Sendai-Taki Onsen Takeya Ryokan Honkan

Takeya Ryokan Honkan is a traditional toji (therapeutic bathing) inn in Sendai-Taki Onsen, a small hot spring hamlet tucked into the hills of Yuda-cho in Satsumasendai City, Kagoshima Prefecture. The spring appears in the Kenkyu Zucho land register of the Kamakura period, so hot water has been flowing here for roughly 800 years. Saigo Takamori, the Satsuma statesman of the Meiji Restoration, is said to have stayed here repeatedly during rabbit-hunting trips, and in 1990 the spring was named one of Japan's 100 Famous Hot Springs.

The water is a simple sulfur spring drawn from a blend of several wells. The posted analysis records a source temperature of 52.1C, a pH of 9.2 on the alkaline side, and a total mineral content of 264.9mg per kilogram. It is colorless and clear, carries a faint sulfur scent, and leaves a distinctly silky feel on the skin, which is why locals call it a bijin-yu, or beauty bath. Every bathhouse in the hamlet shares the two sources and keeps the water free-flowing, and Takeya Ryokan Honkan is no exception: the tub is fed continuously and overflows without recirculation.

The bath is an indoor one, separated by gender, and is divided into two connected basins so that the section nearest the spout runs hot while the near side cools to a gentler temperature. Day-trip bathing runs 7:30 to 20:20 and costs 300 yen for adults and 150 yen for children, with a 1,500 yen rest-room option that includes bathing. Room-only stays start at 3,850 yen, and a shared kitchen equipped with tableware, a refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, a washing machine and a sink supports guests on long self-catering cures. Parking is available for 30 cars.