For Japanese bathing enthusiasts, the search for the ultimate bath is something in the nature of a religious quest. That yu, hot water, is held to have divine powers is best demonstrated by remote shrines, such as Yudono-san (Bathtub Mountain), where a hot spring is regarded as the god incarnate (Dewa Sanzan, Tōhoku: West from Sendai).
Volcanic activity gives rise to thousands of onsen (hot springs), but popular legends often ascribe hot springs to miracles worked by famous ascetics and priests. KŌBŌ DAISHI (774–835), in order to succor the sick, supposedly created many of Japan's most famous hot springs by striking the ground with his magic staff. During the war-torn Middle Ages, certain onsen called kakushi-yu (hidden hot water) were used by military generals as camp hospitals. An injured warrior was supposed to make his way secretly to the agreed-upon spring where, with the aid of the beneficial waters, he could recuperate to fight again.
Many rustic onsen, deep in the mountains, are set up purely for medicinal purposes. At these tōjiba, elderly people and convalescents can stay for a modest fee, staying in simple lodgings and preparing their own food. Depending on the mineral content of the water—iron, sulfur, radium and the like—the springs are thought to have a salutary effect on a wide range of conditions, including skin diseases, gout and rheumatism. People stand under waterfalls of hot water or sit in wooden steam boxes with their heads sticking out. Patients with internal ailments drink large amounts of the health-giving water. Certain onsen are paired, and alternating between them is considered particularly effective for certain ailments.
Tsuruno-yu
“This intimate, rustic retreat began serving the daimyo of Kakunodate 350 years ago. A special pavilion for the lord once stood behind the present ryokan wing. The thatched long house is 100 years old and has an irori room where you can dine on a one-pot meal cooked over an open fire (arrange in advance). Wooden bathhouses and rotemburo offer milky white and "black" waters.
Many tōjiba are located in beautiful, isolated areas. A few even lack electricity; they use the soft light of oil lamps. These lodges cater to hikers, skiers and nature lovers, and may consist of a series of thatched huts and old wooden buildings. Meals consist of trout caught in nearby streams and sansai (mountain greens) gathered from nearby slopes (see Sansai (Mountain Greens) and River Fish Cuisine: Specialty Cuisines). These inns generally boast a rotemburo, an outdoor bath, usually in some particularly idyllic spot. Here, in the midst of nature, is where the communal essence of the bath is most strongly felt. Young women may not bathe outside in broad daylight—grannies are out night and day—but late in the evening mixed groups bathe, sing and drink sake, which is floated from person to person in little cypress tubs. In the summer, a broiled trout often flavors the sake tub. You may also encounter sake in which mamushi, a venomous snake, is pickled; this elixir is said to increase sexual potency!
Some favorite onsen inns
Tsurunoyu Onsen and Kuroyu Onsen
Tsurunoyu is a quiet and rustic inn in a remote valley. Kuroyu's thatched bungalows are sprawled out along a slope streaming with hot water. Both inns offer a variety of baths in wooden halls (Lake Tazawa, Tōhoku: West from Morioka).
Miyama-sō
A secluded inn in rustic mountains, an hour's drive north of Kyoto. Elegant amenities, lovely mountain cuisine that has garnered two Michelin stars, and beech wood baths overlooking a rushing stream (Northeast Kyoto Lodgings, Kyoto: Lodgings).
Tamanoyu
A refined country-style retreat, furnished in tasteful handcrafts. The hot- spring baths look out on Mt. Yufuin. The inn prides itself on its natural, home-grown food, prepared as an elegant, rustic kaiseki (** Yufuin, Kyūshū: The East Coast of Kyūshū).
Miyama-so
Private soaking tubs of beechwood overlook a rushing mountain stream at this exquisite, understated inn nestled in the mountains north of Kyoto.
For extensive listings of hot spring inns, from rustic to refined, check out Gateway to Japan, Digital Edition.
