Hiroshima Municipal Lodge Yuki Lodge

Yuki Lodge is a municipally operated kokumin-shukusha inn at Yuki Onsen, tucked into the Nishi-Chugoku mountains in the Yuki district of Saeki Ward, Hiroshima City. The surrounding highland sits roughly 300 to 350 metres above sea level, and the lodge faces the clear waters of the Minochi River. Yuki Onsen is said to have been discovered some 1,500 years ago, when villagers watched an injured white heron heal its wounds in a streamside pool. By the Keicho era (1596-1615) it was the only established spa in the old Geiyo region. The springs were redeveloped and renamed Hiroshima Yuki Onsen in 1950, and in July 1955 the area was designated a National Health Resort Hot Spring. Barely an hour by car from central Hiroshima, the valley is known as the city's back parlour, and Yuki Lodge is the only inn here that also opens its baths to day visitors.

The water is a simple weakly radioactive spring, emerging at 28.3 degrees Celsius with a pH of 9.0, and its radon content is reckoned among the highest in Japan. The inn states that the water is never diluted and is warmed only to bring it to bathing temperature. It runs colourless, clear and notably soft on the skin. One indoor tub is kept at roughly 28 degrees, close to source temperature, and many bathers use it as a cold plunge after the sauna. The posted indications cover nerve, muscle and joint pain, poor circulation and general fatigue, along with spring-specific indications for gout, arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, chronic cholecystitis and chronic skin conditions.

There are two bathing suites, the Cypress Bath and the Marble Bath, which swap between men and women on alternating days. Each has one open-air bath, one indoor bath and one sauna, dry and hot on the cypress side, steam-based on the marble side. The indoor baths include seated, reclining and low-temperature tubs, and guests can also book a barrier-free family bath or use the footbath on the grounds. Day-trip bathing costs 750 yen for adults and 300 yen for children, with all-day passes at 1,000 and 500 yen. Hours run 10:00 to 21:00 in summer (1 June to 30 September) and 10:00 to 20:00 in winter (1 October to 31 May). The inn has 21 rooms, twelve Japanese-style and nine Western-style, sleeping up to 80 guests, from 14,280 yen per person with two meals. Parking for 120 cars is free, the restaurant seats 72, Wi-Fi covers the building, and a 500-seat hall hosts regular kagura dance performances.