Tsukuba Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

Tsukuba Onsen springs up at the foot of Mount Tsukuba, a celebrated peak often ranked beside Mount Fuji. Bathing while looking up at the twin summits, you can enjoy a refreshing view over the Kanto plain. It is a fitting place to soothe the fatigue of a climb or a shrine visit.

Highlights

Mount Tsukuba is a twin peak of Mount Nantai (871 meters) and Mount Nyotai (877 meters), and at its foot stands Tsukubasan Shrine, a venerable sanctuary that has drawn worshippers since ancient times. Ride the cablecar (about eight minutes from Miyawaki to Miyukigahara) or the ropeway (about six minutes from Tsutsujigaoka to Nyotaisan), and on clear days you can even see distant Mount Fuji.

Enjoying the Seasons

In spring the plum grove around 250 meters up blooms with some 1,000 trees of about 30 varieties, drawing crowds to the Tsukubasan Plum Festival from mid February to mid March. Early summer dazzles with fresh green, and autumn dyes the slopes in red and gold. In winter the crisp air lets you gaze far across the plain.

Access and Basic Information

From Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express, take the Mount Tsukuba shuttle bus, about 40 minutes to the Tsukubasan Shrine entrance and about 50 minutes to Tsutsujigaoka. By car, head to the mountain base from the Tsuchiura Kita interchange on the Joban Expressway. At the foot are facilities offering day bathing. Fees and hours vary by facility, so check before you visit.

Practical Travel Notes

Best are mid February to mid March, lively with the plum festival, and around November, when the slopes turn color. If you combine a climb, an ideal plan is to soak after descending to ease your tired legs. Choose weekdays to avoid crowds, as the plum and foliage weekends bring busy shuttles and car parks. A specialty of the plum festival is the theatrical patter of the toad oil seller. Set aside a day for a climb and a bath, or half a day if focusing on the shrine. Budget wise, the cablecar or ropeway is around a thousand yen one way, and day bathing runs from a few hundred to the low thousands of yen.

A Quick Tip

If you combine a climb, an ideal plan is to soak after descending to ease your tired legs. The plum and autumn leaf seasons grow crowded, so plan ahead. The summit is cooler than the plain, so bring a layer to be safe.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: Alkaline simple hot spring (the source is named Tsukubasan Onsen). It is said to be effective for neuralgia, muscle pain, joint pain, frozen shoulder, motor paralysis, sensitivity to cold, bruises, recovery from fatigue and general health promotion
• Day-use bathing (Tsukuba no Yu): 12:00-19:00 on weekdays and 10:00-19:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays (last entry 18:00). Open every day (occasional closures for building work and the like)
• Bathing fees: On weekdays, 1,100 yen for adults (junior high school age and above), 800 yen for children (primary school students) and 500 yen for infants (age 3 to 5). On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 1,300 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for children and 500 yen for infants
• Towels: Small towels rent for 100 yen and bath towels for 100 yen. You may also bring your own
• Amenities: Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, face wash, cleansing oil (women's bath only), lotion, milky lotion, cotton buds and hairdryers are provided
• Open-air bath and sauna: In addition to the indoor baths there is an open-air bath, a sauna with self-service loyly (70-80 degrees C), a cold-water bath and a wooden deck for cooling off in the open air
• Private bath: The private open-air bath costs 2,000 yen (including tax) for 45 minutes. Day visitors can book only through an external reservation site with advance payment by credit card, and on the day itself the bathing fee for each person is charged separately. No refunds are given for cancellations or changes of date and time
• Tattoos: People with large tattoos may not use the baths. Small ones such as single motifs may be covered with a tattoo sticker bought at the front desk
• Visiting with children: Children who wear nappies may not enter the bathtubs (a baby bath is lent at the front desk). Following a revision of the Ibaraki Prefecture ordinance, mixed bathing is not permitted from the age of 7
• Footing: The bathing area is down a flight of stairs from the front desk
• Food and drink: You may not bring in your own food or drink. Companions who do not bathe must either pay the bathing fee or order something at the in-house restaurant
• Staying overnight: Tsukuba no Yu is a day-use-only facility. For accommodation, use Hotel Ichibo across the road
• Parking: Available (free of charge according to the Kanko Ibaraki guide)
• Access: About 35 to 40 minutes by the shuttle bus for Mount Tsukuba from Tsukuba Station on the Tsukuba Express; get off at Tsukubasan Jinja-mae-guchi and walk about 10 minutes. From the Tsuchiura-kita IC on the Joban Expressway it is about 30 minutes to the Mount Tsukuba entrance and about 10 minutes more from there
• Address: 64-9 Tsukuba, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture (Tsukuba no Yu)
• Other day-use bathing options: Tsukubasan Edoya 11:30-15:00 (reception until 14:00), Tsukubasan Hotel Aokiya 12:00-15:30 (reception until 15:00), Tsukuba Onsen Hotel 13:00-18:00 (reception until 17:00), Tsukubasan Keisei Hotel 11:00-16:00, closed on Mondays (reception until 15:30)
• How long to allow: One to two hours if you are just bathing. A full day if you combine it with hiking or a shrine visit
• Avoiding the crowds: On weekends during the plum blossom festival and in the autumn leaves season, both the shuttle buses and the car parks are crowded. Weekdays, or the early evening after coming down from the mountain, are relatively relaxed

Information Sources

The opening hours and fees for day-use bathing, the towel charges, the price of the private open-air bath, the amenities, the policy on tattoos and whether children in nappies may bathe were confirmed on the official website of Tsukubasan Onsen Tsukuba no Yu (the general baths, private open-air bath, notes, admission procedure and access pages). The parking and closed days are from the facility page of Kanko Ibaraki, the tourism information website of Ibaraki Prefecture; the reception times of the day-use bathing facilities in the Mount Tsukuba area are from information provided by the Tsukuba Tourism and Convention Association; and the year the Futagami no Yu spring was opened, along with its pH and the note on added water, is from the official website of Tsukubasan Edoya. Details are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.