Kurokawa Onsen is a small hot-spring village in the mountains of Aso, Kumamoto. There is no train station, so most visitors arrive by bus or rental car. All five ryokan below are in the Manganji area, within about 800 m of one another as the crow flies, so you can walk around the village from any of them. They range from 8 to 55 rooms, and one hotel with a natural hot-spring bath in Kumamoto city is included for anyone adding a night in the city.
6 recommended stays
Gekkoju KurokawaExplore this stay →6 recommended stays
Recommended staysKurokawa · 8 rooms
An eight-room ryokan opened in 2016, with an open-air bath, a spa and massage. Multilingual staff, a free shuttle around the village, a lobby fireplace and free parking round it out, and the front desk is staffed 24 hours.
Recommended staysKurokawa · 16 rooms
A 16-room ryokan where staff speak seven languages, including English. Dinner is kaiseki, and there is a communal bath, a garden, spa treatment rooms and room service. Parking is free.
Recommended staysKurokawa · 18 rooms
A three-story, 18-room ryokan with a Japanese garden, a table-tennis room and a children's playground. Kids' meals, picture books and toys are provided, pets are welcome for a fee, and an Asian-style breakfast can be added.
Recommended staysKurokawa · 55 rooms
At 55 rooms the largest ryokan on this list, so a restaurant, a bar and a rooftop area are all on site. It has a hinoki (Japanese cypress) bath and a hot-spring communal bath, a garden and a terrace. Breakfast is a buffet, dinner is in the ryokan's restaurant, and there is an EV charger.
Recommended staysKurokawa · Opened 1966
A three-story, 23-room ryokan that opened in 1966 and was renovated in 1995. It serves kaiseki meals and has a sauna and a garden, valet parking and a shuttle. Rooms come with a minibar, microwave, kettle, free bottled water and tea.
Recommended staysKumamoto city · 320 m to tram
A natural hot-spring bath and a sauna in a 191-room city hotel (Dormy Inn brand), about 800 m from Kumamoto Castle as the crow flies. Rooms have tatami flooring, an air purifier, streaming TV and free bottled water, and breakfast is a buffet.
One way to enjoy Kurokawa is to soak in several ryokan baths during one stay. The village sells a wooden pass, the nyuto tegata, that gets you into the baths of three participating ryokan. Participating baths and opening hours change, so ask at your ryokan or the village information office when you arrive.
Traveling with kids? Yamabiko Ryokan has 18 rooms over three floors, a Japanese garden, a table-tennis room and a playground, plus children's meals and picture books, and pets can stay for a fee. For a quieter trip for two, Gekkoju Kurokawa has only eight rooms and opened in 2016.
If you want a day in Kumamoto city too, Higo no Yu Onyado Nono Kumamoto makes a handy base: Kumamoto Castle is about 800 m away as the crow flies, the Karashimacho tram stop about 320 m, and the airport roughly 15 km. One night in Kurokawa and one in the city gives you a ryokan and a city hotel in a single trip.
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