Nagano · Asama Onsen, Matsumoto
Asama Onsen Yūyūan Biwa-no-yu
浅間温泉 湯々庵 枇杷の湯
In Asama Onsen, Matsumoto's spa hinterland, this day-use bath occupies the house of the hereditary bath-keepers who guarded the lords' private 'Goten-yu' for 400 years, since castle lord Ishikawa Kazumasa. Old garden trees and displays on the bath-keepers' history give the place the feel of a heritage site; the clear, mildly alkaline simple spring is fine-textured on the skin. Besides the main hall there is an open-air bath in a separate wing and a rest room, and many visitors come straight from Matsumoto Castle. Open 9:00–21:00 (last entry 20:00), closed Mondays (or the next day after a holiday), ¥900. About 20 minutes by bus from Matsumoto Station to Asama-Onsen Bunka Center-mae, then 10 minutes on foot.
- Price (adult)
- ¥800
- Hours
- 09:00–21:00 (last entry 20:00)
- Closed
- Mondays (next day if a holiday)
- Access
- About 20 min by Gurutto Matsumoto bus (Asama line) from JR Matsumoto Station's castle exit to Asama-Onsen Bunka Center-mae, then 10 min on foot; 25 min by car from Matsumoto IC
- Water type
- Alkaline simple
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults ¥800, children (4 to elementary) ¥500 (the ¥900 in some sources is outdated). Body soap, shampoo, conditioner and dryers provided; towels to rent or buy. A large tatami rest room, a lounge facing the garden, a restaurant (soba and small dishes), free strolling of the grounds. No family or private baths. No time limit
- Baths
- Biwa-no-yu, a roughly 400-year-old inn of the 'yumori' bath-keeper family that guarded the 'lord's bath' favoured by Matsumoto Castle's lords Ishikawa Kazumasa and Yasunaga and visited by successive daimyo, in Asama Onsen on the hills north-east of Matsumoto. Reborn in 1997 as a day-spa, its grounds keep a samurai-residence gate, earthen walls and a garden. One indoor bath and two outdoor baths per gender (a half-open bath overlooking the main-building garden and the 'Lord's Rotenburo' in the annexe), plus a tatami rest room. Matsumoto Castle 15 min by car; with Hot Plaza Asama, the area's signature day bath
- Spring water
- Asama Onsen, an alkaline simple spring (around pH 8.5–9, about 50°C at source), 100% source water without dilution, heated and recirculated. Colourless, odourless, soft and slippery — a 'beauty bath' mild enough for children and the elderly. Indicated for neuralgia, muscle pain, poor circulation, fatigue and skin care. Asama Onsen has 1,300 years of history and hosted writers such as Dazai Osamu — 'Matsumoto's inner parlour'
- Access & parking
- About 20 min from JR Matsumoto Station by Alpico bus bound for Asama Onsen to the 'Asama Onsen' stop then 5 min on foot, or 15 min by taxi (about ¥2,500). By car 25 min from Matsumoto IC on the Nagano Expressway. Free parking for about 50. Matsumoto Castle 15 min, toward Utsukushigahara 10 min and more, Shin-Shimashima Station (bus transfer for Kamikochi) 50 min by car
- Phone
- 0263-46-1977
- Official site
- biwanoyu.com ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
Find a stay on Trip.com
Search and book accommodation across Japan on Trip.com. Day-use bathing needs no booking.
Opens partner booking site (affiliate)
Why go
- Home of the castle lords' bath-keepers
- Garden, history displays, open-air wing
- ¥900; after Matsumoto Castle
The 400-year house of the bath-keepers who guarded the lords of Matsumoto Castle
Asama Onsen Yuyuan Biwa-no-yu is a day-spa in Asama Onsen, the 1,300-year-old hot-spring district on the hills north-east of central Matsumoto, Nagano. Its roots lie in the family appointed 'yumori' (bath-keepers) in 1598 by Matsumoto Castle's lords Ishikawa Kazumasa and his son Yasunaga, who loved the water here; for some 400 years they guarded the 'lord's bath' visited by successive daimyo of Matsumoto while running a venerable inn. The inn closed in 1997 and was reborn as a day-spa, but the grounds keep the formality that once received the lords — a samurai-residence gate and earthen walls, a tended garden, a large tatami rest hall — giving it a dignity wholly unlike a super-sento. Each gender has one indoor and two outdoor baths: a half-open bath overlooking the main-building garden and the spacious 'Lord's Rotenburo' in the annexe, filled with 100% source alkaline simple water, slick and soft, known as a 'beauty bath'. Adults pay ¥800, soap, shampoo and dryers are provided so you can come empty-handed, and it is open 9:00–21:00 every day but Monday. Fifteen minutes by car from Matsumoto Castle, it is an easy stop after the castle and a stroll along Nawate street, and hikers love it for washing off before or after Kamikochi, Norikura and Utsukushigahara.
