Yunomine Onsen

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About Yunomine Onsen

Yunomine Onsen lies in a narrow valley about 4 km from Kumano Hongu Taisha and is considered one of Japan’s oldest hot springs, with a tradition of roughly 1,800 years. Pilgrims en route to the shrine stopped there for yugori, the purification bath before praying. The stream that runs through the village emits steam at several points, and the spring water emerges at about 90°C.

The Tsuboyu is a small wooden cabin over a natural stone tub in the streambed, with space for two people. It is the only hot spring bath inscribed as part of a World Heritage site in the Kii Mountains. Use is by shifts of about 30 minutes, with tokens purchased at the bathhouse next door; according to tradition, the water changes color several times a day.

Beside the stream, locals and visitors cook eggs and vegetables in a bubbling spring, the yuzutsu, and the eggs are sold in the village. The public bathhouse also has larger baths fed by the same source, and the small Toko-ji temple houses an image of the Healing Buddha supposedly formed by mineral deposits from the spring.

The village has some traditional inns and guesthouses, and is a waypoint on the Dainichi-goe, a short trail section that climbs from Hongu Taisha over the mountain. Nearby, at Kawayu Onsen, hot water wells up from the riverbed, and in winter residents dig a large pool in the river itself.