Shirakami Yatate Hikage Onsen

Hikage Onsen is a secluded single-inn hot spring in Nagabashiri, Odate City, Akita Prefecture, tucked among natural Akita cedar forest at Yatate Pass on the border with Aomori, on the northeastern edge of the Shirakami-Sanchi region. The spring was discovered in 1889 and an inn was established in 1893 by Benkichi Hikage, a local civil-rights activist. Long revered as a healing spa for skin ailments and nicknamed the Kusatsu of Tohoku, it closed in 2014 due to aging facilities and earthquake damage, then reopened in October 2017 as Shirakami Yatate Yugenkyo-no-Yado Hikage Onsen.

The water is a sulfur-sodium-chloride spring of the hydrogen-sulfide type, producing a milky-white bath with a distinct sulfur aroma. It draws on four sources, with the main bath around 38.4C and the private-bath source about 52.8C; pH is around 6.3 (neutral), with a yield of roughly 170 liters per minute (pumped). All baths are free-flowing source water, prized as a gentle medicinal bath for the skin.

Besides the milky sulfur main bath (indoor and open-air), guests may freely use five private baths, each with its own character. Day-trip bathing runs 11:00 to 15:00 (last entry 14:30) at 600 yen per adult, with a bedrock-bath (ganban-yoku) option for an additional 1,500 yen. Overnight stays with two meals start from 46,200 yen for two guests (23,100 yen per person), offering quiet healing time within the Akita cedar forest.