Yagen Onsen Yagenso

Yagenso is a small six-room hot spring inn standing along the Yagen mountain stream in the Ohata district of Mutsu City, on the Shimokita Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture. Yagen Onsen is said to have been opened in 1615, and the place name Yagen comes from the shape of the spring outlet, which resembled the boat-shaped metal mortar used in traditional Chinese medicine to grind herbs. The building dates from 1966 and stands deep among the trees, surrounded by the Aomori hiba cypress forest counted among Japan's three great natural woodlands, so that the guest rooms cannot be seen from the road.

The water is a simple hot spring of the mildly alkaline, hypotonic, high-temperature type, with a source temperature of 47.7 degrees Celsius and a pH of about 7.5. It is colourless, odourless and tasteless, contains alum, and is known for leaving the skin smooth. The baths are free-flowing with no added water, no reheating and no recirculation, and the yield is generous enough that the tubs overflow continuously. The water is said to help with fatigue, neuralgia and joint pain, as well as acne and rough skin.

Bathing consists of a single indoor bath each for men and women. There is no open-air bath and no shower, and even the tap water in the bathroom is hot spring water. Each tub holds about four people, but with so few guests it is effectively a private bath, and overnight guests may bathe around the clock apart from the cleaning window of 10:30 to 13:30. Day-trip bathing costs 300 yen for adults, though the inn closes every Tuesday and Wednesday and shuts down for the winter, so calling ahead is advisable. Overnight stays start at 11,300 yen before tax with two meals, featuring home-cooked dishes made from wild vegetables and mushrooms the proprietress gathers in the Yagen mountains together with seafood from the Shimokita coast.