Kirishima Onsen Ryokojin Sanso

Ryokojin Sanso is a lone inn in the Maruo hot spring area of Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, at an elevation of about 700 meters. It is surrounded by roughly 50,000 tsubo (about 16.5 hectares) of natural forest, and the walking paths on the grounds are part of a designated forest therapy road. The inn traces its origins to 1917, when Jinzo Kuramae took over the Maruo hot spring and opened the Maruo Onsen Ryokan.

The inn draws on two different private sources. The indoor main baths use simple thermal water, while the open-air baths use sulfur spring water with a faint scent of yunohana mineral deposits. The simple spring is said to have been discovered in 1819 by a hunter named Yokoo Gonta and flows naturally; it can also be drunk at the on-site fountain. The sulfur spring changes in color and amount of mineral deposits with the seasons. Both the indoor and open-air baths are fed by free-flowing water, with the hot water cooled to a bathable temperature by adjusting the flow.

There are two main bath houses, Osumi no Yu and Kinko no Yu, and the open-air baths overlook Sakurajima. Four reservable private open-air baths (Akamatsu, Hinoki, Momiji and Shika, 50 minutes per use) and a sulfur-spring footbath are also available. Day-trip bathing costs 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children, with admission from 12:00 to 15:00.