Goroku Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

Tucked away in Maniwa City, the Goroku inn is a lone lodging steeped in the air of a secluded spa. The Meiji-era building stands atop a stone wall, and clear water wells up freely through a crack in bluish natural bedrock. Set within the Yubara hot spring area yet far from any bustle, it lets you savor a fine spring in stillness held by river and mountains.

Highlights

The very floor of the tub is a great slab of rock, and the greatest charm is the foot-of-the-bath emergence, where bubbles rise now and then from the crack. You can savor fresh source water that has never touched the air, at a gentle temperature of about thirty-eight degrees. The soft, low-tonicity alkaline water is said to ease nerve pain, muscle ache, and joint pain, making it a fine spring built for long soaks.

Enjoying the Seasons

From atop the stone wall you can view the surrounding nature and sense the passing seasons. The house specialty of soft-shell turtle cuisine, raised with the spring water, is rich and nourishing, making an overnight stay that warms both body and spirit. Fresh spring leaves and autumn foliage change the mountain scenery with each season.

Access and Basic Information

Located in Maniwa City, Okayama. It is a short drive from the Yubara interchange on the Yonago Expressway, within the Yubara hot spring area. As a single inn, checking in advance for day-use bathing is recommended.

A Quick Tip

Because the water is gentle and lukewarm, the way to enjoy it is a slow, unhurried soak. Having something to slip on afterward helps you avoid a chill.

Practical Travel Notes

• Spring quality: A low-tonicity alkaline spring. The source is about 38 degrees, on the lukewarm side, offering fresh water that wells up beneath the bathers. It is said to help with nerve pain, muscle ache, joint pain, and chronic digestive troubles.
• Day-use bathing: Mainly offered as a private booking, with a guideline fee of around 500 yen per person. Bathing hours run roughly from 10:00 to about 16:00. As a single inn, reserving ahead is recommended for stays and the turtle cuisine.
• Access: A short drive from the Yubara interchange on the Yonago Expressway. Its location is handy for bath hopping combined with the Suna-yu of Yubara, Maga, and Taru.
• Fees, hours, and the turtle cuisine may change. Please check the latest information before visiting.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: A hypotonic, alkaline simple hot spring. Its indications are given as neuralgia, muscle pain, joint pain and chronic digestive complaints, among others.
• Source temperature: About 38 degrees Celsius. It is on the lukewarm side, a temperature you can soak in at length.
• How the water is used: The water wells up underfoot, from natural fissures in the bedrock at the bottom of the tub. The point where it emerges is itself the bath.
• Day-use bathing: Reception from 10:00 to 16:00. There is a single bathing area, used privately in 30-minute slots. The fee is 500 yen for adults and 300 yen for children.
• Private and family baths: Because there is only one bathing area, all day-use bathing is private. As you will not be sharing with strangers, it suits families and those with small children.
• Reservations: Bookings are by telephone (0867-62-2261). Only one group of up to 6 people is taken per day, so avoid simply turning up on the day and always check availability in advance.
• Bathing with a meal: There are reservation-only plans that include a meal made with soft-shell turtle raised in the hot spring water.
• Staying overnight: This is a single inn that takes only one group per day. Check-in is at 16:00 and check-out at 10:00.
• Closing days: Irregular. Calling before your visit is the sure thing.
• Parking: 10 spaces for ordinary cars.
• Access (by car): About 3 km, roughly 10 minutes, from Yubara IC on the Yonago Expressway via Prefectural Route 55.
• Access (by bus): From Chugoku-Katsuyama Station on the JR Kishin Line take the bus bound for Hiruzen Kogen for about 25 minutes, get off at Nogitsu and walk about 30 minutes. As it is a fair walk from the bus stop, allow plenty of time if you are coming by public transport.
• How long to allow: A private bathing slot is 30 minutes. Including travel, one to two hours is enough to stop by.
• Address: 712 Honjo, Maniwa City, Okayama Prefecture
• Enquiries: 0867-62-2261
• Nearby: The Sunayu open-air bath at Yubara Onsen, Maga Onsen, Ashi Onsen and Hiruzen Kogen

Information Sources

The spring quality, source temperature, indications, day-use bathing fees, parking, access and capacity were compiled from the facility information on Okayama Kanko WEB by the Okayama Prefecture Tourism Federation and Maniwa Kanko WEB by the Maniwa Tourism Bureau. The classification of the spring quality, the designation of the Yubara Onsen resort area as a National Health Resort Hot Spring, and the location along the Tetsuzan River were taken from the hot spring resort information of the Japan Spa Association. The reception hours for day-use bathing, the arrangements for private use, the children's fee and the closing days come from the facility information on Mimasaka no Kuni, the tourism information site for the Mimasaka region of Okayama Prefecture. Fees, opening hours and closing days are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.