Yamaguchi Shunan City
A new large bath featuring the sulfur spring of one of the Three Great Baths of Bōchō, two types of sauna, and a source water bath
In September 2024, Hozan-en, a long-established ryokan in Yuno Onsen, opened a new large public bath next to the main building. Its rare spring quality is the highlight: an alkaline simple hot spring with sulfur and weak radioactivity, uncommon along the Setouchi coast. Its high alkalinity at pH 9.5 is known as a beauty-enhancing bath. Here, you can fully enjoy the famous waters of Yuno Onsen, which boasts more than 1,700 years of history, in a spacious indoor bath, a rock open-air bath overlooking the Nishiki River at night, and two ceramic baths fed by the source.
This open-air bath is surrounded by natural rocks and lets you enjoy bathing while listening to the murmur of the Nishiki River. Its open design gives a feeling of spacious skies, and the smooth water of the alkaline sulfur spring, rare along the Setouchi coast, gently envelops the skin. It is a luxurious space where you can enjoy the famous waters of Yuno Onsen, which has a history of more than 1,700 years, while surrounded by the sounds and breeze of nature.
A high-temperature dry sauna equipped with a convection stove, installed in both the men's and women's baths. With a self-löyly system, you can pour water onto the sauna stones yourself to create your preferred wave of heat and enjoy adjusting the humidity and temperature. Each time you pour water, the perceived temperature jumps sharply, and an intense wave of heat like burning skin envelops your whole body.
A medium-temperature sauna that uses an electric far-infrared stove. Even with a relatively low temperature setting, the far-infrared heat is absorbed directly by the body and converted into warmth, so it is less hard to breathe and warms you from deep within.
A high-temperature sauna room in the women's bath equipped with a convection stove and automatic löyly. Water is periodically poured over the sauna stones, and the rising steam quickly pushes up the room temperature and humidity. With a spacious capacity and a layout that allows you to sit comfortably, it is designed to satisfy women who want a serious sauna experience. Combined with the famous waters of Yuno Onsen, it lets you enjoy deep sweating and a high-quality totonou experience at the same time.
A sulfur-scented cold bath filled with cooled Yuno Onsen source water. The smooth, viscous feel that is unique to an alkaline sulfur spring gently soothes a body heated by the sauna. Rather than a sharp chill, it offers a distinctive comfort that lets you surrender to the softness of the hot spring minerals, with a temperature setting suited to alternating hot and cold bathing after the sauna. The sulfur aroma of this famed Yuno Onsen water brings the refined atmosphere of a hot spring resort to the entire bath area.
A low-temperature cold bath for sauna lovers seeking a more invigorating chill. The crisp, chilled water strips away the heat of a high-temperature sauna in an instant, letting you vividly feel the tightening sensation on your skin. You can also enjoy a two-stage cooling experience by combining it with the source water bath, making it possible to choose a cold bath that suits your preference and physical condition.
Thursday
Yamaguchi
A superb beauty-enhancing open-air bath overlooking the river, and a scenic sauna soothed by the beauty of the garden
Yamaguchi
A spectacular open-air hot spring with the sound of the Seto Inland Sea waves, and blissful sauna surrounded by the sea breeze
Yamaguchi
An inn with a bathing district that recreates Hagi's castle town, where you can enjoy 14 types of bath hopping and a cold plunge bath filled with natural spring water
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.
