Ryokan Yumotosou in Minamioguni

A round trip from Tenjin by bus costs 8000 yen and takes three hours! Remember to book your tickets in advance as there aren't many services. The old street in Kurokawa Onsen is very quaint and full of character! Most of the onsen ryokans are built along the creek. The ryokans are simple and clean! In the open-air onsen, you can listen to the gentle flow of the stream and feel that sense of tranquility. In the evening, during the illumination season, walking around in a yukata and geta (wooden clogs) is truly delightful! The kaiseki dinner featured exquisite and unique dishes, including local horse meat and wagyu beef! It was very filling, even for a woman! Please note that the restaurant intentionally doesn't have Wi-Fi; the owner hopes guests can quietly enjoy their meal without disturbance! I absolutely applaud this! The ryokan also offers a shuttle service to Kurokawa Onsen Station, which is a 5-minute drive away. Next time, I plan to stay in Kurokawa Onsen for two days to fully enjoy the peace and quiet!

The place is vey old and vintage. The baths look awful because of iron in the water and thet require renovation. Unfortunately we didn’t like our dinner as it was too specific. It is not the first kaiseki dinner for us but it was not the tastiest one.

I loved our stay at Ryokan Youmotosou. Everything was great room, food, onsen. Staff was very helpful. Definitely would recommend to anyone.

Staffs are very polite and the meals are great.

Superb chill place!

Very good place, I want to repeat next year.

I really liked the hot springs with high iron content in this ryokan: I had sore throat for about 3 weeks before the journey, but it recovered just after the first bath. We also liked that family baths are for free if they are vacant (in the evening there wasn't any problem). The staff is attentive, thank you very much. The food was delicious, and there was more than enough for a man. However, we would recommend choosing a Japanese-style breakfast, since frying eggs on a burner is not very convenient. Nevertheless, everything was delicious. As for the drinks for breakfast, there was only coffee from the coffee machine. But there is always green tea in the room (we had problems with the hot pot, so they brought us a thermos).
The only thing we did not like was the heating. However, it is unlikely to do anything with it when it is minus 3 degrees outside at night. Without heating, it was very cold, the floor was cold. But the heating is very noisy, and it is difficult to find a temperature balance. We sweated a lot at night under the blankets, and since the shower is not in the room - it is in the onsen, it was inconvenient. Thanks God, we had spare pajamas with us.
Overall, for this cost of accommodation we can give 5 points.

Very friendly and comfortable! The location is excellent - near the river, the ryokan itself is very authentic with beautiful onsen, rooms and yukata!

Stunning! Wonderful staff with good English. Exquisite food. Excellent room. Perfect onsen.

Ryokan Yumotoso is in a perfect location in the quaint town of Kurokawa. There are about 12 rooms only, hence its quite a quiet and small establishment. Service staff are all great, and the room view is fantastic looking over the beautiful river. The open onsen also overlooks nature, and private onsens are rustic. As per Ryokans, breakfasts and dinners are included, and so far, we have never been disappointed with food in Ryokans, including Yumotoso. Do note that parking lots are limited, and the lane leading to Yumotoso is rather narrow. Would recommend Yumotoso for its great location, fantastic room view and rustic environment.