Kurahashi Katsuragahama Onsenkan

Kurahashi Katsuragahama Onsenkan is a day-use hot spring facility on Katsuragahama Beach in the southern part of Kurahashi Island, Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture, within the Setonaikai National Park. The white-sand beach lined with pines has been celebrated since the Manyoshu era, when the island was known as Nagato-no-shima. The complex opened in 1998 and was designed by architect Itsuko Hasegawa, whose cluster of egg-shaped roofs makes it one of the notable pieces of contemporary architecture in the prefecture. It draws roughly 90,000 visitors a year.

The water is classified as a weakly radioactive sodium chloride spring (hypertonic, neutral, low-temperature). The facility pumps its own source, Kurahashi Onsen, from 1,650 meters underground; it emerges at 25.7 degrees Celsius with a pH of about 7.5. The flax-toned mineral-rich water fills the open-air baths at full strength, while the main indoor tubs are filled with the same source treated until colorless. Because the source is cool, the water is heated, and the main tubs use circulation filtration with disinfection, making this a partially flow-through operation.

There are two bathing floors: the Stone Bath on the first floor and the Sea Bath on the third, which alternate between men and women each week. The Stone Bath has two main tubs, five specialty tubs, a far-infrared low-temperature sauna and a cold plunge; the Sea Bath has a main tub, five specialty tubs, a high-temperature sauna and a cold plunge. Both floors include open-air baths. A private family bath is available for 800 yen per hour plus admission, and the building also holds a restaurant, a cafe, a free lounge and a local-produce shop. Parking for about 150 cars is free. Admission is 720 yen for junior high school age and above, revised in April 2025.