Kumamoto · Kurokawa Onsen
Kurokawa Onsen Nyuto Tegata (bath-hopping pass)
黒川温泉 入湯手形（露天風呂めぐり）
One cedar 'nyuto tegata' pass (¥1,500) admits you to any three of the rotenburo at Kurokawa's 26-odd ryokan. Valid for six months, and one of the three stickers can be spent on food or souvenirs instead. Most inns accept bathers roughly 8:30–21:00, but hours vary and some close for cleaning or when full. Buy the pass at any ryokan or the association office 'Kaze no Ya'.
- Price (adult)
- ¥1,500
- Hours
- 08:30–21:00 (within each ryokan’s reception hours)
- Closed
- Varies by inn
- Access
- Kyushu Odan highway bus from Kumamoto or Fukuoka
- Water type
- Sulfate spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults ¥1,500 (raised from ¥1,300 in Oct 2023) / children ¥700. One per person, no sharing. A cedar disc with three stickers — two red for baths, one green for a bath or for food/souvenirs at 17 member shops
- Coverage
- Choose three from the open-air baths of ~25–26 member ryokan. Communal baths (Ana-yu, Jizo-yu) and non-members excluded. Each ryokan removes a sticker and stamps the disc
- Validity / where to buy
- Valid 6 months from purchase (finish it on your next visit). Sold at every ryokan and at the association office “Kaze-no-ya”. Used discs are kept as souvenirs or offered at the Jizo hall
- Hours
- Nominally 8:30–21:00, but each ryokan sets its own reception hours, cleaning breaks and closures — check the association’s live “baths open today” page
- Official site
- www.kurokawaonsen.or.jp/tegata ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
Stay in this onsen town
Compare and book stays in Kurokawa Onsen. Day bathing itself needs no booking.
Opens partner booking site (affiliate)
Why go
- Three rotenburo on one pass
- Valid six months
- Hours vary by inn
Since 1986: the original Japanese bath-hopping pass
The Nyuto Tegata is the open-air-bath pass launched by the Kurokawa ryokan association in 1986, embodying the town’s creed that “the whole village is one inn — the streets its corridors, each ryokan a guest room”. Hanging the ~10 cm Oguni-cedar disc round your neck and wandering between inns in the village and forest to choose three baths is the essential Kurokawa experience, and the model has been copied by onsen towns nationwide. Since October 2023 it costs ¥1,500, and one of the three stickers can be spent on food or souvenirs.
How to choose
- Every ryokan taps its own source, so waters differ (sulfur, chloride, bicarbonate…): pick three with different colours and scents.
- Perennial favourites: Yamamizuki (huge streamside bath, 10–15 only), Shinmeikan (cave bath), Ikoi Ryokan (“beauty bath”), Sanga (in the forest), Kurokawaso (blue-white water), Oyado Nonohana. Outlying inns have no shuttle — 20–30 min on foot or a taxi.
- Many are open-air only with no showers or soap; bring a towel (also sold at inns).
- Busiest 11:00–15:00; quieter before check-in in the morning or after 16:00.
- The association site shows each inn’s same-day availability and crowding in real time.
Getting there
Highway buses from Fukuoka (Hakata bus terminal / Fukuoka Airport) — the Kyushu Odan Bus or Kurokawa direct — take 2 h 40 min–3 h to “Kurokawa Onsen”, 3 min on foot from Kaze-no-ya. Sanko bus ~50 min from JR Aso Station. By car ~1 h from Hita IC or ~1 h 30 min from Kumamoto IC. Free car park at the village entrance by Kaze-no-ya.
Before you go
- No official tattoo policy is published — ask at reception.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Only here
Mood & scenery
Who with
✔ Verified operating: 2026-09 黒川温泉観光旅館協同組合公式・じゃらん2026-05
Prices and hours change. Check official sources before visiting.
More in this area
Ana-yu communal bath
A tiny bath hut on the Tanohara River, rebuilt by donations in 2022 after the 2020 floods (now separate men's and women's rooms). Slide the shutters open and it becomes almost open-air. ¥200 in the box.
Jizō-yu (Kurokawa communal bath)
The oldest communal bath in town, next to the Jizō hall that gives Kurokawa its identity. Not covered by the bath-hopping pass, but only ¥200. No soap; the water runs hot.
Kurokawa Onsen Yamamizuki
Five minutes' drive beyond the village in Oku-Kurokawa, this inn's riverside open-air bath 'Yūkoku-no-yu' is often called the finest in Kurokawa. Day use 10 am–3 pm, ¥600 (or with the ¥1,500 hopping pass); private baths ¥2,500/50 min until 8 pm.