Yamaga Onsen & Lantern Festival

Yamaga Onsen is a 1,800-year-old hot spring town in northern Kumamoto with alkaline waters (pH 9.5) that leave skin feeling silky. The town's preservation district contains Edo-period machiya townhouses, several converted into public bathhouses. Sakura-yu, the town's symbol, is a two-story wooden bathhouse built in 1870 that operated until 1973 and is now a museum (free bathing ended, ¥300 to view interior).

The Yamaga Toro Matsuri (August 15–16) is one of Kyushu's most beautiful festivals — 1,000 women wearing yukata and gold paper lanterns on their heads dance through the streets in synchronized formations, accompanied by traditional songs.