Saga · Furuyu Onsen
Kumanokawa Onsen Chidori-no-yu
熊の川温泉 ちどりの湯
A municipal day-use bathhouse in the Furuyu–Kumanokawa spa area along the Kase River, about 30 minutes by car from central Saga. Kumanokawa's water is a radon-bearing radioactive (radium) spring, traditionally enjoyed as a long, slow soak at lukewarm temperature. The main hall has large and small pools at different temperatures, an open-air bath facing the hills, and a small sauna and cold plunge, all lively with local chatter. A barrier-free family bath (¥1,500 for 55 minutes plus admission) is available, and the tatami rest room offers meals and massage. Adults ¥600, children ¥350; open 10:00–21:00, closed the 3rd Thursday (next day if a holiday). Local vegetables are sold at the front desk, and the grounds have a hot-water stand and a 'Yu YOU Park' for car camping. Pair with Furuyu Onsen for a bath-hopping day.
- Price (adult)
- ¥600
- Hours
- 10:00–21:00
- Closed
- 3rd Thursday (next day if a holiday)
- Access
- Shōwa bus for Furuyu/Kitayama from JR Saga Station bus centre, about 45 min to 'Kumanokawa Onsen' then 3 min on foot; about 15 min by car from Saga-Yamato IC
- Water type
- Radon spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults (high school and up) ¥600, children (6 to junior high) ¥350, multi-ticket books available, resident discount after 17:00 ¥400/¥300. Private family bath 55 min ¥1,500 (plus ¥600 admission per person, reservation, barrier-free). Towels sold/rented, shampoo provided, lockers ¥100 refundable. Tatami rest room, dining hall (11:00–15:00 and 17:00–19:30 last order), massage, local vegetables and products sold at the front desk. Hot-spring stand ¥100 per 20 litres (take water home), a camper-van overnight park 'Yu-YOU Park', barbecue facilities. Small sauna (3 people) and a one-person plunge
- Baths
- A municipally run day facility at Kumanokawa Onsen, a cure-spa on the upper Kase River in the Sefuri mountains in Fuji-machi, Saga city. Its source, 'Koyusen', is said in legend to have been discovered by Kobo Daishi (Kukai) when he saw a wounded plover (chidori) bathing. A radon-bearing radioactive (radium) spring called 'one of Japan's foremost therapeutic waters', with a tradition of long soaks in tepid water and drinking the spring. A hillside rotenburo looking out to Mt Sefuri and Mt Tenzan. With neighbouring Furuyu Onsen (5 min by car, a tepid beauty bath) it forms the spa district known as 'Saga's inner parlour'. 30 min by car from Saga city
- Spring water
- Kumanokawa Onsen, a simple weakly radioactive cold-to-low-temperature spring (alkaline, about 36–38°C at source, containing radon), heated in part (the tepid tub is close to source). Colourless, odourless, with a light, clean feel and little irritation, suited to long bathing. Inhaling and bathing in radon is said to stimulate immunity and circulation and to help gout, diabetes and atopic dermatitis. Indicated for high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, gout, rheumatism, neuralgia and skin conditions; drinking for gout and digestive complaints. Known as a 'radium spring' alongside Misasa
- Access & parking
- From the Saga Station bus centre, Showa Bus toward Furuyu/Kitayama about 45 min to 'Kumanokawa Onsen' then 3 min on foot (roughly hourly). By car 30 min north on Route 263 from Saga city, 20 min from Saga-Yamato IC, 1 h from Fukuoka city via the Mitsuse pass. Free parking for 50. Furuyu Onsen 5 min, Kitayama Dam and the 21st Century Forest 15 min, the Mitsuse soba road 20 min by car
- Phone
- 0952-64-2388
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- Radon spring, slow soak at mild heat
- Hillside open-air bath, barrier-free family bath
- ¥600; pair with Furuyu Onsen
A radium spring of Kobo Daishi legend — a cure bath for long, tepid soaks with mountain views
Kumanokawa Onsen Chidori-no-yu is a municipally run day-bathing facility at Kumanokawa Onsen, a cure-spa on the upper Kase River in the Sefuri mountains of Fuji-machi, Saga city. Legend says Kobo Daishi Kukai, passing through, saw a wounded plover (chidori) wash in the spring, heal and fly away, and so discovered the hot spring; the source is called 'Koyusen' and the facility takes its name from that bird. The water is a radon-bearing radioactive (radium) spring hailed as 'one of Japan's foremost therapeutic waters'; colourless, odourless and light, it looks unremarkable, yet long soaks in the tepid tub to inhale and absorb radon are said to help gout, high blood pressure and atopic dermatitis, and cure-seekers from Saga and Fukuoka have come for generations. The bathhouse has a tepid tub (37–38°C, close to source) and a hot tub side by side indoors, a hillside rotenburo looking out to Mt Sefuri and Mt Tenzan, a small sauna and plunge, and a barrier-free family bath, with a tatami rest room and dining hall afterwards — modest but complete. Admission is a cheap ¥600, and the mix of locals filling containers at the ¥100-per-20-litre hot-spring stand, camper-van travellers of the 'Yu-YOU Park' who bathe daily, and families at the barbecue gives it the feel of an everyday mountain-village onsen. Thirty minutes by car from Saga city or an hour from Fukuoka over the Mitsuse pass, it forms 'Saga's inner parlour' with Furuyu Onsen five minutes away (a tepid 38°C beauty bath), and a 'tepid-water comparison' of the two in one day is recommended.
