Shimane · Matsue Shinjiko Onsen
Matsue Shinjiko Onsen Chidori-yu Public Bath
松江しんじ湖温泉 公衆浴場 ちどり湯
Shimane's only onsen bathhouse, offering the lakeside Matsue Shinjiko spring for ¥430. Five minutes on foot from Matsue-Shinjiko-Onsen Station on the Ichibata line, easy to drop into after Matsue Castle or the moat cruise. The sodium-calcium sulfate-chloride water holds heat well. No soap or shampoo provided, but a take-along set is sold. Ninety percent of bathers are locals—everyday Matsue at its most authentic.
- Price (adult)
- ¥430
- Hours
- 10:00–22:00 (last entry 21:20)
- Closed
- Wednesdays (next day if a holiday)
- Access
- 5 min walk from Matsue-Shinjiko-Onsen Station (Ichibata line); 15 min by bus from JR Matsue Station
- Water type
- Sulfate spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Junior high and up ¥430, elementary ¥160, preschool ¥90 (public-bathhouse rates). Ticket books available. No soap or shampoo provided (single-use sachets ¥50, towels sold). Free lockers (¥100 refundable). Hair dryers. Reception until 21:20
- Baths
- A public bathhouse (sento style, renovated around 2015) on the ground floor of the mixed-use 'COCO MATSUE' building in the hotel district of Matsue Shinjiko Onsen on the shore of Lake Shinji — the only public bathhouse in Matsue city. Gender-separated indoor halls with just two tubs (hot and tepid), no rotenburo or sauna. A dozen wash stations, bright and clean. Beauty salon and eateries in the same building. Unlike hotel baths, day use from 10 a.m.
- Spring water
- Sodium-calcium sulphate-chloride spring (mildly alkaline, high-temperature), 69.7°C at source, pH 8.1, 2,090 mg/kg total minerals, a blend of the Shinjiko Onsen sources. Colourless with a faint saltiness and the barest hint of hydrogen sulphide; it pairs the softness of a sulphate spring with the warmth-retention of a chloride one — both 'beauty' and 'warming' water. Diluted because of the high temperature. Indicated for neuralgia, joint pain, poor circulation, fatigue and cuts. Shinjiko Onsen is relatively young, developed by a 1971 bore (77°C from 1,250 m), yet with its lakeside night views it is Matsue's main lodging hub
- Access & parking
- The building's multi-storey car park is free for 1 h 15 min (validate at reception). 4–5 min on foot from Matsue Shinjiko-Onsen Station on the Ichibata line; from JR Matsue Station take a bus to 'Chidori-cho', 1 min on foot (about 10 min), or walk 25 min. Matsue Castle 20 min on foot, the Lake Shinji sunset spot (Shimane Art Museum) 15 min. 15 min by car from Matsue-nishi IC on the San'in Expressway
- Phone
- 0852-61-5526
- Official site
- matsue.mypl.net ↗
- 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
- Shimane's only onsen bathhouse, ¥430
- 5 min from Matsue-Shinjiko-Onsen Sta.
- After Matsue Castle sightseeing
Shinjiko Onsen water for ¥430 at Matsue's only public bathhouse
Matsue Shinjiko Onsen Chidoriyu is a public bathhouse on the ground floor of the mixed-use COCO MATSUE building, right in the middle of Matsue Shinjiko Onsen, the strip of hotels and inns along the north-eastern shore of Lake Shinji in Matsue, Shimane. It is the last sento in Matsue city, offering the same blended Shinjiko hot-spring water as the hotels for a sento price of ¥430. Shinjiko Onsen is relatively young — a bore struck 77°C water at 1,250 m in 1971 — but has become the lakeside base for Matsue tourism, prized for its sunsets and night views. Chidoriyu is a simple affair of two indoor pools with no rotenburo or sauna, yet its sodium-calcium sulphate-chloride water at 69.7°C leaves skin smooth and the body warm for hours. Open 10:00 to 22:00, closed Wednesdays, five minutes on foot from the Ichibata railway terminus, it is the easiest place for travellers not staying in a hotel to sample an onsen after Matsue Castle or Izumo Taisha.
