Kurokawa Onsen — photo: No machine-readable author provided. おぉたむすねィく探検隊 assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Kurokawa onsen: the bath-hopping pass, the hot sulfur water, and getting there without a car
Kurokawa is a single narrow river valley in the hills north of Mount Aso, lined with inns built low among the trees, almost every one with an outdoor bath. It has no train, no big hotels and no neon, and it is where the idea of a pass for bathing at other inns began. Most guides describe the pass, the price and their favourite inns. This one is about what they leave out: how hot the water here is and what that means in the bath, how the pass works in practice, how Kurokawa differs from Beppu and Yufuin, and how to get there and back by bus.
What the numbers say
Kurokawa is recorded in our database as a sulfur town with source temperatures from 80 to 98 °C.
- Of the 1,167 towns we hold a source temperature for, 78 reach 80 °C and only 22 reach 98 °C. Kurokawa is one of the 22.
- Of the 208 sulfur towns with a temperature on record, 37 reach 80 °C.
- Kumamoto has 33 onsen towns in our records. Kurokawa's Wikipedia article is read more often than any of the others, and it ranks 14th of 1,538 towns nationwide by that measure. Yufuin (2,281 views) and Beppu (2,195) sit either side of it (2,271): the three famous Kyushu names are about equally looked up.
Our records list one water type for the town, but each inn draws from its own well, and not every inn's water is milky or smells of sulfur. Some baths are clear, some cloudy white, some tinged blue or brown. The sign in the changing room tells you which you are in; see reading the water sign.
The water is hot, so the bath is cooled
Water that leaves the ground at 80 °C or more has to lose heat before anyone can sit in it, so in Kurokawa the bath is cooled, not heated. In practice that means the tub is usually hottest near the inlet and coolest at the far end, and on a summer afternoon some outdoor baths can feel very hot. Get in slowly, keep the first soak short, and drink water between baths. Three baths in an afternoon is a good day; five is a lot.
Sulfur water blackens silver. Take off silver rings and necklaces before you get in, and expect your towel to smell of the bath for the rest of the day. For more on why some sulfur water is milky and some clear, see sulfur onsen.
The bath-hopping pass
The pass is the 入湯手形 (nyūtō tegata): a round wooden tag, sold at the information centre in the middle of the valley and at the inns, with stickers for three baths. At a participating inn you hand over one sticker and use the outdoor bath. You do not need to stay the night to buy or use it, and it does not have to be used in one day. Check the current price and validity when you buy; the details have changed over the years.
What the descriptions usually miss:
- Each inn sets its own visitor hours. Day visitors are generally let in from the morning until early evening, but some baths stop taking visitors much earlier, some close one day a week, and some are closed for cleaning in the middle of the day. Pick up the map with the pass and check it before you walk to a bath at the far end of the valley.
- Baths are spread out. The inns run for some distance along the river and up the side roads, and a few of the best known are a long walk or a short drive from the centre. The steps are steep and can be icy in winter. Wear shoes you can walk in, not the inn's sandals, if you are going far.
- Mixed and women-only baths. A few of the older outdoor baths are mixed. Inns with a mixed bath usually also have a women-only bath or women-only hours. The map shows which is which.
- Bring a small towel. Most baths for visitors provide no towel. Buy one in town if you forgot. The rules are the same as anywhere; see our etiquette guide.
When you have used all three stickers, the custom is to leave the tag at the small shrine in the village, the 地蔵堂 (Jizō-dō), or take it home as a souvenir.
Day trip or a night?
A day trip works. The morning bus from Fukuoka or Kumamoto gets you there around midday, which leaves time for three baths, lunch and a walk before the afternoon bus back. That is a long day with five or six hours on buses, but it is the cheapest way to see the place. See onsen without staying the night.
A night is better. The day visitors leave in the late afternoon, the valley goes quiet, and you have your inn's own baths after dark. Many inns also have a private bath you can book or lock for a set time, which is the easy answer if you would rather not bathe in front of strangers. Inns here usually include dinner and breakfast; there are few places to eat in the evening, so a room-only booking can leave you hungry. See what "two meals included" means.
