Kinjo Onsen Motoyu

Kinjo Onsen Motoyu is a hot spring public bathhouse in Akatsuchimachi, a flat residential district in the western part of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, right beside the Ishikawa Sports Center. Said to have been founded in 1955, it has served Kanazawa residents as an everyday bathhouse for some seventy years, drawing water from its own wells that tap a plant-derived hot spring beneath the Kaga plain. Although it sits only about fifteen minutes by car from central Kanazawa, it lies well outside the tourist belt of Kenrokuen and Omicho Market, so the bathers here are overwhelmingly locals.

Two wells feed the building: No. 1 is a sodium bicarbonate-chloride spring and No. 2 a sodium chloride-bicarbonate spring, both hypotonic and mildly alkaline. The source emerges at roughly 39.8C with a pH of about 7.5. Rich in humic substances left by ancient buried vegetation, it is a classic moor spring: the water carries a deep amber to blackish yellow-brown tint reminiscent of barley tea, and feels distinctly smooth and slippery on the skin. Locals call it a beauty bath and a warming bath, and the posted indications include cuts, poor peripheral circulation, sensitivity to cold and dry skin.

The bathing hall runs on a two-track system. The large main tub and the low seated bath receive No. 2 water straight from the source with no heating, no dilution and no disinfection, while the bubble bath, jet bath and open-air bath use No. 1 water that is heated, diluted, recirculated through filters and chlorinated. A sauna and cold plunge round out the public bath, and the second floor holds a set of reservable private family baths. Admission is 500 yen for adults, 150 yen for elementary school children and 70 yen for children under six, with the sauna costing an extra 180 yen. The bathhouse opens from 6:00 in the morning until 23:00, closing on Tuesdays and on New Year's Day, and provides 90 free parking spaces.