Saga · Furuyu Onsen
Furuyu Onsen ONCRI
古湯温泉 ONCRI／おんくり
A cure-style resort in the Furuyu hot-spring hamlet up the Kase River, 30 minutes by car from Saga city. The signature is 'lukewarm' water at around 38 °C — the longer you soak, the more you unwind — long prized as a beautifying bath. The SHIORI bath complex has 15 kinds of baths including an open-air tub facing Mt Tenzan, lying and standing baths, a box steam bath, cypress tub and natural hot-sand bath, all from a private source yielding 43 tonnes a day. Day use 10:00–20:00, ¥1,300 with free face towel; Wednesdays from 15:00 only for maintenance. About 60 minutes by bus from Saga Station to Furuyu Onsen.
- Price (adult)
- ¥1,300
- Hours
- 10:00–20:00 (last entry 19:00; Wed 15:00–20:00 for maintenance)
- Closed
- Irregular (monthly closure days — check the official site)
- Access
- About 60 min by Shōwa bus (Furuyu/Kitayama) from JR Saga Station bus centre to Furuyu Onsen, then 3 min on foot; 20 min by car from Saga-Yamato IC
- Water type
- Alkaline simple
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Day bathing adults ¥1,300, elementary ¥650, preschool free (same price weekdays and weekends; bath tax ¥150 extra). Free face towel, bath-towel rental ¥200, shampoo and amenities provided (come empty-handed). Cards accepted. Natural sand bath charged separately (booking advised). Foot-pressure massage from ¥2,200 per 20 min (weekends and holidays). Free foot bath in the courtyard. Restaurants (Italian, kaiseki, teppanyaki) mainly serve guests; check for lunch service
- Baths
- A six-storey hot-spring resort at the entrance to Furuyu Onsen on the upper Kase river in the valleys of the Sefuri range (opened 1998 as 'Kikkatei', reborn as ONCRI in 2011). The 2nd-floor bath hall 'SHIORI' has 15 tubs across the men's and women's sides — the raw 38°C tepid source pool, a heated hot bath, lying bath, pot baths, a railway-sleeper bath, sauna and cold plunge, and a rotenburo overlooking the stream. A natural sand bath (rare inland in Kyushu) costs extra. Free courtyard foot bath, lounge, spa and massage. Rooms are Japanese, Western and detached villas with semi-open-air baths. Tofu made with famous spring water and Saga beef on the menu
- Spring water
- Alkaline simple spring (hypotonic, alkaline), private source at 38°C with a generous flow of about 43 tonnes a day. Colourless, odourless and smooth 'beauty water'. Being close to body temperature, this 'nuru-yu' tepid bath can be enjoyed for 30 minutes to an hour without strain, long valued for cure stays. Raw-source and heated tubs sit side by side. Indicated for neuralgia, muscle and joint pain, frozen shoulder, poor circulation and fatigue. Furuyu Onsen claims discovery by Xu Fu of Qin some 2,200 years ago and over a thousand years of history; it served as the Saga lords' cure resort and is known as a literati bath where painter Aoki Shigeru and poet Saito Mokichi stayed
- Access & parking
- 30 min by car north on Route 263 from JR Saga Station, or about 40 min on the Saga city bus towards Furuyu/Kitayama to 'Furuyu Onsen' then 3 min on foot (infrequent). 15 min from Saga-Yamato IC on the Nagasaki Expressway. About 60 min from Tenjin, Fukuoka via the Mitsuse tunnel and loop bridge, about 85 min from Hakata Station. Free parking. The free shuttle from Saga Station is for overnight guests only (book by the day before)
- Phone
- 0952-51-8111
- Official site
- oncri.com ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- Long soaks in 38 °C lukewarm water
- 15 baths incl. open-air and hot sand
- ¥1,300; Wed from 15:00
Forty-three tonnes a day of 38°C water and fifteen tubs: a day-trip cure
Furuyu Onsen ONCRI is a hot-spring resort at the entrance to Furuyu Onsen in Fujimachi, Saga city, in the valleys of the Sefuri range that divides Fukuoka from Saga. Furuyu claims discovery by Xu Fu of Qin 2,200 years ago and more than a thousand years of records as the cure resort of the Saga lords, and is also known as a 'literati bath' where the painter Aoki Shigeru and the poet Saito Mokichi stayed. Its defining trait is a source temperature of 38°C: this near-body-temperature 'nuru-yu' puts no strain on the heart and can be enjoyed for half an hour or an hour at a time, long considered ideal for cure stays. ONCRI is the six-storey 'Kikkatei' of 1998 reborn in 2011 under a name meaning 'onsen (ON) plus kuri (chestnut)', pouring the 43 tonnes a day of its own source generously into fifteen tubs across the men's and women's halls — the raw tepid pool, a heated hot bath, lying and pot baths, a rotenburo over the stream and a sauna — and even a natural sand bath, rare in inland Kyushu. Day bathing costs ¥1,300 with towels and amenities included, so you can come empty-handed, and at an hour's drive from Tenjin it is cherished by Fukuoka people as their 'nearby cure resort'.
