Kumihama Onsen Yumotokan

Yumotokan is a hot-spring inn set amid rural countryside in Hirata, Kumihama-cho, Kyotango City, Kyoto, close to the shores of Kumihama Bay. True to its name (yumoto meaning "source of the hot water"), the inn owns its own springs and is widely known for its open-air bath, said to be the largest in northern Kinki, fed by water welling up from the rocky cliff facing the pool.

The first source is a calcium-sodium chloride-sulfate spring (51.2 degrees C, pH 8.07) and the second is a sodium-calcium chloride spring (32.0 degrees C, pH 7.97). By blending the two springs of differing temperature, the inn achieves 100 percent free-flowing hot spring water with no heating and no added water. The salt content typical of chloride springs coats the skin and retains warmth well, and the water is said to help with neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, poor circulation, and fatigue.

The bathing facilities include the vast open-air bath, which can hold up to 100 bathers at once, an indoor bath, and a seasonal herbal bath. Day-trip bathing costs 600 yen for adults and 200 yen for children and is available from 9:00 to 21:00, while overnight stays are offered in ten guest rooms. In winter, crab dishes typical of Kumihama are a specialty.