Minami-Alps Akaishi Onsen Shirakabaso

Shirakabaso is a municipally run hot spring lodge in Tashiro, Aoi Ward, Shizuoka City, set at the foot of the Southern Japanese Alps. Standing along Prefectural Route 60 just before the Hatanagi Daiichi Dam, it is known as a gateway for climbers heading into the Southern Alps. Its predecessor was built in 1957 as a workers' camp during the Hatanagi dam construction and opened as a hot spring mountain lodge in 1966. After the old building aged, the current facility was rebuilt and reopened at its present site in July 2009.

The spring is a simple sulfur spring with an alkaline pH of 9.3 and a source temperature of 38.2 degrees Celsius. The water is hypotonic, faintly cloudy and nearly colorless, with a mild hydrogen-sulfide scent. Because the source is relatively cool, the water has been heated with a wood-biomass boiler since fiscal 2011. It is said to help with nerve and joint pain, diabetes, digestive ailments and skin conditions.

The building has a large indoor bath, an open-air bath and a multipurpose bath, and the open-air bath commands views of Mount Chausu and Mount Kamikochi in the Southern Alps. Day-use bathing costs 600 yen for junior-high age and above and 200 yen for elementary schoolchildren, plus a 150 yen bathing tax. Hours are 10:00-18:00 from April to November and 10:00-17:00 from December to March, closed on Tuesdays. Overnight stays are available, with seven twin rooms and three quad rooms, and free parking for 150 cars.