Hot springs in Kurokawa

Kurokawa Onsen sits in a gorge along the Chikugo River valley in the forested hills of northern Kumamoto Prefecture. Each ryokan in the village maintains its own open-air rotenburo built into the surrounding woodland. Guests can purchase the nyuto tegata, a cedar bathing pass carved at the village, which grants entry to three outdoor baths at separate properties. The village has no neon signage and no modern storefronts. Innkeepers collectively agreed on these restrictions in the 1980s, a decision that reversed the town's fortunes.