How to Bathe
The ritual, and the hours
First onsen? The whole ritual, in five lines.
Everyone bathes nude — swimsuits stay in your room. That's every onsen in Japan, not a house rule. The men's and women's bath areas are separate.
Wash and rinse at the sitting showers before you get in.
The small towel never touches the water — fold it on your head or leave it aside.
Tie long hair up. Ease in slowly; the water is hotter than you expect.
That's it. Nobody is watching, and nobody expects you to know everything. Soap, shampoo, bath towels, lockers, and a lounging robe are all provided — you can walk in with nothing.
Bathing hours
6:00–24:00 — that's 6 a.m. to midnight (last entry 23:00)
- The baths close for cleaning 9:00–10:00 every morning and reopen at 10:00.
- After checkout you can keep bathing until 15:00; robes and towel sets can be rented.
- The sauna costs nothing extra, as often as you like during bathing hours.
- Times can shift slightly — notices on site take precedence.
The baths and the rooms share one building — you can go straight from your room in your yukata.
Two Springs
1,500 and 2,000 meters down —
two springs from two ages of the earth
The water throughout the inn is a sodium chloride and hydrogen-carbonate hot spring (mildly alkaline), rising at 50°C (122°F). The two sources feed different baths, so moving from bath to bath is also moving between ages of the earth.
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FIRST SPRING — the soft one
Sodium hydrogen-carbonate
- From 1,500 meters down
- Strata about 75 million years old
- Feeds: indoor bath, walking bath, reclining bath
The type Japanese bathers nickname a "beauty bath" — fine and slippery to the touch, and your skin feels fresh after.
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SECOND SPRING — the deep one
Sodium chloride
- From 2,000 meters down
- Strata about 200 million years old — Jurassic rock
- Feeds: rock bath, cave bath, pot baths
Warms you from the inside, and the warmth stays with you long after you're out.
11 Baths
Eleven kinds of baths
Indoor baths, a rock bath, a cave bath, pot baths, a walking bath, a reclining bath — eleven kinds of baths and bathing gear in all, and part of the fun is tracking which spring feeds which. The outdoor cluster makes up one of the largest open-air bath areas in western Japan.
- First & Second springs
Indoor bath & jet bath
A roomy indoor bath; the jets reach fingers and toes.
- Second spring
Rock bath
A warm garden bath set with natural stones, the largest at 10 tons.
- Second spring
Cave bath
An open-air bath built like a cave — a slow half-body soak under blue light.
- First spring
Walking bath
Walk against buoyancy and water pressure.
- First spring
Reclining bath
Shallow and mild — lie back and drift.
- Second spring
Pot baths
Ceramic pots fired in Tobe kilns, plus a Kiso hinoki cypress tub.
- Second spring · women's side
Children's pool
A shallow, round pool just for children.
Showers are in private partitions, and the changing rooms have large lockers. On the men's side, a walking-bath channel leads to the cave bath; the women's side adds a children's pool, a steam room, and a dressing area. Both sides have a dry sauna.
Sauna
A 92°C sauna with auto-löyly.
A cold plunge under the open sky.
The cold bath is outdoors. Step out of the sauna, straight into the water, then over to the open-air chairs to cool down in the wind. Seating is generous, so lines are rare.
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MEN'S SIDE
92–94°C (198–201°F) · auto-löyly
- Water hits the stones every 5 minutes, 20 seconds at a time
- Walls of Jurassic petrified wood
- Outdoor cold bath and open-air rest area adjoin
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WOMEN'S SIDE
82–84°C (180–183°F) · dry sauna with aroma löyly
- Staff-poured löyly in the dry sauna, with a different essential oil each day
- Plus a steam room at 42–43°C (108–109°F), over 95% humidity
- Outdoor cold bath and open-air rest area adjoin
The sauna costs nothing extra — it's part of every stay, during bathing hours.
Private Onsen
Five private family baths
A bath that belongs to just the two of you, or just your family, for 90 minutes — a kashikiri-buro, as Japanese bathers call it.
Each of the five rooms is laid out differently. Two are special rooms with an open-air tub, a private sauna, and a cold bath; one is fully step-free from door to water. If your tattoo is too large to cover, or you'd rather ease children in slowly, this is the comfortable way to soak.
| Room | What's inside | Mon–Fri | Sat, Sun & holidays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room 1 | Standard — rock and stone baths, 2 tubs | ¥4,000 | ¥4,500 |
| Room 2 | Special room — hinoki tub, private sauna, cold bath, open-air deck | ¥5,000 | ¥5,500 |
| Room 3 | Special room — hinoki tub, private sauna, cold bath, open-air deck | ¥5,000 | ¥5,500 |
| Room 5 | Standard — rock and marble baths, 2 tubs | ¥4,000 | ¥4,500 |
| Room 6 | Barrier-free special room — step-free throughout, 2 kinds of tubs | ¥4,000 | ¥4,500 |
There's no Room 4 — the number is skipped in Japan the way some hotels skip a 13th floor.
How to book one
- Open 10:00–24:00 (last session starts by 22:30)
- 90 minutes per session, priced per room
- By phone only, from one week before your check-in date (bookings take priority)
- Phone hours 10:00–24:00
Booking line +81-89-955-1661 (Japanese only)
Phone support is in Japanese. If calling is a hurdle, email us in English and
we'll sort the booking out together.
Lounge
From the bath, straight to the lounge
Flat on a Yogibo until you feel like soaking again. This room might be the real main character of the inn — bath, lounge, bath, all day long, and nobody gives you a second glance.
- 01
Yogibo & sofas
Seats you can lie flat on, with a women-only area to one side.
- 02
Free drink bar
Detox water and other drinks; hotel guests get free coffee too.
- 03
Dressing corner
ReFa hair dryers and facial steamers, plus massage chairs.
Good to Know
The practical part
Tattoos? Fine — covered.
Cover your tattoo completely with a skin-cover sticker (sold at the front desk) and every shared bath is open to you. Too large to cover? The five private family baths are the comfortable alternative.
Day visits welcome
The same building holds Riraku, a day-use onsen open to everyone — plans from ¥1,380 (Mon–Fri, tax included), age 3 and under free. Hotel guests bathe at no extra charge.
Bathing safely
- Wash thoroughly before your first soak.
- Drink water before and after bathing.
- Work up gradually — feet, half-body, full-body — and keep the water below your heart.
- If you have a heart condition, diabetes, or high blood pressure, follow your doctor's advice and keep soaks short.
- Bathing is not permitted with an infectious disease, an eye or skin condition, or an open wound.
- Skip the bath after drinking alcohol.
- Children, elderly guests, and anyone unsteady should not bathe alone.
- No swimming, running, or roughhousing in the baths.
- Feel unwell? Get out slowly and tell a member of staff.
- Parts of the facility may pause for maintenance now and then.