Den Den Mikawa

This was my first visit with my parents, who have been there a few times! The inn and the day-use hot spring are connected, so if you stay overnight, you can use both. The day-use hot spring offers three types of water, including a cold bath. Since it's a long-established facility, the facilities are a bit worn, but the quality of the hot springs is reliable. My body was warm and I slept well. The inn's small bath has two washing areas and one small bath, but if you're going to stay, I recommend the large bath! It also has a sauna, and is spacious and feels open. However, the shampoo is a standard rinse-in-shampoo. If I had known about the POLA set in the small bath beforehand, I would have preferred to wash my hair there. There are various items for sale in the large bath, but it's cash only. There are various massagers and a tatami space to relax, so you can stay for quite a while. Every dish in the course meal served in the inn's banquet hall was delicious, but I think it would have been better if we hadn't chosen the cheaper course. The kids' meals were also luxurious and they ate with gusto.

This is a day-trip hot spring facility located north of the Shonai Mikawa roadside station. It's about a 10-minute walk from the roadside station, so overnight parking in your car is probably fine. The facility feels more like a public bathhouse than a traditional hot spring. There are two types of baths: a colorless, transparent one and a brownish, highly saline one. It's unclear what makes the highly saline one so concentrated, but bathing for more than 5 minutes is not recommended. Soaps and other toiletries are provided, so you only need to bring a towel and a change of clothes to wash off the sweat. The changing rooms have simple lockable lockers, so no coins are needed. The entrance fee is 450 yen per adult, which I think is incredibly cheap in these times. Tickets are purchased from a vending machine, and only cash is accepted.

There are two indoor baths (one with a high concentration of dissolved substances, with a warning that bathing is limited to 5 minutes once a day. First-time visitors should not push themselves too hard (apparently some people push themselves too hard and end up being carried away. They're probably regulars), a sauna (bath towels required), a cold bath, and a negative ion room where you can cool off (though this might be more convenient than the open-air bath). The water temperature is just right, and the quality keeps you warm for a long time. I love high-concentration hot springs. The water was great. There's a roadside station and accommodation nearby. The rapeseed blossoms were in full bloom at this time of year, making it beautiful.

Visited in August 2025. For just 500 yen per adult, I think it's a steal. Hot springs, sauna, jet bath, and groundwater showers are a steal. It's small, but the souvenir shop-style interior is typical of day-trip hot springs in rural areas, and the large bath is clean, with only a few hardened hot spring minerals. Opening the inner door of what looks like an open-air bath reveals an open-air bathing space labeled "Negative Ion Room." After soaking in the highly concentrated hot spring water and getting out without rinsing, my body started to itch. For a moment, I thought the water was really dirty, but the itching went away once my sweat subsided, so I guess it's because I sweat a lot.

I stayed the night in my car at a nearby roadside station and headed there at 6am when it opened. I was grateful that it was open so early in the morning. Even though it was a weekday, there were many people (locals) using the baths from the morning, so it seemed to be popular. I bought a ticket from the ticket machine and went to the reception desk. There are two indoor baths, which are apparently alternated between men's and women's, and the main one is spacious. The brown, murky bath, which is said to have a high concentration of water, is limited to five minutes per day. There is no open-air bath. The shower pressure was weak. The hot springs were nice.