 Mar.
Flathead grey mullet10 cm total length or underInland
Common carp10 cm total length or underInland

Prohibited methods

  • Sea — Any use of light — for attracting fish or merely for searching
  • Sea — Spears fitted with a launching mechanism
  • Sea — Walking push-net (etsuki-ami)
  • Harbours and within 30 m of breakwaters — Fishing using earth or sand
  • Sea except Ariake — Ami-dango bait for bakudan-zuri

Permitted: rod and handline; landing net, scoop net and basket scoop; cast net (not from a boat); spear without a launching mechanism, and gaff; hand gathering. Light may not be used with any of them. Five protected waters are closed outright, and further local restrictions apply — see below.

Local committee instructions

  • 1 Oct – 31 Mar: eel over 21 cm total length may not be taken, at sea or in rivers. Note this runs the opposite way to the size limit above, which protects juveniles — in this window the larger fish are protected instead.
  • Coastal waters from Uki City (excluding the Ariake side) to the Kagoshima border, and off Kami-Amakusa, Amakusa and Reihoku: red seabream of 15 cm total length or under may not be taken.
  • 1 Jun – 30 Jun in the Shiranui Sea: swimming crab may not be taken with landing or scoop nets. In the Ariake Sea the ban runs 1–15 Jun.
  • 1 Jun – 15 Nov: no fishing within 100 m of the mahi-mahi FAD set off Amakusa.
  • On the Kuma River, taking aquatic animals is banned from 30 m above to 80 m below the Kumagawa weir at Yatsushiro, and likewise at the Shin-Maekawa weir.
  • Carp may not be moved from one water to another anywhere in the prefecture, to stop koi herpes spreading.
  • In Kumamoto City, released or re-released non-native fish are banned by city ordinance in the Ezuko area — you may not put a bass back.
Source: Kumamoto Prefecture — rules and manners for recreational fishing at sea ; and its rules and manners for rivers and lakes https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/94/122478.html ; https://www.pref.kumamoto.jp/soshiki/94/1741.html✓ checked 2026-08-31

Cooperatives that sell a permit online

1 in Kumamoto. Buying before you travel matters: on many rivers the price doubles if you buy it on the bank.

Kumamotoguni Fishery Cooperative

Buy permit →

Places we list here

What we do not hold, and who to ask

Being explicit about the gap is the point of this page. What is missing:

  • Sea-area and inland committee directives, which close specific waters or periods. We hold these for a few prefectures only.
  • Port and municipal rules. Posted on signs at the water, in Japanese, and published nowhere centrally.

Kumamoto Inland Fisheries Federation
0968-43-4575

National rules apply on top of everything here — see Before you fish. How every figure is graded is set out in Data & sources.