Kawatana Onsen: Day-Use Hot Spring Baths & Prices

Springing up in Toyoura, Shimonoseki City, this hot spring has a long history, said to have been dug out by a monk in the Muromachi period. Inns dot the foothills near the Hibiki Sea, and it is a calm spa village where you can also enjoy local flavors such as kawara soba. As a radioactive (radon) spring, it gently warms the body from the core.

Highlights

The great camphor tree, a symbol of the hot-spring town, is beloved as a magnificent giant. Storied place names tied to the Blue Dragon legend live on here and there. At the day-use bathing facility "Peaceful Seiryusen," equipped with an electric bath and mist sauna, you can enjoy the waters casually.

Seasonal Enjoyment

Village cherry blossoms in spring, the nearby seaside in summer, mountain harvests and foliage in autumn, and the local pufferfish with warming baths in winter let you savor the gifts of each season.

Access and Basic Information

About 20 minutes on foot, or about 5 minutes by taxi, from Kawatana Onsen Station on the JR Sanin Main Line. About 20 minutes by car from the Ozuki IC on the Chugoku Expressway. It is a convenient base for sightseeing at Tsunoshima and Shimonoseki.

A Word of Advice

After bathing, be sure to try the local kawara soba. Green tea noodles grilled fragrantly on a heated roof tile make an unforgettable taste.

Practical Travel Notes

• Water quality: A radioactive spring (weak-radioactive calcium-sodium chloride spring), weakly alkaline. The source temperature is around 43C, warming the body from the core.
• Day-use bathing: There is a day-use facility, "Peaceful Seiryusen," with an electric bath and mist sauna. Some inns also offer day bathing. Confirming fees and hours in advance is recommended.
• Access: About 20 minutes on foot (about 5 minutes by taxi) from Kawatana Onsen Station on the JR Sanin Main Line; about 20 minutes by car from the Ozuki IC on the Chugoku Expressway.
• Specialty: "Kawara soba," grilled on a heated roof tile. It can be enjoyed at the inns and restaurants of the hot-spring town.
• Parking: Available.

Practical Information for Your Visit

• Spring quality: Sodium and calcium chloride spring (hypotonic, weakly alkaline). Colorless and clear with a slightly salty taste and a very faint smell of hydrogen sulfide. At some facilities the water also contains a weakly radioactive component
• pH: 8.2
• Source temperature: About 41 degrees
• Indications: Cuts, poor peripheral circulation, sensitivity to cold, depressive states, dry skin and more
• Day-trip hot spring facility: "Peaceful Seiryusen," the only facility in the hot spring town dedicated to day-trip bathing. The bathing fee is 480 yen for adults, 170 yen for elementary school students and 90 yen for young children
• Opening hours of Seiryusen: 10:00-21:00 (entry until 20:30; the family baths and rest room can be used until 20:00)
• Closing days of Seiryusen: The first Thursday of February, April, June, August, October and December. It may also close temporarily for maintenance
• Baths at Seiryusen: Open-air bath, electric bath, wet sauna, cold-water bath and mist sauna
• Family baths at Seiryusen: 4 rooms. 1,100 yen for adults, 500 yen for elementary school students and 300 yen for young children (80 minutes on weekdays, 60 minutes on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays)
• Amenities at Seiryusen: Soap, shampoo and towels are not provided in the large communal baths. A 380 yen "empty-handed" bathing set and other items are on sale. The family baths are always stocked with soap, shampoo and conditioner (towels are separate)
• Parking at Seiryusen: Free, 30 spaces
• Day-trip bathing at the inns: The large communal bath "Santoka" at Kawatana Grand Hotel Otafuku is open 8:00-23:00 (last admission 22:00). The bathing fee for one hour is 950 yen for adults on weekdays, 1,150 yen on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and 1,450 yen on special days, and for children (age 3 to elementary school age) 450 yen on weekdays, 550 yen on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and 700 yen on special days. It has an open-air bath, indoor bath, sauna and cold-water bath, with shampoo, conditioner, body soap and hairdryers all provided; bath towels are available for rent at a charge
• Private baths: Otafuku's "Gotenyu" is available in 50-minute slots. For 2 people it is 3,950 to 4,500 yen on weekdays and 4,500 to 5,050 yen on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Available 13:00-23:00 on weekdays and 8:00-23:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays
• Bathing and meal sets: Otafuku offers a bathing and meal set ticket that includes 1,320 yen worth of vouchers for use in the hotel, priced at 1,800 yen on weekdays, 2,000 yen on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and 2,200 yen on special days. No reservation is needed; you apply on the day
• Other inns offering day-trip bathing: Tamatsubaki Ryokan, Fujiya, Kotengu Ryokan and Takezono Ryokan also accept day-trip bathers
• Access (by rail): About a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute taxi ride from Kawatana Onsen Station on the JR Sanin Main Line
• Access (by car): About 20 minutes from the Ozuki IC on the Chugoku Expressway, along the Nishi-Nagato Blue Line
• Time needed: One hour if you are just bathing; half a day if you add a meal of kawara soba and the Kusu no Mori camphor grove
• Address: Peaceful Seiryusen is at 5159-2 Kawatana Yumachi, Toyoura-cho, Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Information Sources

The spring quality (sodium and calcium chloride spring), pH 8.2, source temperature of about 41 degrees, indications, and the fees and hours of the day-trip bathing facility were confirmed on the hot spring page of the official Kawatana Onsen website. The origins of the hot spring resort (the blue dragon legend, the priest Iun of Sanne-ji Temple, the Gotenyu bath of the lords of the Chofu domain in the Edo period, and Taneda Santoka and Alfred Cortot) are from the introduction page of the same official website. The list of day-trip bathing facilities is from the Kawatana Onsen page of "Onsen Yamaguchi," Yamaguchi Prefecture's hot spring website. The opening hours, closing days (the first Thursday of even-numbered months), bath layout, amenities and address of Peaceful Seiryusen are from the facility's official website, while the bathing fees, family bath fees and the 30 parking spaces are from the facility guide of the Toyoura-cho Tourism Association. The bathing hours, fees, the "Gotenyu" private bath and the contents of the set tickets at Kawatana Grand Hotel Otafuku are from the day-trip guide on that hotel's official website. The date the Kusu no Mori camphor grove of Kawatana was nationally designated (October 12, 1922) and its size, along with the decline in the trees' vigor since the summer of 2017, are from the Shimonoseki City sightseeing guide and the introduction by the Toyoura-cho Tourism Association. Details are subject to change, so please check the official information before you set out.