Two pools, hot and tepid — and soap for ¥50
Pay at the reception desk inside the ground-floor entrance of COCO MATSUE (validate parking here too), split by sex, and you find a clean changing room with ¥100-refund lockers and a bright tiled bathroom with a dozen wash stations and two pools: one hot at 42–43°C, one tepid around 40°C, the 69.7°C source tempered with water. The water is colourless, faintly salty on the tongue with the slightest hydrogen-sulphide note; the sulphate component leaves skin smooth and the chloride keeps you warm for hours — ideal after a winter walk around Matsue. As a public bathhouse it provides no soap or shampoo — ¥50 sachets and towels are sold at the desk — so visitors used to hotel amenities should come prepared. There is no rotenburo, sauna, lounge or view, but in exchange it is quiet and quick, with the authentic feel of a Matsue neighbourhood bathhouse. There is no explicit tattoo ban, but observe public-bath etiquette. Restaurants in the same building make a post-bath meal easy.
Practical details and a lakeside stroll in Matsue
Hours are 10:00–22:00 (reception until 21:20; some listings say it opens at 11:00), closed Wednesdays or the following day when Wednesday is a holiday. Junior high and up ¥430, elementary ¥160, preschool ¥90. The building's multi-storey car park is free for 1 h 15 min. It is a 4–5-minute walk from Matsue Shinjiko-Onsen Station on the Ichibata line, so you can drop in straight off the train back from Izumo Taisha; from JR Matsue Station it is 10 minutes by bus or 25 on foot. The Shinjiko Onsen street has a free foot bath by the station and a lakeside promenade, and the famous Lake Shinji sunset — one of Japan's hundred best — is best seen from the shore in front of the Shimane Art Museum (15 min on foot): claim a spot an hour before sundown, watch the sky, then warm up at Chidoriyu. Add the national-treasure Matsue Castle and the Horikawa moat cruise (20 min on foot), the Lafcadio Hearn museum and Tamatsukuri Onsen (30 min by train or bus). Hotel guests have their own big baths, so Chidoriyu is most useful for day-trippers, guesthouse stayers and a last soak after a late check-out.
Before you go
- No official tattoo policy is published — ask at reception.
- As a communal bath there is no soap or shampoo — bring your own or buy at the shop.
- Payment is usually by ticket machine in cash — bring coins.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
Baths
Price
Who with
Convenience
Mood & scenery
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
Tamatsukuri Onsen Yū-yu
Tamatsukuri's day-use bath, famous for 'beautiful skin' water. A magatama-jewel-shaped building with a cascade bath, open-air tub and 1 m-deep standing bath. Often combined with Izumo Taisha.
Yunotsu Onsen Yakushi-yu
The communal bath of Yunotsu, once the shipping port for the World Heritage Iwami Ginzan silver mine. Rated a perfect 'all fives' by the Japan Spa Association, it is 100% free-flowing, and iron-rich mineral deposits coat the tub in thick brown crusts. Next door is 'Shin-yu', a Western-style wooden building from 1919 whose retro café and rooftop terrace are open to bathers. ¥600. The whole street is a preserved historic district.
Arifuku Onsen Gozen-yu
The landmark of Arifuku, a stair-stepped hamlet of wooden inns tucked into the San'in hills. A 1928 reinforced-concrete bathhouse with Western arched windows, it pours colourless alkaline simple-spring water undiluted into the tub — slippery 'beauty water'. ¥400 with soap and shampoo, open 7:00–22:00 for early soaks. A family bath rents for ¥1,200 an hour, and the tatami rest room upstairs displays pre-war photographs. Cars can't enter the sloping village, which also has the Satsuki-yu and Yayoi-yu public baths for a three-bath circuit.
