Kinparo, Fukuoka-Shi

Kinparo is a traditional, old ryokan, or Japanese inn, located in the hot-spring resort of Hingau on the shores of Yatsushiro Bay on the western coast of southern Kumamoto Prefecture. Hingau Onsen is famous for the "fire balls" that streak across the sky for about 10 kilometers and then disappear. The strange phenomenon fostered a well-known Japanese folktale—The Legend Urashima Tarō. Kinparo's guestrooms are pine paneled, bright and airy. The have tatami-mat flooring, sliding shoji screens, refrigerator, TV, Western toilet and full bath. Guests sleep on futon laid out on the floor. Kinparo has separate men's and women's hot-spring bathing facilities. The indoor baths are made of wood. The outside are two landscaped rotenburo, or open-air baths. The rotenburo offer bathers great views of the beautiful Amakusa Islands that sit just off-shore. The water is classified as simple thermal and is good for soothing aches and pains, skin problems, and nervous disorders. The water at Hingau Onsen is said to be great for hypertension.