Anraku Onsen

Anraku Onsen sits in Otsutsumishita, close to the center of Yurihonjo in Akita Prefecture. The spring is said to have been opened in 1899, and the inn of the same name was founded in 1916, so it has welcomed bathers for more than a century. Surrounded by bamboo groves, it is a quiet hot spring area with only a handful of inns.

The water is an iodine-bearing sodium chloride strong saline spring with a source temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius. The source lies about 800 meters underground, and its water is fed to the baths as 100 percent free-flowing source water. The high salt content keeps the body warm long after bathing. Listed benefits include neuralgia, muscle pain and chronic digestive disorders.

The inn has a spacious indoor bath, an open-air bath ringed by bamboo and a sauna. It has 13 guest rooms, 3 of them with a private hot spring bath. Day-trip bathing costs 800 yen for adults, 400 yen for elementary school children and is free for preschoolers, from 12:00 to 20:00. A restaurant called Sugi no Ki is on the premises.