An hour in the tepid source, alternating with the hot tub
Pay at the front desk, receive a face towel and take the lift to the 2nd-floor bath hall 'SHIORI'. The changing room is clean and well stocked as befits a resort, and the gender-separated baths spread generously from indoors to outdoors. Head first for the 'tepid pool' filled with raw, unheated source: at 38°C it feels lukewarm at first, but after five minutes the boundary between body and water seems to dissolve and the slick alkaline water wraps your skin. This is Furuyu's thousand-year cure method, and you can stay in for 30 minutes to an hour without feeling faint. When you want heat, move to the adjacent heated bath (41–42°C) and then back to the tepid pool; repeating this 'hot-cool alternation' brings deep relaxation even without a sauna. There are also lying and pot baths, a bath floored with railway sleepers, a sauna and cold plunge, and from the rotenburo you see the upper Kase river and forest, finest in fresh green and autumn colour. The natural sand bath, charged separately, buries you in yukata for 10–15 minutes in sand heated by the spring and draws floods of sweat — booking is advised. Wednesdays open at 15:00 for maintenance and there are monthly closure days, so check the official site's notices. Afterwards rest at the free courtyard foot bath and lounge, and taste the village's spring-water tofu, Saga beef and, in autumn, chestnut sweets (the 'kuri' in ONCRI). Weekday afternoons are quiet and ideal for a 'day-trip cure', and since weekends cost the same, a leisurely weekday visit is recommended.
Practical details and a day trip from Fukuoka
Day bathing is 10:00–20:00 (last entry 19:00), from 15:00 on Wednesdays for maintenance, with closure days set some months — check the official site. Adults ¥1,300, elementary ¥650, preschool free, the same on weekdays and weekends, with a free face towel, bath-towel rental at ¥200 and cards accepted. Access is 30 minutes by car or 40 by city bus from JR Saga, 15 minutes from Saga-Yamato IC on the Nagasaki Expressway, and about an hour from Tenjin, Fukuoka via the Mitsuse tunnel, so a driving day trip from Fukuoka is the usual approach (the free Saga Station shuttle is for overnight guests only). A suggested day: leave Fukuoka in the morning, lunch on the soba road over Mitsuse Pass or at a 'Mitsuse chicken' restaurant, two or three hours of 'day-trip cure' at ONCRI (alternating tepid and hot baths plus the sand bath), a stroll through the Furuyu village along the Kase river past the Xu Fu legend boards, and on the way back the Yoshinogari ruins, the Saga International Balloon Fiesta in early November, or in winter nearby Kumanokawa Onsen for a comparison of 'Saga's two tepid springs'. Stay overnight and you can enjoy a villa with semi-open-air bath and Saga beef at the Italian, kaiseki or teppanyaki restaurants, with the tepid pool quieter still at night. To those used to hot baths the tepid water feels lukewarm at first, but that is the essence of Furuyu — give it ten patient minutes.
Before you go
- No official tattoo policy is published — ask at reception.
- Ryokan day-use hours are limited and may be suspended in peak season — phone the same morning.
- Sand and steam baths are taken in a yukata — rent one or bring a T-shirt and shorts. You'll sweat, so hydrate.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Sauna & wellness
Mood & scenery
Only here
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.
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