Sarugakyo Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

Sarugakyo Onsen is a quiet hot spring with fine views, spreading along the shore of Lake Akaya. Amid tranquil scenery overlooking the lake and the surrounding mountains, you can soak at ease. There is nothing flashy about it, but its rustic, calm atmosphere is a place that soothes the heart.

Highlights

Lake Akaya, seen from the spa town, is a reservoir created by the Aimata Dam; its hues change with the season and time of day, and its quiet surface heals the fatigue of travel. Strolling the lakeshore, you can slowly enjoy the scenery woven by mountains and water. A legend that the warlord Uesugi Kenshin once visited is said to be the origin of the place name, and an air of old-fashioned local life lingers. It is a spa village where relaxed time flows.

Seasonal Enjoyment

Budding greenery in spring, cool highland air in summer, and the foliage of the mountains ringing the lake in autumn shift the scenery with each season. Autumn is especially fine, when the foliage reflected on the lake's surface is beautiful and photogenic. In winter, you can enjoy a calm soak beside the quiet, snow-dressed lakeshore.

Access and Basic Information

By car, it is convenient to head along National Route 17 from the Tsukiyono Interchange on the Kan-etsu Expressway. By public transport, take a bus from Gokan Station on the JR Joetsu Line, arriving in about thirty minutes. Access by bus is also possible from Jomo-Kogen Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen. The water is a chloride-type spring containing sodium and calcium, and the location makes an easy stopover base on a journey toward the Minakami area.

Practical Travel Notes

To savor the scenery of Lake Akaya at leisure, staying about half a day while walking the lakeside path makes for a pleasant visit. Autumn, when foliage reflects on the lake, is especially popular, and for photographs a calm, windless morning is recommended. There is a day-use-only bathhouse, "Manten-boshi no Yu," and some inns also accept drop-in bathing, with prices for a soak alone generally ranging from a few hundred to just over a thousand yen. It is also convenient as a base for bath-hopping combined with the mountain hot springs beyond Minakami and Sarugakyo.

