Akagi Onsen Yunosawa Inn

After enjoying a hike up Mount Akagi, I enjoyed a day trip to the "Hana no Yado Akagi Onsen Yunosawakan," located about a 20-minute drive from Mount Onuma on Mount Akagi, just after 2 PM on a public holiday. This hot spring is located in the lush Akagi Onsen area. After parking my car and descending the stairs to Yunosawakan, I noticed a sign along the way, revealing the open-air bath called the "Seon Open-Air Bath." After entering the entrance, I took off my shoes and put on slippers, paid 600 yen (tax included) per adult (for up to one hour), and proceeded inside the inn. It's amazing to think that poet Yosano Tekkan and painter and poet Takamura Kotaro both stayed at this inn, which was then called "Shinzugaya," around 1904 (Meiji 37). In the hallway, there was a map of Akagi Onsen from 1902, suggesting it was a popular hot spring resort even back then. We were also given an explanation of a rare and precious phenomenon at Akagi Onsen. It's travertine, a thin film-like "yu no hana" (sea of hot spring water) that floats on the surface of the bathtub water after a certain period of time. When touched, it crackles with a "crunching" sound, crumbles, and sinks. A tritium test of the hot spring's source revealed that rainwater that fell about 37 years ago dissolved various elements over the years, resulting in a natural bicarbonate spring. After undressing in the changing room, we immediately entered the hot spring. I was surprised to see a stone monument marking the site of a former villa and a five-story stone pagoda. Outside, the lush greenery and flowing river, forming a gentle waterfall, were truly magnificent. There are two hot springs. The one near the river is cold, while the one near the monument is a regular warm spring. It's cloudy, as you'd expect, due to the calcium from the limestone. The green of the trees is soothing, and the hot spring warms your body and feels very comfortable♪ It's also great for soothing the fatigue of hiking. Please note that the hot spring is built on natural rocky terrain, so please be careful not to injure yourself. I cut my knee and was bleeding, so I received a bandage from the hot spring inn and put it on. That said, at Hana no Yado Akagi Onsen Yunosawakan, it costs 600 yen, and although it has a bit of a run-down feel, I recommend it for a relaxing hour in the hot spring!

The inn doesn't have its own parking lot; there's only the shared parking lot for Akagi Onsen. It gets quite crowded with day-trip bathers until around 4 PM. There's no attendant, so you just have to park wherever there's an empty spot. From there, it's about 100 meters down the stairs to the inn. Even after arriving, shouting loudly didn't get you a warm welcome (I wish there was a call button), and I was led to a dimly lit small room where I signed the guest register. Then, a surly maid, who was screaming right in front of me and had no smile on her face, mechanically showed me to my room. The room wasn't air-conditioned beforehand, and it was scorching hot, leaving me drenched in sweat, but the maid couldn't operate the air conditioner either. I almost paid and left, but I headed to the open-air bath. It was crowded with day-trip bathers who brought their own drinking water, but if you wait patiently, it becomes just overnight guests. It's a wonderful carbonated spring. The food is also delicious. The steamed egg custard with yam was superb. I was delighted to see the beautiful fifth-generation young proprietress in the dining area. If the young proprietress had served us from the beginning, it would have been perfect 😢. The senior proprietress was also a lovely person.

Check-in at 3 PM, end of March 2023. At the foot of Mt. Akagi, cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and forsythia, Japanese witch hazel, and magnolia were also at their peak. Around the inn, yellow flowers of the laurel and dogwood families, such as Cornus officinalis, Lindera obtusiloba, and Lindera praecox, were in full bloom. The inn's parking lot has a slight incline and steep stairs, and the building itself has uneven terrain, making it difficult for elderly people with mobility issues. Considering the location, from the perspective of a 40-year-old traveling with a high school student and 70-year-old parents, and offsetting the surrounding scenery, I'd rate it 3 stars. The hot spring baths (indoor and outdoor) switch between men and women every few hours, and after 10:30 PM, they become mixed-gender without restrictions. The switching again begins at 6:30 AM. For dinner, we could choose between 6:00 PM or 6:30 PM. The food was delicious, and in addition to the meal pictured, there was also grilled ayu (sweetfish), grated yam soba noodles, and other dishes. It was enough to fill even a big eater. The service was impeccable, and overall, it was a very satisfying one-night trip.

I visited after reading reviews on Google and Rakuten Travel. The food was delicious, and there was a lot of it. I managed to finish my portion (I'm a 37-year-old male, not a huge eater, but I do eat a fair amount), but some of the children's food was left untouched... Since the accommodation fee is different for adults and children, I expected the children's meals to be smaller, but they were served almost the same quantity and variety as the adults'. It was very luxurious. The hot sake was delicious. It's a local sake called "Katsuragawa." I only went to the open-air bath. There were two types: a very hot one and a lukewarm one. My wife, who also used the indoor bath, said the hot one wasn't as hot as the indoor one. The lukewarm bath was great. It felt cold at first, but you gradually got used to it, and eventually you wanted to stay in it forever. Because it's located on a cliff, there are many stairs and the corridors have many corners, but just accept that and enjoy your stay. You're sure to be soothed by the kind and lovely proprietress.

The narrow mountain path to the inn gives it the feeling of being a hidden hot spring. Parking is shared, and the nearest parking lot can only fit about five cars, so I recommend arriving early. You have to go down about 40 narrow steps to the entrance, so it isn't suitable for people with mobility issues. While the inn is undeniably old, it's clear that they make an effort to keep the rooms clean. There are two baths, an indoor bath and an open-air bath, which alternate between men and women at certain times and are mixed at night. Each bathroom only has two washing areas, but the hot spring water is unusually varied in temperature and was very pleasant to soak in. There was a wide selection of dishes available at both breakfast and dinner, and the beef sukiyaki at dinner was particularly delicious. The landlady seemed like a very kind person, and the coffee we received upon check-out was also delicious.