On 5th May, it is Children’s Day in Japan! We celebrate boy’s growth by displaying the decoration called “Koinobori”.
I went to Tsuetate Onsen, located in between Kumamoto and Oita prefectures. There are more than 3,500 of these fishes flowing above the Tsuetate river. Usually, this Koinobori festival would be held from the beginning of April until the first week of May.
Tsuetate is also famous for it’s Onsen! The name ‘Tsuetate’ derived from the many healing qualities of the Onsen sources. It is said an old and sickly man came visiting the town using a “Tsue (walking stick)”. But when he was to return home, he left, leaving his walking sticks (“Tate”) behind.
You can expect the many health benefits and effects from enjoying the Onsen in Tsuetate! In recent years, in addition to the hot springs, the unique “saunas” also known as the “steam bath” have also become very popular.
I took the Onsen in ‘Kome-ya Besso‘. It was really nice! However, it will be nicer if was winter and cold outside… In Kome-ya Besso, there are different types of Onsen; wooden type bath tub, 150cm depth bath tub and others. I chose the deep Onsen (see photo) as I never experienced before.
Because of the Kumamoto earthquake, the town has gotten really quiet with not many tourists like the other years… Even though the Tsuetate Onsen area did not suffer many damages.

About Tsuetate: http://tsuetate-onsen.com/english

[Price]

Private Onsen: JPY2,000/hour (extra JPY500/person for more than 3pax)
Normal Onsen: JPY500
* Fees are included in the accommodation fees for the guest.
* Reservation: TEL. +81 967(48)0507
* Website: http://www.komeyabessou.jp/

[Access by car]

90mins from Fukuoka city
100mins from Kumamoto city
100mins from Beppu city

 Hi, my name is Kayo Kawamura.

I am currently working in Nippon Travel Agency (NTA) in Fukuoka Kyushu Japan.

Let me introduce myself a little bit. I was born in Singapore and grew up there for more than 20 years. I came to Fukuoka for the University but decided to continue living here as I have fallen in love with Kyushu! Now I consider Fukuoka as my second hometown.

I would like to introduce the beautiful places of Kyushu as much as I can and I hope everyone will start loving Kyushu like how I am! My strength is to make use of my background – Singapore and Japan. I would like to make a lot of people happy through travelling around Kyushu.

This article is first published on http://beyondline.weebly.com/, on 8 May 2016

*The content has been edited for better understanding and language.