Yubune Natural Onsen Ichihara Chiharadai: Day-Use Hot Spring

This is a new day-use natural hot spring facility that opened in the Chiharadai district of Ichihara City in 2024. Set in a corner of a shopping mall, it offers the convenience of dropping by while running errands. With a wide variety of baths and carefully designed saunas, you can spend a relaxed day here.

Highlights

The highlight is the two saunas of different types. There is a sauna where you can enjoy loyly and a quiet sauna for calm relaxation, making it popular with sauna fans. The bath lineup is rich as well, including a natural hot spring outdoor bath and a carbonated bath. The spring water is a sodium chloride and bicarbonate cold mineral spring that warms you from the core.

Enjoying the Seasons

In winter, ease away the cold in the warming outdoor bath and carbonated bath. In summer, the refreshing reset of alternating between sauna and cold bath feels great. Being a mainly indoor facility, it can be enjoyed all year regardless of the weather.

Access and Basic Information

The address is inside the Morimachi Chiharadai Mall in 2-chome, Chiharadai-Minami, Ichihara City, Chiba. It is convenient from Chiharadai Station on the Keisei Chihara Line and also well suited to arriving by car. It is open from 9:00 in the morning to midnight, with last reception at 23:30, and is open year-round apart from maintenance closures. Bathing fees are 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children on weekdays, and 1,200 yen and 600 yen on weekends and holidays. The mall parking is large, with about 600 spaces available free of charge. Check the latest hours and fees on the official site.

Practical Travel Notes

Weekday mornings to early afternoon are recommended for a relatively relaxed visit. Weekends and holidays tend to be crowded with families, so arriving right at opening is a safe choice. Allow one to two hours for bathing alone, or about half a day to enjoy the saunas, dining area, and rest spaces. Budget around a thousand yen for bathing, or a few thousand yen once you add a meal or the stone sauna. Since you can also shop and dine in the same mall, it is a handy destination on a rainy day.

A Quick Tip

Combine it with a drive toward Yoro Valley for a relaxed bathing finish after sightseeing. As it opened in 2024, the interior is clean and comfortable. The two saunas each have a different atmosphere, so trying both for comparison is recommended.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: Sodium chloride bicarbonate cold mineral spring (hypotonic, weakly alkaline)
• Benefits: Cuts, poor peripheral circulation, sensitivity to cold, depressive states and dry skin
• Baths: A natural hot spring open-air bath, a fine-bubble bath, an "esthe" bath (with jets inside the tub), a rotating specialty bath using seasonal herbs and medicinal blends, and a cold plunge bath
• Opening hours: 9:00-24:00 (last reception 23:30)
• Closed: Open all year round. However, the facility closes irregularly for maintenance, with dates announced on the news page. Hours may be shortened in bad weather such as typhoons
• Bathing fee: On weekdays, 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children (age 3 through sixth grade of elementary school); on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 1,200 yen for adults and 600 yen for children. Children under 3 are free of charge. Special rates apply during certain periods such as the Obon season and the New Year holidays
• Ticket books: A book of 10 bathing tickets costs 8,200 yen, saving 180 yen per visit on weekdays and 380 yen on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays
• Towels and in-house wear: Rentals are 160 yen for a face towel, 200 yen for a bath towel and 360 yen for a towel set. In-house wear is 320 yen and rock sauna wear 310 yen. Face towels for sale are 200 yen
• Provided amenities: Shampoo, conditioner, body soap and hairdryers are provided, so you can visit empty-handed
• Tattoos: You may enter if your tattoo can be covered with two of the facility's designated cover stickers (10 centimeters square). The stickers are sold at the front desk for 200 yen each
• Children not yet out of diapers: They may bathe, and guests are directed to use the baby bath provided in the bathing area. Adults who regularly wear diapers, however, may not use the bathing area
• Rules for children: Children may use the bath of the opposite sex only up to the age of 6. Those below junior high school age may not use the rock sauna area. Children of elementary school age and younger may not enter unaccompanied
• Wheelchairs and canes: Wheelchairs may be used if accompanied by a carer of the same sex (the companion also has to pay admission). Wheelchairs may not be used inside the bathing area, however. Canes may be used inside the building, but guests are asked to refrain from using them in the bathing area
• Payment: In addition to cash, credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, AMEX, Diners and others), electronic money (Suica, iD, Rakuten Edy, nanaco, WAON, QUICPay) and QR payments (PayPay, Rakuten Pay, Merpay, au PAY and others) are accepted. LINE Pay cannot be used. Payment is made afterwards by scanning the wristband from your shoe locker at an automated payment machine
• Members' card: 110 yen to issue, with no annual fee. You earn 1 point for every 100 yen spent in the facility, and each point is worth 1 yen. Valid for one year from your most recent visit
• Dining: The restaurant "Yubune's kitchen" is open 11:00-22:00 on weekdays (last order 21:30) and 11:00-23:00 on holidays (last order 22:00). From 15:00 to 17:00 it is in idle time, serving only drinks, soft-serve ice cream and shaved ice. No admission fee is charged if you come only to eat
• Relaxation: Body care, esthetic treatments and body scrubs are available 10:00-22:30 (last reception 22:00). Apart from the body scrub, no admission fee is required if you come only for a treatment
• Resting: There is no nap room, but there are reclining chairs, a lie-down space, a manga corner with about 2,800 volumes and a working space
• Entry restrictions: Groups consisting only of minors may not enter after 22:00 (unless accompanied by a guardian)
• Bringing items in: Food and drink may not be brought in
• Car and bicycle parking: The mall's car park holds 600 vehicles and is free of charge during opening hours. There is bicycle parking for 340, plus spaces for motorcycles and for people with disabilities
• Access (by train and bus): From Kamatori Station on the JR Sotobo Line, take the Kominato Tetsudo bus bound for Chiharadai, get off at Chiharadai-Chuo and walk 7 minutes. From Keisei Chiharadai Station, take the Kominato Tetsudo bus bound for Kamatori Station and likewise get off at Chiharadai-Chuo, then walk 7 minutes
• Access (by car): Leave the Tateyama Expressway at the Soga IC onto ordinary roads and head toward Chiharadai Station, about 7 kilometers (roughly 15 minutes). Guidance suggests setting your car navigation to the Shizu Fire Station as a landmark
• Time needed: 1-2 hours for bathing alone. Half a day if you include sauna events, a meal and relaxation treatments
• Location: Morimachi Chiharadai Mall, 2-32-10 Chiharadai-Minami, Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture (telephone 0436-63-3273)

📚 Sources

The spring quality, benefits and types of bath, the specifications of the two saunas, opening hours, bathing fees and ticket books, rental prices, payment methods, the tattoo cover stickers, the rules for children, wheelchairs and canes, restaurant and relaxation hours, the capacity of the car and bicycle parking, and bus access were confirmed from the "Natural Hot Spring," "About the Saunas," "Information (fees, hours, FAQ and rules for use inside the facility)" and "Access" pages of the official Natural Hot Spring Yubune Ichihara Chiharadai website. The March 2024 opening and its status as the third branch in the group are based on an introductory article on a bathing-facility information site published at the time of opening. Details are subject to change, so please check official information before you set out.