kyushukumamoto
Kurokawa Onsen
Kurokawa Onsen is a hot-spring village of some thirty ryokan along a forested river in Kumamoto Prefecture, in the Kyushu region, in the mountains just north of the Aso caldera.
Kurokawa Onsen at night
- Prefecture
- Kumamoto
- Region
- Kyushu
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
Timber inns along a mountain river, and an evening in yukata walking from one onsen to the next.
Kurokawa is the most admired onsen village in Kyushu, and its look is no accident. In the 1980s its innkeepers agreed to make the whole village one landscape: no neon, no billboards, buildings in dark timber, earthen walls and stone, and trees planted between them until the inns seem to stand in the forest. The signs are of wood, the lanterns are paper, and the road through the village is narrow enough to feel like a lane.
The same agreement gave Kurokawa its most famous idea. In 1986 the inns introduced the nyuto tegata, a round wooden tablet of cedar that opens the open-air onsen of three different ryokan to its holder. The evening is spent in yukata and wooden sandals, crossing small bridges over the Tanoharu River from one inn to another, each onsen set among rocks and trees a little differently from the last, some in caves, some beneath the forest canopy, some open to the river.
The springs themselves vary from inn to inn, some clear, some milky, some faintly tinted, rising from the volcanic ground around Aso. The village is small enough to walk end to end in a quarter of an hour, and it is loveliest in the evening, when the lanterns are lit along the river.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see at Kurokawa Onsen
The Tanoharu River
The mountain stream around which Kurokawa is built, crossed by small bridges, its banks lined with the open-air onsen of the inns.
The nyuto tegata
The wooden onsen pass of the village, a cedar disc on a cord, stamped at each inn where it is used. It admits its holder to three open-air onsen and makes a keepsake afterwards.
Jizo-do and Jizo-yu
A small hall in the centre of the village with a stone Jizo, the protector of travellers, beside the old communal onsen from which Kurokawa grew.
A covered bridge over the river, Kurokawa Onsen Kurokawa's lanes
The narrow streets between the inns, with shops of crafts and sweets and cafes in old wooden buildings, best walked in yukata.
Nabegataki Falls
A broad, low waterfall in the cedar forest of Oguni, twenty minutes away, where a path leads behind the curtain of falling water.
Senomoto Kogen
The open highland plateau between Kurokawa and the Kuju mountains, a sweep of grass and sky along the Yamanami Highway.
Kokonoe Yume Otsurihashi
A footbridge for walkers across a wooded gorge in neighbouring Oita, 390 metres long and 173 metres above the river, with a view of the Shindo waterfalls, about forty minutes from the village.
Daikanbo and the Aso rim
The great viewpoint over the Aso caldera, about half an hour from the village, looking across to the five peaks.
experiences
The best of Kurokawa Onsen
An evening on the onsen pass
Dinner at the ryokan, then a slow walk in yukata through the lantern-lit village to the open-air onsen of two other inns, and back to your own.
A villa with its own onsen
A ryokan room set apart from the main building, with an open-air onsen of its own above the river or among the trees, for a night spent entirely in the water and the quiet.
Kaiseki of the mountains
Dinner served in the room or a private dining room: river fish, mountain vegetables, akaushi beef from Aso, and rice grown on the caldera floor.
The grasslands by car
A drive along the Yamanami Highway over the highlands to Aso, with stops at the viewpoints of the rim, returning to the village for the evening.
plan your visit
Kurokawa Onsen on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- One night is the usual stay, and two nights let the village and its onsen be enjoyed at leisure, with a day in the Aso caldera between.
- Getting there
- By car from Kumamoto Airport in about an hour and ten minutes, from Fukuoka in about two hours, and from Yufuin in a little over an hour by the Yamanami Highway. Aso is about fifty minutes to the south.
journeys
Kurokawa Onsen on a private journey
We bring guests to Kurokawa Onsen on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Kurokawa Onsen: questions answered
What is Kurokawa Onsen known for?
Its village of about thirty ryokan in dark timber and stone along a forested river, with no neon or billboards, and its wooden onsen pass, which admits the holder to three open-air onsen of different inns.
How do you get to Kurokawa Onsen?
By car: about an hour and ten minutes from Kumamoto Airport, about two hours from Fukuoka, and a little over an hour from Yufuin. Highway buses also run from Fukuoka and Kumamoto.
How does the Kurokawa onsen pass work?
The nyuto tegata is a wooden tablet sold at the inns and the village information centre. It admits the holder to the open-air onsen of three ryokan of their choice, each stamping the tablet.
How many nights should you stay in Kurokawa Onsen?
One night for the village and its onsen, two to add a day in the Aso caldera at an easy pace.
Are there ryokan with private onsen in Kurokawa?
Yes. Several of the inns have rooms or separate cottages with their own open-air onsen, and private family onsen that can be reserved for a party.
Can you visit Kurokawa Onsen as a day trip?
Yes, the onsen pass can be used by day visitors, but the village is at its best after the day visitors leave, so a night at one of its ryokan is the better way to know it.
Is Kurokawa Onsen better than Yufuin?
They are different: Kurokawa is a small village in the forest, entirely given to onsen, while Yufuin is a larger town in a valley below Mount Yufu, with galleries and shops. Many journeys include both.
Can Kurokawa Onsen be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Kurokawa Onsen included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
kyushu
More in Kyushu
Kurokawa Onsen, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Kurokawa Onsen, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.