Matsukawa Onsen Matsukawaso

Matsukawaso stands at an elevation of about 850 metres in the Matsukawa Onsen hamlet of Hachimantai City, Iwate Prefecture, at the Iwate-side gateway to Hachimantai National Park and ringed by peaks such as Mount Iwate and Mount Mitsuishi. The spring is said to have been found by a mountain ascetic named Sainen Ito in the early eighteenth century and opened as a bathing place by his son Yojiro in 1743. The inn itself opened in July 1960 and has been enlarged five times since, now offering 62 rooms for up to 206 guests. Japan's first commercial geothermal power station stands nearby and supplies the steam used for heating and for melting snow around the building.

The water is classified as a simple sulphur spring of the hydrogen sulphide type, hypotonic, weakly acidic and hot. The inn holds two of its own sources: the hot Shinyu at 83.7 degrees Celsius and pH 4.3, and the cool Sekirei-no-yu at 38.5 degrees Celsius and pH 3.7. Used together they fill the baths with undiluted free-flowing water, milky white and scented with sulphur, traditionally recommended for neuralgia, joint pain, skin complaints and gout.

Bathing facilities comprise separate indoor baths for men and women, a rustic mixed-gender open-air bath and a women-only open-air bath, parts of which are roofed. Day visitors pay 700 yen for adults and 300 yen for children, from 8:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 17:00; a private resting room costs 1,400 yen extra per adult. Overnight stays start at 12,500 yen with two meals, featuring grilled Japanese Shorthorn beef, home-grown vegetables, mountain greens and char. Free parking for about 50 cars is available.