A Word of Advice

To enjoy the lakeside scenery at leisure, a stay with time to spare is recommended. Parts of the walking path can be uneven underfoot, so set out in comfortable walking shoes. The setting is quiet, making it perfect for those who want an unhurried journey.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: Calcium-sodium sulfate spring (weakly alkaline, hypotonic, high-temperature spring). The source is "Yushima," the shared source of Sarugakyo Onsen
• Source temperature: 58 degrees according to Manten-boshi no Yu, and 56.5 degrees according to Yumoto Choseikan
• How the water is used: Manten-boshi no Yu is free-flowing hot spring water straight from the source. Water used to be added to lower the temperature, but with the introduction of a heat exchanger the temperature can now be adjusted without adding any water. After closing time all the baths are drained and cleaned, and filled with fresh water every morning
• Indications: Neuralgia, muscle pain, joint inflammation, frozen shoulder, motor paralysis, stiffness of the joints, bruises, sprains, chronic digestive disorders, sensitivity to cold, recovery from fatigue, cuts, burns, chronic skin inflammation and arteriosclerosis
• Drinking the water: Yumoto Choseikan has permission for drinking the spring water, and lists benefits for chronic cholecystitis, gallstones, chronic constipation, gout and chronic digestive disorders, among others
• Day-trip bathing hours (Manten-boshi no Yu): Weekdays 10:00-20:00 (entry reception until 19:00), Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 10:00-21:00 (entry reception until 20:00). Closed every Tuesday, but open when that day is a public holiday
• Bathing fees (Manten-boshi no Yu): A 3-hour ticket is 950 yen for adults (junior high school age and above), 700 yen for children (aged 3 and above) and 750 yen for visitors with disabilities; a 5-hour ticket is 1,200 yen / 900 yen / 950 yen; a one-day ticket is 1,800 yen / 1,100 yen / 1,150 yen; and an evening ticket is 850 yen / 600 yen / 650 yen. The extension fee is 300 yen for adults and 230 yen for children and visitors with disabilities. The adult and disability rates include the 50 yen bathing tax. A book of 10 three-hour tickets costs 6,500 yen (the 50 yen bathing tax is charged separately on each use)
• Open-air baths: Yes. There are two bathhouses, "Sato no Yu" with an open-air bath surrounded by a rock garden and a lying-down bath, and the stone-clad, Western-style "Tanabata no Yu," which are switched between men and women on alternate days. By day you look out over Lake Akaya, and by night over the starry sky
• Private baths: A private hot-spring bath with a tub and washing area finished in natural wood costs 3,000 yen for 90 minutes (admission is charged separately). Reservations must be made in advance, and same-day cancellations incur 50 percent of the fee
• Private rooms and rest areas: An 8-tatami-mat private room costs 1,500 yen per room for 3 hours (reservations accepted). There is also a 110-tatami-mat large hall on the second floor and a free rest area with vending machines
• Tattoos: Bathing is not permitted for those with tattoos. Pets are not allowed, and food and drink may not be brought into the building
• With a baby: Manten-boshi no Yu has a ladies' room that women may use freely, which can be used for breastfeeding and nappy changing
• Watch your footing: The open-air bath at Yumoto Choseikan is at the bottom of about 80 steps. The stairway is fitted with handrails, but anyone unsure on their feet and elderly visitors should be accompanied. As it is in the mountains, bathing is until 20:00
• Access (public transport): About 35 minutes by bus from Gokan Station on the JR Joetsu Line, or about 30 minutes by bus from Jomo-Kogen Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen. For Manten-boshi no Yu, get off at "Manten-boshi no Yu Shita" or "Sekisho-ato" and walk 5-7 minutes
• Access (by car): About 15 kilometres from the Tsukiyono Interchange on the Kan-etsu Expressway along National Route 17. About 2 hours from Tokyo
• Parking: Manten-boshi no Yu has two car parks on its grounds. A rapid charger for electric vehicles is also installed
• Facilities: Free Wi-Fi is available. The dining room "Kazaguruma" commands a sweeping view of Lake Akaya and serves dishes made with Joshu beef, Joshu barley-fed pork and Akagi chicken. The BBQ garden overlooking Lake Akaya can be used without bringing anything of your own
• Nearby: Yushima Auto Campground, 3 minutes away by car, has an open-air bath with free-flowing water straight from the source. It is scheduled to be open from March 20 to December 20, and closes in winter
• Time required: 1-2 hours for a bath alone, or half a day if you add a meal, a rest and a stroll along the shore of Lake Akaya
• Address: Manten-boshi no Yu is at 1150-1 Sarugakyo Onsen, Minakami Town, Tone District, Gunma Prefecture 379-1403, and Yumoto Choseikan is at 1178 Sarugakyo Onsen in the same town

Information Sources

The opening hours, closing days, bathing fees, extension fees, ticket books, private bath and private room rates, tattoo policy, layout of the bathhouses, use of the water (free-flowing from the source, the background to stopping the addition of water, and the daily change of water), spring quality, source temperature, indications, facilities and bus stop names were confirmed on the official website of Satoyama Taiken Manten-boshi no Yu (the day-trip hot spring, information, transport and sightseeing, and Yushima Auto Campground pages). The origin of the place name and the history of the relocation of the hot-spring town come from "The Origin of Sarugakyo Onsen" by the Sarugakyo Onsen Tourist Information Association, while the steps down to the open-air bath, the bathing hours, drinking the spring water and the source temperature of 56.5 degrees come from the hot spring and transport information pages of the official website of Yumoto Choseikan. The year of completion, dam height and purpose of the Aimata Dam were confirmed in the guide to the Aimata Dam by the Tonegawa Dam Integrated Management Office, Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Fees and opening hours are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.