Yunosawa Onsen Nisshokan

Nisshokan is a single-building inn tucked into the Yunosawa valley, a tributary of the Innai River, in Shimoinnai, Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture. Its address places it inside a national forest reserve, reached by turning off National Route 13 and following a narrow mountain road about three kilometers along a clear stream. The inn traces its beginnings to 1905, when Takekichi Kamada, the great-great-grandfather of the present proprietress, found the spring and built a lodging here. The same family has kept it running for more than 120 years. Mobile phones get no signal in the valley, and the only sounds are the stream and birdsong, which is why it is counted among the quietest therapeutic bathing inns in the prefecture.

The spring is an alkaline simple hot spring with a pH of 9.6, a source temperature of 39.9 degrees Celsius, and a natural, unpumped flow of 86.1 liters per minute. Total dissolved solids come to only 153.6 milligrams per kilogram, so the water is exceptionally clear, colorless, and often described as transparent enough to show a needle dropped into the tub. It reaches the bath undiluted and uncirculated as one hundred percent free-flowing source water, arriving at a mild temperature just under 40 degrees. The silky water is said to help with skin conditions, neuralgia, and poor circulation, and its reputation as a beauty spring draws bathers from outside the prefecture.

Bathing is in two indoor baths, one for men and one for women, with no outdoor bath. The wooden tubs, rebuilt in August 2012, are modest in size and hold about four people, with source water pouring in continuously from the spout. There are only four guest rooms. An overnight stay with two meals costs 9,000 yen per person and includes 24-hour access to the bath. Day-trip bathing runs from 9:00 to 18:00 at 500 yen for adults, 200 yen for elementary school children, and free for preschoolers. Because of heavy snow and the closure of the access road, the inn operates only in the warm season from May through November and is closed from December through April.