Yutagawa Onsen Kyubei Ryokan

Kyubei Ryokan is a 13-room inn in Yutagawa Onsen, at the foot of Mt. Kinbo in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture. Founded in the mid-Edo period, it stands in a hot spring village said to date from 712 (Wado 5), when villagers reportedly found a wounded white heron healing itself in the water, giving the spa its nickname Shirasagi no Yu, the Bath of the White Heron. Yutagawa is the third-oldest hot spring in Yamagata and was designated a National Health Resort Hot Spring in 2001.

The water is a sodium-calcium sulfate spring, colourless, clear and odourless. The village's single source, Yutagawa No. 1, yields roughly 1,000 litres per minute and has been piped to every facility under a centralised management system run by the local onsen association since 1936. The source measures 42 to 44 degrees Celsius with a pH of about 8.6. Kyubei adds no water and warms the supply slightly, serving all of its baths as free-flowing spring water, and the inn belongs to the Japan Free-Flowing Hot Spring Association.

There are two main baths: Yama-no-Yu, which includes an open-air section, and Kawa-no-Yu, where a large goldfish tank is set into the wall. A free private bath requires no reservation, and guests may also use three private baths at the sister inn Shugyokuya a minute away, for a total of nine bathing spots by the inn's own count. Rooms with two meals start at 20,350 yen including tax, plus a 150 yen bathing tax. Day-trip bathing is normally not offered and opens only on the days of the Yutagawa Plum Blossom Festival, usually held in late March.