Kimono in Kumamoto: Where to Wear It, Best Photo Spots and How to Plan the Day

Kurokawa Onsen: yukata as a pass

Kurokawa Onsen (黒川温泉), in the hills toward Aso, is a village of thirty inns along a river, and its idea, from the 1980s, was that the whole village should feel like one inn. Buy a wooden tegata pass and you can enter the outdoor baths of any three inns; walk between them in yukata and geta along the lanes. There are no big hotels, no neon, and after dark the lanes are lit by lanterns. This is the finest yukata experience in Kyushu and possibly in Japan, and you need nothing but an inn booking.

Yamaga and Aso

Yamaga (山鹿), north of the city, has the Yachiyoza (八千代座), a 1910 kabuki theatre you can tour, and the Yamaga Toro Matsuri (山鹿灯籠まつり), 15 and 16 August, in which a thousand women in white yukata dance through the night with golden paper lanterns balanced on their heads. It is quiet and hypnotic, and the yukata are the festival.

Aso (阿蘇) is the caldera, 25 kilometres across, with grassland, grazing horses and the smoking Nakadake crater. The viewpoint at Daikanbo (大観峰) on the rim and the grass plain of Kusasenri are photographs of scale, and a kimono in the wind there is a strong image, but it is a car destination and a change-of-shoes place.

Best kimono photo spots in Kumamoto

Seasons

• Spring: cherry blossom around the castle in early April, azaleas at Aso in May. Fine and mild.
• Summer: hot and humid in the city; Kurokawa and Aso are cooler. Yamaga's lantern dance in mid-August, and Kurokawa in yukata every evening.
• Autumn: the grass at Aso turns gold and the maples at Kurokawa red in November. The best kimono weather in the city.
• Winter: cold in the hills, mild in the city; the outdoor baths at Kurokawa with snow on the stones are the reward.

Plan your kimono day in Kumamoto

1. Arrive at Kumamoto. Shinkansen from Hakata takes about 40 minutes. Tram from the station to the castle, 15 minutes.
2. Morning: castle. The walkway and the keep, then down to Josaien for lunch: karashi renkon, lotus root stuffed with mustard, and basashi, horse sashimi, if you are willing.
3. Afternoon: Suizenji. Tram east, an hour in the garden and tea house, then the arcades on the way back.
4. Evening: inn in the city, or the bus to Kurokawa if you are staying there (about three hours; the last departures are mid-afternoon, so check).
5. Day two: Kurokawa. The three-bath pass, the lanes, the river, and nothing else. Wear the inn's yukata from morning to night.
6. Day three: Aso by car. Daikanbo at dawn, Kusasenri, the crater if the gas levels allow, and on to Oita or back to the city.

Where OlaChill fits in

OlaChill's kimono rental shops are in Tokyo Asakusa and Kyoto Kiyomizu. We do not have a shop in Kumamoto, and it is too far from Kyoto (over three and a half hours) to carry a rental kimono with the next-day return (¥1,100) except on a route that runs Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kyushu and back.

What we suggest: wear the kimono at one of our shops earlier in the trip, where dressing is included, hair styling is ¥1,500 and make-up ¥5,000, and online booking is 10 percent off on all 14 plans. Then treat Kumamoto as the yukata prefecture it is: Josaien for a quick dressed-up walk under the castle, Kurokawa for the real thing.

Kurokawa and Aso together are a car trip. A private car with driver from Kumamoto to Kurokawa, then over the caldera rim to Aso and on to Beppu or Yufuin, is one of the great drives in Japan, and the driver handles the mountain roads while you keep the kimono clean. We quote by route and hours.

FAQ

Is the castle keep open? Yes, the main keep reopened in 2021 with exhibits inside and a viewing floor at the top. Other parts of the grounds remain under restoration for years to come, and the visitor route changes as work progresses; the special walkway is the reliable photo spot.

Can I wear a kimono on the castle walkway? Yes. It is a raised, level path with ramps rather than stairs for most of its length. The keep itself has stairs and an elevator for part of the way.

How does the Kurokawa bath pass work? Buy the wooden tegata at the information centre or any inn. It has three stamps, each good for one inn's outdoor bath. Day visitors are welcome; overnight guests get their own inn's bath free and use the pass for two others.

Is the Yamaga lantern dance open to visitors? Yes. The main dance on the night of the 16th in the school grounds is ticketed for the best seats, but the processions through the town on both nights are free to watch. Book a hotel in Yamaga or Kumamoto early.

Can I visit the Aso crater? When gas levels permit; the rim is closed at short notice when sulphur dioxide rises. Check the crater status the morning you go, and have Daikanbo and Kusasenri as the alternative.

Ready to plan it?

Kumamoto is castle by day and yukata by night. Wear the kimono in Kyoto or Tokyo at OlaChill Kiyomizu or OlaChill Asakusa, read our Kurokawa Onsen bath-hopping guide and Aso caldera notes, and book your kimono online.