Hira Shofuku Onsen Holiday Afternoon

Located in Kitahira, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, this hot spring rises at the foot of the Hira Mountains near Omi-Maiko Minamihama on the western shore of Lake Biwa. A handmade pension drilled its own source here and opened the spring in 2007, naming it Shofuku (inviting good fortune) with the wish that it would bring happiness to everyone connected with it. The quiet setting between Lake Biwa and the Hira range also includes a dog run and a cafe.

The water is a sodium bicarbonate spring (neutral, hypotonic) with a pH of 7.25 and a source temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. Rich in metasilicic acid, it is valued as a beauty bath. Freshly drawn, it is a clear lemon hue, but on contact with air it oxidizes into a cloudy olive green to olive yellow, earning it a reputation as a colour-changing spring. It is heated and served entirely from the source with no chlorination.

Bathing is limited to a single cypress-lined private family bath for two to five people, used by reservation only in 55-minute slots for one group. There is no open-air bath. Hours are 10:00 to 17:00, closed Mondays (the following weekday if Monday is a holiday). The charge is 3,300 yen per group, plus a 50 yen bathing tax for those aged 12 and over. A stone sauna, a cafe serving handmade croissants, a barbecue area and overnight lodging are also available.