Kato Kiyomasa, considered the founding father of Kumamoto, had a crest called “eye of the snake” (“eye of the tiger” had apparently already been copyrighted by the band Survivor in the 16th C.) http://www.manyou-kumamoto.jp/contents.cfm?id=449 After Tokugawa Ieyasu decided that they were no longer BFF and had Kato mysteriously die, Ieyasu installed Hosokawa Tadatoshi with the promise that he and his successors would play nice (which they did); the Hosokawa crest is similar to the Kato crest, only with more circles. http://www.manyou-kumamoto.jp/contents.cfm?id=457 This is why you will often see black circles as symbols of Kumamoto.
This leads us to Kumamon. His creator, Mizuno Manubu, and producer, Oyama Kundo, have collaborated to produce a new image to aid in the reconstruction of Kumamoto. The image shows Kumamon holding a flag with markings that resemble both his face and the crests of Kato and Hosokawa and the phrases “Ganbaruken! Kumamoto Ken!” - a play on words, with the first “ken” a Higo dialect exclamatory term and the second referring to Kumamoto Prefecture (ha ha! clever!). Its use for commercial activities can be licensed from the city government. - William
