Kokichi Hot Spring

Kokichi Hot Spring is a day-use bathhouse in the Kurokawa area, standing in the forest along the stream that forms one of the headwaters of the Chikugo River. The building is built with local cedar and cypress, and the shared indoor bath, split by gender, has a Taisho-era feel: warm wood and a big tub to stretch your legs out in. The water is a simple sulfur spring, clear rather than milky these days, with a real sulfur smell and plenty of yunohana (湯の花) flakes floating in it. Three kashikiri (貸切) private baths are also available, booked by the hour and only on weekdays. Out on the grounds there's an old Japanese-style house and wooden benches, and from the bath you can hear the river and birds. The place closed for years after the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and only recently reopened, which pleased at least one longtime regular coming back after a decade away.