Thirty minutes in the tepid tub, the drinking fountain, the family bath and the hot-spring stand
Enter the hilltop building just up from Route 263, pay ¥600 at reception (buy or rent a towel if needed) and stow your things in a ¥100 refundable locker. The bright indoor bath, with mountains through a large window, has tepid and hot tubs side by side; outside are a mountain-facing rotenburo, a tiny three-person sauna and a one-person plunge. The whole method of a radium spring is 'long and tepid'. Wash, then settle into the 37–38°C tepid tub for 20–30 minutes, breathing deeply and keeping still; near body temperature, it warms you gradually without fatigue (radon is absorbed by breathing too, so the bathroom air is said to matter), then finish with two or three minutes in the roughly 42°C hot tub — 'tepid and long, then hot and short' is the local cure-bathers' way. The water is colourless, odourless and light, with none of the bite of sulphur or chloride springs, and that very 'lack of character' is the virtue of a therapeutic water suited to long immersion. The rotenburo sits high enough to see the ridges of Mt Sefuri and Mt Tenzan, lovely in autumn colour and winter snow, better at sunset than in the morning. Drink a cup at the designated spout (said to help gout and digestion; tasteless). Families and those with limited mobility can use the barrier-free family bath (¥1,500 for 55 minutes plus admission, reservation). Afterwards nap in the tatami room, eat champon, set meals or Saga beef in the dining hall (11:00–15:00 and 17:00–19:30), and buy Fuji-machi vegetables and products at the front desk. Locals fill 20-litre containers for ¥100 at the stand outside to use at home, and camper-van travellers stay at the paid 'Yu-YOU Park' and bathe morning and night. After 17:00 the resident discount brings more locals, but real crowding is rare; just watch for the third-Thursday closure.
Practical details and a Furuyu–Kumanokawa route
Hours are 10:00–21:00 (dining hall 11:00–15:00 and 17:00–19:30 last order; 11:00–19:30 on weekends and holidays), closed the third Thursday (next day if a holiday); adults ¥600, children ¥350 (residents ¥400/¥300 after 17:00), family bath ¥1,500 for 55 minutes plus admission (reserve on 0952-64-2388), towels charged, parking free. Access is 45 minutes by bus from Saga Station (roughly hourly) or 30 minutes by car, an hour by car from Fukuoka. Suggested routes: (1) a 'Saga inner parlour' day — Saga city, lunch on the Mitsuse soba road or Fuji-machi's 'Mitsuse chicken', Chidori-no-yu (radium, long and tepid), then Furuyu Onsen five minutes away (the 38°C beauty-water communal bath 'Furuyu Onsen Geihinkan' or an inn's day bath) for a 'tepid-water comparison', a drive around Kitayama Dam, back to Saga; (2) a Fukuoka day trip — Fukuoka, the Mitsuse pass (Route 263, Mitsuse loop bridge), Chidori-no-yu, a night at Furuyu or home; (3) camping — stay at the Yu-YOU Park (camper vans) or the 21st Century Forest campsite, bathing morning and evening and barbecuing; (4) autumn — Sefuri mountain foliage (early to mid November) and the 'Konno' pampas grass of Fuji-machi, then the rotenburo; (5) combine with the Saga International Balloon Fiesta (early November, Saga city). Notes: the sauna and plunge are very small, unsuitable for sauna-focused visits; the radium water 'looks ordinary', so experience it as a cure bath (long and tepid); few buses; the Mitsuse pass ices and may require chains in winter; cash advised. Chidori-no-yu is a place to feel 'the therapeutic water and mountain-village daily life' rather than facilities — not as famous as Misasa in Tottori, but a precious spot to sample a radium spring easily in Kyushu.
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
Sauna & wellness
Rules & private
Mood & scenery
Price
Who with
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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