Seibu-Chichibu Station Onsen Matsuri-no-yu

One minute from the limited express — Chichibu’s “festival” station spa, 78 minutes from Tokyo

Seibu-Chichibu Station Onsen Matsuri-no-yu is a complex spa opened in 2017 right beside the ticket gates of Seibu-Chichibu Station, the terminus of the Seibu Ikebukuro Line in Chichibu, Saitama, themed on the town’s festivals — above all the Chichibu Night Festival, a UNESCO intangible heritage. It is 78 minutes from Ikebukuro by the Laview limited express, making it one of the easiest places to get an “onsen-town feeling” on a day trip from Tokyo. The gender-separated indoor baths include a silk bath, a high-concentration carbonated tub, a rotating herbal bath and jets, plus an open-air rock bath facing Mt Buko, Chichibu’s symbol, with sauna and cold plunge. The rock bath uses an iodine-bearing sodium chloride cold mineral spring of the fossil-seawater type from beneath the Chichibu basin — brownish, salty, iodine-rich and warming (the cool source is heated and recirculated). Afterwards there is a rest area with recliners and tatami, the food court “Matsuri-no-utage” serving Chichibu specialities such as waraji katsudon, miso potato and local sake, and a produce market, so you can spend the whole wait for your train here. Admission is ¥1,100 for adults on weekdays and ¥1,380 at weekends; towels and loungewear are extra (¥300 each), paid on exit via wristband. Hours are 10:00–23:00, until 24:00 on Fridays, Saturdays and pre-holidays — perfect as a last bath after Mitsumine Shrine, the Nagatoro river boats, the moss phlox at Hitsujiyama Park (April–May) or the Chichibu 34 Kannon pilgrimage, and during the Night Festival on 2–3 December it sometimes runs special late hours. Being at the station it has only 39 parking spaces — take the limited express, and book your return Laview seat in advance, as weekend evening trains often sell out.

Tips & cautions

- 10:00–23:00 (until 24:00 Fri, Sat and pre-holidays); last entry 30 min before closing. Maintenance closures occur — check officially.

- ¥1,380 at weekends, holidays and special days, ¥1,100 weekdays. ¥50 off with the Seibu Prince Club app.

- Towels and loungewear are ¥300 each extra — bring a towel to save.

- Pay-on-exit wristband works at the food court and shop.

- Tattoos: a Seibu-group facility, banned as a rule — check the official policy.

- Book your return Laview seat in advance (weekend evenings sell out) and check the last train.

- Special hours and heavy crowds during the Night Festival (2–3 Dec); busy on moss-phlox weekends (Apr–May).

- Only 39 paid parking spaces — drivers should use nearby municipal car parks.

Getting there

1 min on foot from the ticket gates of Seibu-Chichibu Station (Seibu Ikebukuro/Chichibu lines), Nosaka-machi 1-16-15, Chichibu, Saitama. ~78 min from Ikebukuro by Laview limited express, ~1 h 50 min by express. ~5 min on foot from Ohanabatake Station (Chichibu Railway). By car ~50 min from Hanazono IC on the Kan-etsu Expressway via Route 140; 39 paid parking spaces. Tel. 0494-22-7111.