Setose Onsen Hotel

Setose Onsen Hotel is a single remote inn in Yunosato, Engaru Town, Mombetsu District, Hokkaido, about 20 minutes by car from central Engaru and surrounded by deep primeval forest. The spring is said to have opened in 1956. After a period of financial difficulty caused by an aging building and competition from nearby municipal bathhouses, the inn was rebuilt around a room-only lodging model from 1998 and has operated that way since.

According to Engaru Town, the water rises of its own accord from a depth of 106 meters and is described by the town as one hundred percent pure hot spring water, flowing at 180 liters per minute at 43 degrees Celsius. The spring is a colorless, transparent alkaline simple spring, regarded locally as an unusually fine water for the skin in Hokkaido, and is credited with benefits for neuralgia, muscle pain and frozen shoulder. The bath itself sits at around 40 to 41 degrees Celsius, mild enough for a long soak.

There is one indoor bath each for men and women, with no open-air bath and no sauna. Day-trip bathing costs 700 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary school children, with preschool children free, from 9:00 to 19:00, closed on Wednesdays. Lodging is room-only in seven Japanese-style rooms at 5,000 yen for adults and 1,650 yen for elementary school children, with a heating surcharge of 500 yen per room from November through April. Parking holds about 30 cars. There is no internet access in the building and no mobile phone coverage.