kurokawa hot spring

The most attractive thing about Kurokawa Onsen is the open-air bath. Each hotel has its' own charactaristic bath with its' own special atmosphere. Visitors who purchase a pass, can try three different baths at different inns. To help keep the Chikugo River clean, all of the the inns provide environmentally friendly soap and shampoo.

Mt. Aso

Mount Aso is an active volcano in the center of Kyushu. Its ancient caldera ranks among the world's largest, with a diameter of up to 25 kilometers and a circumference of over 100 kilometers.

The huge caldera contains the town of Aso and several volcanic peaks, including Nakadake, whose spectacular, active crater is easily accessible to tourists by toll road or ropeway.

Note that the crater area is often partially and sometimes completely closed off to visitors due to poisonous volcanic gases. Gases can be intense even when the area is open, and people with respiratory problems should refrain from seeing the crater.

Not far from the Nakadake crater, Kusasenri-ga-hama is a grass covered plain with grazing cows and a few horses. Horse riding is possible from early March to mid December. On the opposite side of the road stands the Aso Volcano Museum.

Komezuka is a small, beautifully shaped volcanic cone on the northern slopes of Nakadake. There are pleasant walking trails in the vicinity (but not to the top) of Komezuka, however, easy access by public transportation is not provided.

Kumamoto castle

Kumamoto Castle was constructed by the Kato Clan in 1607. Half a century later, it was handed over to the Hosokawa Clan, which ruled the surrounding fief from there for over 200 years until the end of the feudal age. In 1877, Kumamoto Castle became the site of Japan's last civil war, when an army of former samurai under Saigo Takamori unsuccessfully rose against the new Meiji government. Large parts of the castle were destroyed in that civil war. Most of the present castle buildings, including the large and small castle towers, are reconstructions, dating from the 1960s. The interior of the castle towers is a modern museum. On the occasion of the castle's 400th anniversary, the Honmaru Goten, the former palace building in the castle’s innermost citadel, is being reconstructed, and is scheduled to open to the public in spring 2008.

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