The garden half-open bath and the 'Lord's Rotenburo'
Pass through the samurai-style gate in its earthen walls, remove your shoes at the entrance and pay ¥800 at reception. Down the corridor to the main-building bath, the changing room is the calm wooden space of the inn days, with shampoo, body soap and dryers provided. The indoor bath is a bright room with large windows and a single long tub into which 100% source alkaline water pours to overflowing at a gentle 41°C or so. Open the door and a half-open bath faces the garden — cherry blossom in spring, fresh green in early summer, maples in autumn, snow in winter, all right before you — and sitting sideways in the long tub it is exactly body-deep. The highlight lies across the courtyard in the annexe: the 'Lord's Rotenburo', a broad rock-rimmed pool open to the sky, lantern-lit at night (the corridor walk to the annexe can be cold in bad weather). There are no 'facilities' like saunas or jets, but on weekday afternoons it is quiet enough to have almost to yourself, and drifting between the baths in a lordly mood is the pleasure of Biwa-no-yu. Afterwards lie down in the big tatami rest room, have Shinshu soba in the restaurant or coffee in the garden lounge. Guests staying in Matsumoto come in numbers in the evening, and Saturday afternoons when hikers descend are a little busy. Children are welcome, but in keeping with a lord's bath the mood is hushed, so no running about.
Practical details and a Matsumoto / Northern Alps route
Hours are 9:00–21:00 (last entry 20:00), closed Mondays (next day if a holiday); adults ¥800, children ¥500 (the ¥900 in some guides is outdated — confirm on site), amenities provided, free parking for about 50. Access is a 20-minute Alpico bus from Matsumoto Station bound for Asama Onsen then 5 minutes on foot, 15 minutes by taxi, or 25 minutes by car from Matsumoto IC. Suggested routes: (1) a Matsumoto day — Matsumoto Castle (National Treasure keep) in the morning, the storehouse streets of Nawate and Nakamachi, the Matsumoto City Museum of Art (Yayoi Kusama), a bath at Biwa-no-yu, a night in Asama Onsen or town; (2) the Northern Alps — Kamikochi (open late April to 15 November, bus from Shin-Shimashima) or the Norikura and Utsukushigahara highlands (an hour by car, summer walks), then down for a bath and a Matsumoto dinner of Shinshu soba, horse sashimi and sanzoku-yaki chicken; (3) winter — the snowy castle and garden rotenburo, or on the way back from the Hakuba ski resorts (1.5 hours by car). Asama Onsen also has Hot Plaza Asama open until midnight (¥750) and day bathing at old inns, so a 'bath comparison' is possible. Matsumoto is 2 h 40 min from Tokyo by Azusa limited express and 2 h from Nagoya by Shinano; buses between Matsumoto Station and Asama Onsen run two or three an hour by day. In the Kamikochi season (July–August and October foliage), at the Matsumoto Bon-Bon festival (early August) and for the castle's cherry blossoms (mid-April) town lodgings fill early, so book ahead.
Before you go
- No official tattoo policy is published — ask at reception.
- Payment is usually by ticket machine in cash — bring coins.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Mood & scenery
Price
Amenities
✔ Verified operating: 2026-09 Operating status and rates cross-checked against the official site and onsen guides (full source notes in Japanese on the JA page)
Prices and hours change. Check official sources before visiting.
More in this area
Jigokudani Onsen Korakukan
A Meiji-era inn at the entrance to the Jigokudani Monkey Park, famous worldwide for wild macaques that climb into its rotenburo in winter. Day bathing is only 12:00–15:00, so most visitors combine it with the monkey park. It's a 30-minute mountain trail from Shibu Onsen — wear grippy shoes in winter.
O-yu (Nozawa outer bath)
The centerpiece of Nozawa's 13 public baths, a traditional bathhouse in the middle of the village. Local 'yunakama' associations have cleaned it daily since the Edo period; payment is a donation in the box at the door. Two pools, hot and 'mild' — though even the mild one exceeds 42°C. Adding cold water is bad manners: rinse first, then keep soaks short. No soap or shampoo.
Shirahone Onsen Awanoyu
The signature inn of Shirahone, famous for milky-white water. Its highlight is a large mixed-gender open-air bath — the water is so opaque that women find it comfortable. Day use at midday only.
