Sasakura Onsen Ryuunso

Ryuunso is a secluded single-inn onsen at the foot of the active volcano Mt. Yakeyama in Itoigawa, Niigata Prefecture, and a member of the Japan Association for the Protection of Secret Hot Springs. Its origins date to the early Kyoho era (1710s), when Bunzaemon Sonoda of Sunaba village is said to have discovered the spring guided by a revelation from the Yakushi Buddha. The source was lost in a great flood in 1914 but restored in 1926 through the efforts of some 4,000 people, and it has been cherished as a famed hot spring of Echigo ever since.

The water is a sodium bicarbonate spring, long celebrated as a beauty bath that leaves the skin smooth and supple. The inn draws on two of its own sources, Ryuun (about 53C, 75 L/min) and Yakushi (about 63C, 114 L/min), and is said to be effective for chronic skin conditions, neuralgia, joint and muscle pain, and fatigue recovery. A drinking-water corner is also provided.

The large baths include indoor tubs (a barrel bath and reclining bath) and a granite open-air bath, while the private baths offer free-flowing source water. Day-trip bathing costs 850 yen for adults on weekdays and 1,000 yen on weekends and holidays; overnight stays are also available. Free parking for 70 cars.