Gunma Isesaki City
A natural hot spring straight from the source, with no added water or heating
"Yurakunosato Isesaki" is a super sento in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture. The main attraction in the outdoor bath area is the flowing free-running bath that pours in water directly from a spring bubbling up deep underground. This fresh, undiluted water is neither diluted nor heated, and the moment it touches your skin it feels smooth and soft, while the salt-bearing minerals form a thin film that traps the heat. The outdoor area also features private pot baths and reclining baths where you can lie back and look up at the sky, letting you lose track of time as you move from one bath to another. The saunas are varied too: a löyly sauna in the men’s bath with waves of heat swirling through it, fragrant herb saunas in both the men’s and women’s baths, and a salt sauna in the women’s bath. After working up a sweat, you can unwind at the dining area or the relaxation lounge and linger in the afterglow.
A natural hot spring poured into both the outdoor baths and the indoor bath. The sodium-chloride and sodium bicarbonate spring water bubbles up from deep underground and is sent directly into the tubs without adding water or heating. This fresh water feels smooth and soft the moment it touches your skin, and because its salt-bearing minerals form a thin film that traps the heat, the warmth lingers long after you get out. There are also single-person pot baths and reclining baths where you can look up at the sky, so you can enjoy the water from different positions.
A high-concentration carbonated spring where countless tiny bubbles cling to your skin one after another as you sink into the lukewarm water. Even though it never feels hot, warmth rises from within, and you can feel your blood circulating all the way to your fingertips and toes. Because it warms you without putting stress on the body, it is also a comfortable place to catch your breath between the sauna and the baths. The longer you soak, the deeper you sink into relaxation.
This löyly sauna in the men’s bath is where steam and waves of heat swirl around. At set times, staff stir the air inside, and the heat that was quiet until then suddenly grows denser and rushes toward your skin. By the time the wave of heat eases, sweat pours from your whole body, carrying away the heaviness that had settled deep inside you.
This salt sauna in the women’s bath lets you use the house massage salt. As you place the grains on your skin and wait quietly, the salt begins to dissolve along with your sweat, and the texture changes with every stroke. Gentle heat and a moist atmosphere relax the tension in your skin, and after rinsing off, only a smooth feel remains. It is a room for those who want to take their time and restore themselves.
A cold plunge bath that quietly cools down a body still holding heat. As you slowly lower yourself in, starting from the hands and feet farthest from the heart, the flushed feeling ebbs away like a wave and a crisp, refreshing film settles over your skin. Once your breathing calms, stepping out to the open air lets the outside breeze brush over your wet skin and ease the tension from your shoulders. The time spent looking up at the sky and settling your breathing deepens the afterglow.
Open Year-Round
Entry is strictly prohibited for guests with tattoos, body art, or tattoo stickers.
Gunma
An inn where you can enjoy the natural hot spring of Japan's three famous springs, free-flowing from the Bandai-kō source, and a semi-open-air bath in your room
Gunma
A highland resort at 1,400 m above sea level, drawing from Kazawa Onsen, a 1,000-year-old therapeutic bath destination
Gunma
A luxurious inn with a 30 m grand bath, among the largest in Kusatsu, and three springs including the milky-white Wata no Yu
JAPAN'S FINEST ONSEN & SAUNA
The Finest Onsen & Sauna in Japan
61 SELECTIONS
Most of what we surveyed never even made it onto this site. This book is a further cut from what did. Our editor bathed in every onsen and sauna in it, and wrote only what they confirmed on the ground.
