Shibi Onsen Kami-no-Yu Public Bathhouse

Kami-no-Yu, officially the Shibi District Public Bathhouse, is a community bathhouse in the village of Shibi in Satsuma Town, northern Kagoshima Prefecture, at the southern foot of sacred Mount Shibi. Its name, meaning bath of the gods, comes from the fact that the spring rises directly beneath the worship hall of the adjacent Shibi Shrine. Accounts of its origin differ: one tradition credits the medieval priest Kaizen, who restored the mountain temple of Shingoji, with first using the waters for healing, while another dates the opening of the spring to the Jokyo era of the 1680s, when only temple monks were allowed to bathe until it was opened to ordinary people in the late Edo period.

The water is an alkaline simple sulfur spring with a pH of 9.4 and a source temperature of 50.3 degrees Celsius. It is delivered straight from the source with no added water, no reheating, no recirculation and no chlorination. Clear and colorless, it carries a faint sulfur scent and the slippery, silky feel typical of highly alkaline water, which is why locals prize it as a beauty bath. A drinking fountain for the spring water and a foot bath are provided on site.

Bathing is in separate indoor baths for men and women; there is no open-air bath. The building is plain and functional, with an attendant booth at the entrance and tubs that run hotter the closer they sit to the inlet. Admission is 300 yen for adults and 100 yen for children from outside the district, while Shibi district residents and residents aged 70 and over pay 100 yen. The bath opens daily from 5:00 to 21:00, with last entry at 20:30, and never closes for a holiday. Parking shared with the shrine holds about 100 cars. The neighboring Fureai-kan rest house lets visitors take a room for the day, bring their own food and drink, and bathe as often as they like. There is no lodging: this is a day-use bathhouse only.