Furofushi Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

Rising on a cape that juts into the Sea of Japan, Furofushi Onsen is a spectacular inn famous for an open-air bath set right at the water edge. Soaking in the amber, iron-rich water, you can take in the vast ocean before you and the sun sinking into the horizon. True to its name, which suggests eternal youth, the place wraps you in a feeling of timeless vitality.

Highlights

The greatest sight is the gourd-shaped open-air bath facing the sea. Bathing as the waves surge close by offers a sense of openness found nowhere else. A singular scene unfolds where sea breeze and the scent of hot spring mingle. The gourd-shaped bath is mixed-gender, and a round women-only open-air bath is also provided.

Enjoying the Seasons

It can be enjoyed all year, but dusk is without doubt the finest hour. Bathing as sky and sea turn crimson is exceptional, and the shifting position of the sunset through the seasons is a delight in itself. In winter, you can feel the raw power of the stormy Sea of Japan.

Access and Basic Information

You can arrive by car, or use a shuttle from a station where the JR Gono Line rapid Resort Shirakami train stops. The spring is a sodium chloride water rich in iron, clear when it first emerges but turning amber as it meets the air. Day-use bathing is accepted, at around one thousand yen for adults, with hours that vary by facility and season. The seaside open-air bath has limited reception hours, so checking ahead is recommended.

Practical Travel Notes

The seaside open-air bath is open only during the day, and on days with high waves it may close for safety. On arrival, first confirm whether it is open and the final reception time. Women may enter the mixed-gender open-air bath wearing a dedicated bathing garment, which is available to rent. As it is some distance from Aomori and Hirosaki cities, staying overnight and relaxing is recommended. If you come by ordinary train, the shuttle may require a reservation, so contacting the inn in advance brings peace of mind.

A Quick Tip

If you are after the sunset, look up the time of sundown and match your bathing to it. Because the open-air bath is exposed, it feels the wind and waves easily, so a jacket to guard against chill makes it more comfortable. The iron-rich water is deeply colored, so if you worry about staining, use the towels the inn provides.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: An iron-bearing sodium chloride strong salt spring (hypertonic, neutral, high-temperature spring). The main components are sodium, calcium and magnesium
• Benefits: Neuralgia, lower back pain, rheumatism, wound pain and skin conditions
• Source temperature and flow rate: 52.2 degrees C / 400 liters per minute from 200 m underground
• How the water is used: Free-flowing spring water, with water added to adjust the temperature. Once a day all the baths are drained and cleaned
• Day-use admission: 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for elementary school children. Payment is cash only, made at the ticket vending machine at the entrance of the main building
• Seaside open-air baths: 9:00 to 16:00 (reception until 15:30). In busy periods reception starts at 8:00. There are two baths, one mixed-gender and one women-only, and women may bathe wearing a bathing gown (rental 400 yen, free for overnight guests)
• Main building's large bath "Ogon no Yu": 9:00 to 19:00 (last reception 18:30). In the busy season from late April to the end of August it is 8:00 to 20:00. It has two tubs, one hot and one lukewarm
• New building's large bath "Furofushi no Yu": For day visitors, 10:30 to 14:00 (reception until 13:30). It has a panoramic open-air bath, a sauna and a cold-water bath
• Points to note for the seaside open-air baths: There are no showers, so wash yourself in the indoor bath of the main building before heading over. The baths are not connected to the main building's indoor bath, so you have to get dressed and walk over. They cannot be used in bad weather such as high waves or thunderstorms, and photography is prohibited. In summer horseflies and biting midges appear along the shore. In winter, on days when the water does not warm up enough, only the mixed-gender bath may be available
• Tattoos: Not permitted in any of the baths
• Provided amenities: The indoor baths have shampoo and conditioner, body soap and hairdryers
• Towels and the like: At the ticket machine, yukata rental is 300 yen, bath towel rental is 300 yen, a mini towel for sale is 300 yen, and a towel set is 500 yen
• Parking: 100 spaces, free of charge
• Access (rail): About 5 minutes by the inn's shuttle bus from Wespa Tsubakiyama Station on the JR Gono Line. No reservation is needed if you arrive on the "Resort Shirakami" train; if you come by local train, you must reserve the shuttle with the inn (0173-74-3500)
• Access (by car): The inn asks visitors coming from the direction of Aomori City or Hirosaki City not to take Prefectural Route 28 (the Shirakami Line / Kosei Forest Road). It is hilly and hazardous, so use National Route 101 along the coast instead. Be aware that car navigation systems sometimes select the Shirakami Line automatically
• Winter shuttle: On designated operating days from December to March there is a free shuttle bus for overnight guests from JR Shin-Aomori Station (apply by phone at least three days in advance; departs Shin-Aomori Station at 13:00, with the return leg departing at 9:00 the next day; there is no return service on Saturdays and Sundays)
• Meals: The restaurant is open 11:00 to 14:00 (last order 13:45). It serves the "Fukaura Tuna Steak Bowl" made with wild bluefin tuna landed at Fukaura
• Location: 15 Shimokiyotaki, Henashi, Fukaura Town, Nishitsugaru District, Aomori Prefecture 038-2327

📚 Sources

The spring quality, source temperature, flow rate, the free-flowing water and whether water is added, the day-use bathing hours of each bath, the admission fee and cash-only payment, the fees for bathing gowns and towels, the rules on tattoos, and the points to note for the seaside open-air baths were confirmed on the "hot spring" and "day-use" pages of the official website of Koganezaki Furofushi Onsen. The recommendation to use National Route 101 and to avoid the Shirakami Line, along with the shuttle bus and the winter shuttle from Shin-Aomori Station, come from the "access" page of the same site. The number of parking spaces, the fact that parking is free, and the travel time from Wespa Tsubakiyama Station were taken from the facility information on the Aomori Prefecture tourism information site. Details are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.