Moriyoshizan Onsen Chiisana Mori no Yu

Chiisana Mori no Yu is a single-inn hot spring standing beside the Yunosawa mountain stream on the northwestern foot of Mt. Moriyoshi in Kitaakita City, Akita Prefecture. The spring here is said to have been found in 1717, and the Edo-period travel writer Sugae Masumi visited it around 1802-1803, recording it under the name Komata no Yu. The site prospered alongside the Yunotai anthracite mine, and for some eighty postwar years it operated as Soma Onsen Ryokan until that inn closed on 28 February 2025. Landscape gardener Shigeo Yamada took over the source and the building, reopening it on 1 July 2025 under its present name. Two 400-year-old cedars stand at the entrance.

The water is a sodium-calcium chloride-sulfate spring emerging at 52 degrees Celsius, served free-flowing with no added water and no reheating. It is clear and colorless, mildly alkaline, and carries a faint sulfur scent, with roughly 100 liters per minute used in the baths. Water drained from the baths returns directly to the stream below.

Bathing consists of separate indoor baths for men and women, one of which features a tub made from Akita cedar staves, plus a single open-air bath that can be reserved for private use. The inn has eight Japanese-style rooms with shared toilets and washbasins. Day visitors are welcome from 10:00 to 18:00 for 500 yen (elementary school age and above; preschoolers free), with free towels and a large tatami rest room available. Parking and Wi-Fi are free, and payment is cash only.