Kurokawa, Beppu or Yufuin?
These three come up together, and they are not interchangeable.
- Kurokawa is a small mountain valley of inns with hot sulfur water and the pass. Choose it for outdoor baths among the trees and a quiet night.
- Yufuin, 29.7 km northeast in a straight line, is a simple spring — clear, mild water with no strong smell — in a broad valley with a busy shopping street, on the JR line. Choose it if you want the water gentle and the train to the door.
- Beppu is a whole city of baths on the coast, with five water types in our records and the boiling "hells" to look at. Choose it for variety and nightlife.
Yufuin and Beppu are close to each other and both on a railway; Kurokawa is a separate journey into the mountains. With two nights, pick two of the three rather than rushing all three. Our Kyushu guide compares them in more detail.
Getting there
There is no railway to Kurokawa. Without a car, you arrive by bus. Kurokawa is 88 km in a straight line from Hakata Station, 53 km from Kumamoto Station and 40 km from Beppu Station.
- From Fukuoka. A direct highway bus runs from the Hakata and Tenjin bus terminals and Fukuoka Airport a few times a day, taking about two and a half to three hours. Seats are reserved, and the few departures sell out at weekends and in autumn. Book before you go.
- From Kumamoto. The cross-Kyushu buses between Kumamoto and Beppu stop at Kurokawa, by way of Aso. They are few, so plan around them. Kumamoto Airport is on some of these routes.
- From Beppu or Yufuin. The same cross-Kyushu buses run the other way, over the Yamanami highway. This is how most people link Kurokawa with Yufuin or Beppu.
- From Tokyo, Kyoto or Osaka. Fly to Fukuoka or Kumamoto, or take the Shinkansen to Hakata or Kumamoto, and take the bus from there. It is not a weekend trip from Tokyo.
The Japan Rail Pass does not cover these buses. Kyushu's own bus pass, the SunQ Pass, covers the highway and cross-Kyushu routes; check the current terms if you plan several bus legs.
Driving, and winter
A car makes it easy to reach the baths at the far end of the valley and the towns nearby. But Kurokawa sits high in the hills between Aso and the Kujū mountains, and from roughly December to February the roads in can be icy or snowbound. Rental cars in Kyushu do not always come with winter tyres unless you ask. If you are not used to driving on snow, take the bus in winter.
Winter is also when the valley lights bamboo lanterns along its paths in the evening, an event called 湯あかり (yu-akari). The dates change from year to year; check before you go. Autumn leaves, from about early to late November, are the busiest season. See when to go.
Nearby: Sujiyu, Hagenoyu and Tsuetate
Within a short drive are some of the hottest springs in Kyushu, all on the Aso–Kujū side.
- Sujiyu, 5.8 km northeast in Ōita, is a 58 to 63 °C chloride spring known for its 打たせ湯 (utase-yu), water falling from spouts onto your shoulders.
- Hagenoyu, 8.4 km north, is recorded at 92 to 97 °C on chloride and sulfur sources, a handful of buildings on a steaming hillside.
- Yamakawa, 7.7 km north, is recorded at 100 °C.
- Tsuetate, 15.3 km north on the Kumamoto–Ōita border, is a 100 °C chloride spring where the town steams food in its vents. Some Fukuoka buses pass through it on the way to Kurokawa.
Most of these are hard to reach without a car. Not everything nearby is hot: Kannojigoku, 8.9 km away, is a sulfur spring recorded at only 14 °C, heated before you bathe in it.
Things not to do
Do not arrive late in the day expecting to use the pass. Several baths stop taking visitors well before evening.
Do not leave your bus seat to chance at weekends or in autumn.
Do not wear silver into a sulfur bath.
Do not drive in from Aso or Kujū in midwinter without winter tyres.
Do not assume tattoos are fine. Policies vary by inn. See going to an onsen with tattoos, or book a private bath.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For the rest of the island, see our Kyushu onsen guide and the 3 best onsen towns near Fukuoka. For other famous towns, see Kinosaki, Ginzan and Shibu.