Kurokawa Onsen

After visiting Oita last year, I’ve become a serious lover of relaxing weekends away in onsen towns. Kurokawa is one of the most famous onsen areas in Kumamoto, and for the past few months, every evening the river has been covered in hundreds of bamboo lanterns. Of course Kohei and I decided to head there for what is now becoming our annual onsen trip.

Despite having a few issues getting there, which is a given since I don’t know the ever changing road closures that well, once we arrived it was like we’d entered a little area of tranquility. Since this event was so popular, the main streets were super busy when we arrived; full of tourists who were only doing a day trip here, as many people do. 

A famous bakery, Patisierre Roku, makes the most beautiful choux creams; the vanilla smell wafted through the air every hour when the buns were cooked, and the queue was ridiculously long but worth it. Another gem we found was Shiratamakko, a small café specialising in traditional desserts; a must visit if you’re a fan of matcha, fluffy mochi in zenzai and super sweet ichigo daifuku. Most of the local stores close earlier, around 8pm, as most people staying in the ryokans overnight have dinner provided. We spent the early evening relaxing in yukata, before being treated to yet another amazing ryokan banquet. 

After dinner, we took our first onsen of the evening in the smaller baths located inside the ryokan. Kohei and I had planned to meet about 40 minutes later, but my god, I’ve never been in water so hot in my life. I instantly looked like a lobster, and so did he when we met in the corridor earlier than expected because we both couldn’t hack it.

After the onsen we got dressed in our yukata again and headed to view the illuminations. They were so beautiful and it was super tranquil. The only thing ruining it was, since it was the last weekend of the illuminations, too many people were ruining the aesthetic with their car headlights and pushing to take photos. This is often a downside to things like this in Japan… too many people end up ruining a beautiful moment, but thankfully Kohei and I managed to find an area a little quieter to enjoy it.

After enjoying some umeshu at a little hole in the wall bar, we headed back to the ryokan. The best thing about Japanese people liking to bathe before bed is that after waiting until later in the evening, Kohei and I managed to get the entire family size onsen to ourselves. Cue Kohei acting like a happy child floating away to his hearts content. Even better, I didn’t (literally) burn my ass off this time.

I’d definitely recommend an onsen getaway to anyone who needs to refresh themselves. The simplicity of the ryokan, and the peaceful locations really give you the opportunity to switch yourself off from the outside world. We’re already planning our next trip and may even make it a bi-yearly tradition from now on. 

During our drive home we also got some beautiful views of the Aso area from the recently reopened Milk Road. It made me realize how there’s still so much to discover even in my own prefecture, prompting another trip idea that will hopefully come to light in the next few months.

Onsen-ning in Oita

Since we would be away from each other on both of our birthdays, Kohei and I decided to go on a little road trip to Oita. From the beginning, I decided that Oita is probably one of the most beautiful prefectures I’ve been to so far. It could have just been the timing, but the lush green mountains and rice paddies were in abundance. 

I’ve never seen so many rice paddies in my life, and I’ll give the farmers credit, they’re very innovative using space. By that, I mean even small areas between the forks in roads were growing rice.

I got a chance to eat some local delicacies, with Kohei taking me to a hidden local joint for some toriten, tempura style chicken popular in the prefecture, before heading to get a special type of pudding cooked using the steam from the local onsen. Creamiest pudding I’ve ever eaten, and the views weren’t bad either.

The Hells of Beppu were beautiful, and wonderfully hell-ish in the heat, but being able to stop at a footbath and cool down was delightful. Kohei almost fell head first into a lily pond too, not that I tried to help or gave him any sympathy. I think he was actually a bit shocked at my true colours coming out when I was instead crying with laughter.

I’ll tell you what the highlight of the drive through Beppu was though. Stumbling across a Jurassic Park themed love hotel that I’ve vowed to return to.

I’ve always wanted to stay at a ryokan, and the experience is one that everyone should have at least once. Upon our arrival at the little hot spring town of Yunohira, we were greeted with sounds of the nearby river, and a cobbled street reminiscent of many years ago. After checking in to our beautiful little tatami room, we went for a little wander (beer in hand of course), then both dressed in yukata and headed for dinner, a rather varied array of tsukemono.

After dinner, we took a little stroll down the street, by which time was lit up by the most beautiful red glow from the lanterns. It truly felt like I’d been transported back in time. Later we headed to the private outdoor onsen, which was so relaxing and an amazing place to clear your head, even if it was just too bloody hot at times. We even got to take another bath the next morning after breakfast, and now I really wish I lived close enough to a hot spring to take a dip every day.

The next day we took a drive to Yufuin, visited the famous floral village and had a mooch around all the little stores. On the way home, Kohei agreed to take me to Sanrio Harmonyland, earning himself some major brownie points. It’s definitely a family theme park, with Kohei and I being the only people there without children (I guess you could say he was chaperoning one of his own all day). I actually really enjoyed myself though, with the simplicity of the ferris wheel, carousel, little teacups and the boat ride adding to the chill vibe of the weekend. I even got to meet Hello Kitty herself, which has been more than a little overdue!

 

Driving home Kohei took me on a little detour to his childhood town, around to his high school and some other spots. We didn’t have time to really explore, but I realised how much of an inaka (countryside) boy he is at heart, especially when he told me as a kid he’d catch frogs near the rice paddies. My heart melted at the thought, and I honestly can’t wait to get a chance to go back to Kanda and have him take me to all of his favourite spots, including his Grandad’s little farm. Wish me luck on that one, I’m sure I’ll end up kitted out harvesting some in-season fruit when I next go.