Fukushima Ishikawa Town
A supreme hot spring sanctuary renowned for its superb skin-beautifying waters, 3 luxurious saunas, and its rare radon hot spring
"Mother Hatoba Onsen Yahataya" is a top-tier, highly prestigious inn in Japan, located in Ishikawa Town, Fukushima Prefecture, and consistently ranked among the very best on domestic hot spring ryokan lists. Its greatest appeal lies in its vast public baths and grand panoramic open-air baths, fed by Sakura Gensen (an alkaline simple hot spring), whose water is exceptionally smooth and leaves your skin moist and hydrated after bathing. It is also a remarkable sauna institution that will impress sauna fans, offering three types of saunas in the separate men’s and women’s public bath areas: a full-fledged high-temperature sauna, the low-temperature reclining sauna Hidamari (DRY) made with bakuhanseki stone, and the low-temperature reclining sauna Seseragi (WET), which gently lets you absorb the mist of the rare radon hot spring with a pH of 10.0, an extremely scarce rarity nationwide. With alternating hot and cold bathing in the excellent cold plunge bath, you can enjoy the ultimate totonou state and superb skin-beautifying effects.
A signature Yahataya attraction, this grand panoramic open-air bath for men and women offers an overwhelming sense of openness and scale, with the fresh breeze of nature flowing through it. Filled with Sakura Gensen, an alkaline simple hot spring that gently envelops your skin and leaves it astonishingly moist and hydrated after bathing, it offers the finest bathing experience, with a smooth water feel and a sweeping panorama of beautiful mountains in every season.
A spacious and elegant indoor bath for men and women, boasting a refined and luxurious atmosphere. It features a huge bathtub filled with a high-quality alkaline natural hot spring known as a skin-beautifying bath, which gently warms your whole body and softly eases everyday shoulder stiffness, chronic digestive troubles, and stress-related discomfort. High-quality ReFa hair dryers and amenities are also generously provided.
A very luxurious, high-quality private reservable bath located in the annex Kikyotei. The baths, Hana no Oto, Mori no Oto, Kawa no Oto, and Yama no Oto, are available for a fee by reservation only, for 45 minutes per session. This special space lets you enjoy excellent skin-beautifying hot spring water entirely in private with your companion or family, without worrying about anyone else, while freely adjusting the water temperature.
A low-temperature reclining sauna located inside the sauna building attached to the public baths, lavishly using bakuhanseki stone. With a gentle temperature setting of around 50°C that places little strain on the body, this soothing space lets you lie back on a comfortable pebble floor and slowly, gently warm your skin while promoting perspiration.
An exceptionally rare nationwide wet sauna in reclining style, filled with high-quality radon hot spring mist from the very fine simple weak radioactive cold mineral spring, Hachiman no Yu (pH 10.0). You lie down on a floor covered with pebbles and spread out a bath towel. In the gentle warmth of around 45°C, you can slowly absorb the pleasant steam containing radon through natural breathing, enjoying deep relaxation and excellent autonomic nervous system regulation benefits in this superb wellness sauna.
A refreshing, cold, and clear cold plunge bath fully equipped inside the public bath area. After fully warming your body to the core in the high-temperature dry sauna, the yomogi and bakuhanseki reclining sauna, or even the radon hot spring mist sauna, it cools your body down comfortably without strain and firms up your skin after bathing, delivering the ultimate alternating hot and cold bathing experience.
The sauna building and sauna area are available from 15:00 to 22:00, and from 6:00 to 10:00 the next morning
Fukushima
A superb highland resort where you can relax with the spectacular views of Lake Hibara and a natural hot spring that leaves your skin feeling beautiful
Fukushima
On a highland with a view of Mt. Bandai, enjoy a brownish cloudy bath and a clear indoor bath
Fukushima
A premier hidden hot spring inn in Tohoku, standing at 1,200 m, with 100% pure milky-white free-flowing natural spring baths
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.
