OH TAZAWAKO WHERE ART THOU?: A Day Trip to Taenoyu Onsen

Onsen-kyo (温泉郷）literally means “Onsen Village,” which typically has only one onsen headspring with hotels and lodges built around it, which makes the area relatively small while sharing the same property of water.

Nyuto Onsen （妙乃湯）is unique in that it has 15 headsprings, which allows each inn to occupy at least one or two springs of different quality. That means there is NO Nyuto Onsen in Nyuto Onsen-kyo; instead, there are 7 hot spring inns scattered in the vast area.

Taenoyu Onsen, one of the Nyuto inns, is known for its sophisticated modern Japanese atmosphere. It is without a doubt one of the most popular hotspring inns in Japan. Taenoyu Onsen owns two headsprings on its own-- Kin-no-yu （金の湯）and Gin-noyu （銀の湯）, Golden Water and Silver Water.

Taenoyu Onsen

The Sendatsu River

The entrance

Upon entering, please remove your shoes.

A beautiful seasonal display.

The front desk. Pay here.

For guests on daytrips: 700 yen to enter. S small towel (300 yen) and a bathtowel (500 yen).

Welcome. An antique phone greets you.

Overnight guests are able to purchase Yumeguri-cho, a book of tickets that allows you to enter 7 different hotsprings in Nyuto area. The book includes fares of multiple rides on Yumeguri-go, the circulating shuttle bus that connects Nyuto inns. It is available for the overnight guests only!!

If you would like to hop around and explore different types of waters in Nyuto, this bus is the most convenient! The book is valid for one year. Considering that entry fees to all the 7 onsens in Nyuto would cost you at least 3,700 yen, this 1,500 ticket book with the bus fares is incredibly reasonable. Don’t forget to ask for it at your hotel.

Since we had a Yumeguri-cho book, which allowed us to enter with no additional charge! After we had it stamped, we were friendly guided to the changing rooms.

Available only at the Nyuto inns.

Yumeguri-cho

Have it stampted!

Every little details of the display is beautiful.

The baths are beyond the curtain.

Red is for woman. Blue is for man. The baths are swapped daily.

A certificate of component analysis made in 1956.

The safety box is located in front of the red and blue curtains.

More certificates to show how authentic and aesthetic this place is.

The changing room.

If you are not familiar with Japaneses customs, this poster might help you know the etiquette in the public bathing area.

Make sure you know it as a courtesy to the others!

Kin-no-yu is named after the reddish brown color—rich in calcium, magnesium, and sulfuric acid—and said to be effective for skin disease and arteriosclerosis.

Kin-no-yu, Golden Water is in this shallow neyu (reclining tub).

Gin-no-yu is, on the other hand, is clear with no color and categorized as a simple hot spring. It is said to be affective for rheumatism, anemia, and many women’s diseases.

A hotbath called "Taenoyu"

Myoken-no-yu is an outdoor mixed bathing bath. Women can enter with a bathtowel.

As long as the time allows, you can take a long relaxing moment here. You will never get bored with their variety of hot baths (7 in total), especially the outdoor bath with a river flowing alongside. Get soaked up and enjoy as much as you want but make sure you are not boiled up. ;) To ease your thirst, have a drink from the tap-- the spring water is so fresh and mild that it sooths you well.

Located on the hallway. You acn purchase a bottle at the front desk.

You can rest here. Ask them for a cup of tea, if you like.

The resting area is available for daytrippers until 14:30 p.m.

Little drawers full of good souvenirs! Pay at the front.

Okami in a beautiful paiting.

On the hallway a few paintings and photos are displayed. We found a water-color painting from which a illustration of Okami Sembei was taken from. A beautiful painting!

All the onsen inns in Nyuto welcome visitors on an onsen daytrip (higaeri nyuyoku). Remember it is available until a certain time of the day. You are recommended to check the hours and bus schedule and plan ahead!

TO ACCESS:
If you are coming from JR Tazawako Station, take a bus on the Nyuto Line (Nyuto-Sen;乳頭線） and get off at Taenoyu bus-stop.