Kurokawa Onsen

**Best three baths:** With the 3-bath pass, visit: (1) Yamamizuki's cave bath (natural cave with indoor/outdoor sections), (2) Okunoyu's riverside rotenburo (mixed-gender, bathing suits required), and (3) Ikoi Ryokan's wooden barrel baths (individual cypress tubs). These three represent Kurokawa's range — cave, river, wood. **Overnight strategy:** Day-trip bus tours crowd the village 11:00–15:00. Staying overnight (ryokan from ¥15,000/person with dinner) allows morning and evening bathing when day-trippers are absent. The 6:00am mist rising from riverside baths is Kurokawa's signature image. **Patisserie Shiratama:** Kurokawa's unexpected element — a high-end French pastry shop using local ingredients (Aso milk, prefecture eggs). The choux cream (¥350) and seasonal tarts create a pairing option: hot spring bath, then pastry and coffee. Open 10:00–17:00.