Heikedaira Onsen Oyado Komayumi no Sato

Komayumi no Sato is a lone hot-spring inn at Heikedaira Onsen, set within the Okukinu Onsen district of Nikko National Park in Kawamata, Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture. It is a secluded spring high in the mountains near the headwaters of the Kinugawa River, and a member inn of the Association to Protect Japan's Secret Hot Springs. The surrounding Kawamata onsen area preserves a legend that it was opened by fugitives of the fallen Heike clan, and the district still keeps the hush of a remote mountain hamlet. Ringed by the old-growth forest of Okukinu, the inn is cherished as a hall of fine timber built to soothe the spirit.

The water is a sodium chloride spring carrying a faint scent of sulfur. Source temperatures range from roughly 32 to 51 degrees Celsius, with a near-neutral pH of about 6.6. Fed by an abundant flow of 320 liters per minute, it is poured into the baths as free-flowing spring water with no added water or heating. As a chloride spring it warms the body deeply and is traditionally valued for neuralgia, rheumatism, fatigue and poor circulation.

The bathing facilities comprise two indoor baths and four open-air baths, and the inn is known for rustic log tubs hollowed from whole trunks, with a mixed-bathing pool still remaining. An overnight stay with two meals runs from about 10,950 to 16,350 yen. Day-use bathing is offered from 12:00 to 15:00 for 800 yen for both adults and children, though it is unavailable on some days, so calling ahead is advised. The whole building is non-smoking, payment is cash only, and a heating surcharge of 700 yen applies from January 4 to March 31.