kurokawa onsen: deep kyushu experience

one of the most rustic villages we visit on the kyoto, kyushu & kumano kodo tour: pure onsen magic!

kurokawa is one of the most magical little hamlets we have come across in all our travels in japan. truly a one-lane village, with small inns lined along a roaring river. each inn has baths, which are available for day trippers to visit.

the village has developed a great “onsen meguri pass” which you buy (wooden disk, shown at left) to get a few hundred yen discount per bath. you can buy as many of these passes as you need from the inn we will be staying at for 2 nights. each pass gets you in to 3 baths, and all you have to do is show your wooden disk to pay.

this is a great opportunity to wander the village wearing only your “yukata” or cotton robe between the baths. you can leave the hotel with only your pass and a small towel and have no cares other than which bath to take first!

there are a few small shops selling sweets and a fantastic pottery shop, but not much else aside from baths in this village. 

in fact, because there are no restaurants, we will be dining in our hotel both of the nights we will be here. the meals around the open hearth (and kaz, shown at left) were full of more truly superb local specialties last year---more than we could even finish! one night will be grill-it-ourselves, one night will be served as many small courses at actual tables and chairs (trust us, you’ll welcome the seating by a certain point in the tour!)

we should be arrive in this village at the height of the fall colors, so expect quite a few tourists out and about during the day. so famous are its waters, that people pilgrimage to kurokawa from all over japan! rather than feeling overly crowded, however, it lends a rather festive air to the tiny hamlet. people will try their five english words out on you at every turn in the street, in every naked bath!

come evening, however, the town slows down to a crawl. after dinner in the inns, most people staying overnight walk the streets again in their robes, going out for one last bath before turning in for the night. between the mountain air and the hot water, i promise you will all sleep very well!