Kagoshima Satsuma Town
100% fed straight from the source, right down to the showers: an inn on Shibi Onsen’s “bath of the gods”
Shibi Yu no Yado Kusunoki is an onsen inn tucked away in the Shibi Onsen area of Satsuma Town, Kagoshima Prefecture. Its source lies within the grounds of Shibi Shrine, which is why this celebrated water is called Kami no Yu, “the bath of the gods.” Guests can enjoy it 100% fed straight from the source, never recirculated, with no water added and no reheating whatsoever. Part of the luxury is that the source water is used not only in the tubs but even in the showers. With a faint scent of sulfur, the silky alkaline simple sulfur-bearing spring feels almost like a skin lotion and leaves your skin smooth. The main bathhouse also has a far-infrared sauna and a cold plunge, so you can spend a soothing stretch of time warmed to the core by onsen and sauna alike. For private bathing, there are rooms with their own open-air baths as well as a detached cottage you can have entirely to yourselves.
The main bathhouse draws on Kami no Yu, “the bath of the gods,” which rises within the grounds of Shibi Shrine at the eastern foot of Mount Shibi. The water runs underground from its own source 300 m (980 ft) away, so it reaches you exceptionally fresh, having only just touched the air. It is 100% fed straight from the source, never recirculated, with no reheating and no water added, and in the ultimate luxury, the source water flows not only into the tubs but from the showers too. Silky to the touch, almost like a skin lotion, it leaves your skin smooth and soft.
A semi-open-air bath of your own in the ground-floor Western-style rooms such as KAJIKA and HOTARU. Free from anyone’s gaze, you can have this celebrated water all to yourself as often as you like, whenever you like, in blissful comfort. Sinking into the fine water, you can take in the breezes of each season and the sounds of nature at your own pace, in complete privacy.
An open-air bath built of hinoki in the HOKUSATSU no HIKARI room. The fresh scent of hinoki blends beautifully with a faint hint of sulfur, bringing deep relaxation. A special setting where you can savor bathing time to your heart’s content, just you and someone dear to you.
A roomy private hinoki bath, 160 × 140 in size, in the detached cottage, a separate annex apart from the regular rooms. The whole building is reserved for you, making it ideal for families and groups. In a silence completely cut off from the bustle around you, you can soak in the spacious tub and enjoy the finest relaxation, as if staying at your own country retreat.
A far-infrared sauna attached to the main bathhouse. Because it warms you slowly from deep within, it can help ease sensitivity to the cold and support the body’s detox. Warm your body thoroughly in the celebrated Kami no Yu first, and the sweat will come more easily and more refreshingly. In the quiet surroundings, you can spend a relaxed stretch of time alone with yourself.
A compact cold plunge set right beside the sauna. Rinse away the sweat from the sauna and cool your flushed body fast as the cold pulls it taut. After cooling down in the cold plunge, rest at your leisure cooling off in the open air or in the open-air bath, and breathe in deep lungfuls of the surrounding nature for a superb totonou experience, that state of deep, blissful relaxation.
(Day-use bathing) 12:00–21:00 (closed Wednesdays; may be unavailable when crowded or during holiday periods; ages 13 and up only)
By car
By train and bus
Pick-up service
Free parking for 15 cars
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