Jozankei Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

About 26 kilometers south of central Sapporo, Jozankei springs up in a valley within Shikotsu-Toya National Park. Long cherished as the back parlor of Sapporo, it lets you reach a hot spring wrapped in deep nature roughly an hour from the city. With 56 sources, its clear, mellow salt springs warm the body from the core.

Highlights

• The red Futami Suspension Bridge over the Toyohira River and the beautiful gorge
• A hot spring town dotted with kappa water-sprite statues drawn from local legend
• Easy bath-hopping at the many foot baths and hand baths

Enjoying the Seasons

Autumn is Jozankei finest sight, when the whole valley blazes with color from early to mid October. Winter offers snow-viewing baths, summer brings strolls through fresh green gorges, and every season has a rich face. A soak while gazing at the snow-dressed valley is especially fine.

Access and Basic Information

• About one hour by direct bus from the Sapporo Station bus terminal
• About 40 minutes by car from central Sapporo
• About one hour and 20 minutes by car from New Chitose Airport
• Spring type is sodium chloride spring
• The town has several day-use bathing facilities where you can enjoy the inn waters easily

Practical Travel Notes

• The Jotetsu Bus direct service Kappa Liner linking Sapporo Station and Jozankei takes about 60 minutes. It is fully reservation-based, so booking ahead is surest once your date is set
• The promenade around the Futami Suspension Bridge and Kappa Pool lets you enjoy the gorge on foot from the town. Free foot baths and hand baths are dotted about, so you can sample the atmosphere without changing clothes
• The best seasons are October for autumn leaves and winter for snow-viewing baths. To avoid crowds during the leaf season, an early morning stroll is recommended
• The easy day-trip distance from central Sapporo means half a day is enough to combine a walk and a bath. Budget roughly a few hundred to just over a thousand yen for day-use bathing

A Quick Tip

The autumn-leaf season gets crowded, so an early stroll is recommended. The salt-rich water holds heat well, so rest slowly after your bath until you have cooled down. Some direct buses require reservations, so lock in your outbound and return times first.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: Sodium chloride spring (neutral, hypotonic, high-temperature). It also contains a bicarbonate spring component. Colorless, clear and mildly salty
• Benefits: The chloride spring is said to help with cuts, poor peripheral circulation, sensitivity to cold, depressive states and dry skin. The bicarbonate spring is said to help with cuts, poor peripheral circulation, sensitivity to cold and dry skin
• Springs: There are 56 sources in the hot spring town. They are concentrated near Tsukimi Bridge and Takayama Bridge on the Toyohira River, with 8,600 liters per minute welling up naturally
• Day-use bathing (Yunohana Jozankei-den): 10:00-21:00, open all year (with occasional temporary closures for facility maintenance)
• Bathing fee: 1,180 yen for adults (junior high school students and older), 450 yen for children (age 4 to elementary school), free of charge for infants (ages 0-3). The stone sauna costs 500 yen for 1 hour including the required set, and a private Japanese-style room costs 600 yen per room per hour
• Towels and amenities: A rental set including a bath towel, face towel and indoor wear, allowing you to come empty-handed, costs 450 yen. The bathing area is fully equipped with shampoo-conditioner, body soap and hair dryers (free of charge)
• Open-air bath: Yes (the stone bath is closed in winter). The Western-style side has a cave bath
• Sauna: The dry sauna uses far-infrared heating. The Japanese-style side has an auto-loyly sauna that releases loyly automatically 3 times an hour
• Parking: Yunohana Jozankei-den has space for 400 cars and is free of charge
• Footbaths and hand baths: Jozan Gensen Park is open 7:00-21:00. Raw eggs for making hot spring eggs are bought at the Jozankei Bussankan products hall on the opposite bank
• Access (bus): About 70 minutes from Sapporo Station to the Jozankei area on the \"Kappa Liner\" (Jotetsu Bus). Seating is unreserved but all services require a booking, accepted from one month in advance until 17:00 the day before. The regular fare is 1,700 yen, or 1,460 yen with the discounted online prepaid fare. You may board without a reservation if seats are available on the day. Alternatively, the Jotetsu local bus takes about 80 minutes from Sapporo Station and about 47 minutes from Makomanai subway station
• Access (car): About 50 minutes from central Sapporo via Prefectural Route 18 and National Route 230. From Makomanai Station it is about 18 km and about 35 minutes on National Route 230
• Access (airport): About 100 minutes from New Chitose Airport by Hokto Kotsu bus via Makomanai Station, or about 90 minutes by car via Kitahiroshima IC, National Route 36 and National Route 230
• Time to allow: 1-2 hours for bathing alone. Half a day if you combine it with a stroll to the Futami Suspension Bridge and the footbaths
• To avoid the crowds: In October, the autumn foliage season, both the hot spring town and the roads are busy. Early morning is the easiest time to get around on foot
• Location: Yunohana Jozankei-den is at 330-4, Jozankei Onsen Higashi 4-chome, Minami-ku, Sapporo (telephone 011-598-4444). Jozan Gensen Park is at Jozankei Onsen Higashi 3, Minami-ku, Sapporo

Sources of Information

The spring quality, benefits, number of sources and discharge volume are compiled from the Jozankei Onsen page on \"HOKKAIDO LOVE!,\" the official website of the Hokkaido Tourism Organization, and from \"About Jozankei\" on the Jozankei Tourism Association official website. The circumstances of the spring's discovery (1866, by Miizumi Jozan), the year the railway opened and the 150th anniversary of the spring's opening are taken from \"The History of Jozankei Onsen\" on the Jozankei Tourism Association official website. The day-use bathing hours, bathing fees, rentals, stone sauna, Japanese-style rooms, parking and amenities, as well as the layout of the baths and the figure of 87°C for the cold-water source bath, come from the fee and opening information, frequently asked questions and facility introduction pages of the official website of Yunohana Jozankei-den. The booking method, fares and journey time for the Kappa Liner come from the Jotetsu Bus official website, the journey times on local buses and from the airport from the access page of the Jozankei Tourism Association, and the opening hours of Jozan Gensen Park and its footbath and hot spring egg bath from the facility page on \"HOKKAIDO LOVE!\" As details are subject to change, please check the official information before you set out.