Arifuku Onsen Gozen

The hot spring water is thick and creamy. Opening the bathroom door reveals a spacious, bright bath! A light-blue tiled bathtub with perfectly aligned white tiles sits in the center! The walls are also white tiled, and there's a large window, creating a very clean atmosphere. The white chairs are so shiny they look like they were just replaced. The water is a little hot, isn't it? It's 42-43 degrees, colorless, transparent, tasteless, and odorless. You can't stay in the water for long, but it leaves your body feeling refreshed. For 400 yen, you'll receive conditioner-in-shampoo and body soap. There's also a shower, and you can use the hair dryer. There's even a free rest area on the second floor, which is incredibly generous. There's a ticket counter at the entrance, and you can purchase and present your ticket at the machine. You need to purchase a one-day pass here. At the end, they told me I could come back here again, and since I couldn't use the hair dryer anywhere else, I went back to use it (lol). Not only was the bath beautiful, but the restrooms and rest area were also very clean.

Let's soak in the hot springs! We've arrived at Arifuku Onsen! There seem to be two parking lots. It appears to be a fairly old hot spring, and there are three baths nearby: Yayoi-yu, Satsuki-yu, and Gozen-yu. Satsuki-yu is near the front of the parking lot. Gozen-yu is in the building up the stairs from there. You might not know where it is on your first visit. Yayoi-yu is located a little further away from Gozen-yu and Satsuki-yu. You can enter any bath you like by registering at the reception, but since we've come all this way, let's try all three! So, we bought a hopping ticket and decided to go in order. We went into Gozen-yu first, but when we asked the receptionist afterwards, they said the usual order is Yayoi-yu → Satsuki-yu → Gozen-yu, going up the stairs. This time, we went in the exact opposite order. Even so, it was a great bath! (It's quite hot, though.) Also, the bathtub is deep; even I, with my tall stature, can sit up to my chin. Gozenyu has a rest area on the second floor, making it the most relaxing place.

The alkaline water at Arifuku Onsen has a great effect on my skin, and according to both a preliminary search and direct experience, Gozen-yu doesn't mind people with tattoos (small ones, at least). I don't have them, but my relatives who were visiting do, so this lenience came in handy (don't worry, my relatives aren't scary people). Gozen-yu is also in a charming building and it is quite affordable to bathe there, so I think it fulfills a great niche. The warm water beat back the chill outside and left me refreshed. I live a bit too far away to be a regular here, but I'll find a way to come back occasionally.

I stopped by here on a trip across the Chugoku region. In this quiet hot spring town with several inns nestled close together, there are three public baths: Gozenyu, Yayoiyu, and Satsukiyu. Gozenyu is built in a modern Western-style brick structure, and its attractive exterior and bath evoke a sense of Taisho-era romance. The alkaline simple hot spring water, which flows directly from the source, is smooth and gentle on the skin, and is said to have skin-beautifying properties. Opening hours are 7:00-22:00, the bath is closed every Tuesday, and the bathing fee is 400 yen.

I stopped by here while sightseeing in Shimane over the weekend. The old-fashioned building and bath had a lovely atmosphere. Perhaps because it was the weekend, the multiple parking spaces were full, even the second parking lot, so I had to wait about 10 minutes to find a spot. Three of the six showers in the women's bath only had cold water, so several people were waiting for one with hot water to become available. The bath water was quite hot, but once I got used to it it felt great and my skin felt so smooth!