Niigata · Matsunoyama Onsen
Matsunoyama Onsen Center Taka-no-yu
松之山温泉センター 鷹の湯
The public day bath at the heart of Matsunoyama, counted with Arima and Kusatsu among Japan's 'three great medicinal springs'. The water is fossil seawater some 12 million years old, heated geothermally — salty, slightly oily and hot enough to warm you to the core. Indoor bath plus a small open-air tub, ¥600 (¥500 after 17:00). In this heavy-snow region it becomes a snow bath in winter. Used by inn guests for bath-hopping too, and close to the site of the famous 'groom-tossing' festival.
- Price (adult)
- ¥600
- Hours
- 11:00–20:00 (last entry 19:30)
- Closed
- Thursdays (substitute day if a holiday)
- Access
- About 25 min by bus from Matsudai Station (Hokuetsu Express) to Matsunoyama Onsen, then 3 min on foot; 50 min by car from Muikamachi IC
- Water type
- Simple spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults (junior-high+) ¥600, elementary ¥300, preschoolers free. Discount for Tokamachi residents aged 70+. Ticket gates like a station (introduced spring 2025). Rinse-in shampoo and body soap provided. No restaurant; small rest room
- Baths
- A municipal bath centre. For each sex, a bright indoor pool with big windows (room for ten or more) and a rock rotenburo beside a small stream. No sauna. Hot (about 43°C). Free foot bath at the entrance to the spa street. 'Onsen Musume' Tanami panel. Snow-view rotenburo in winter
- Water
- Sodium-calcium chloride spring (mildly alkaline, hypertonic, high-temperature), 85–97°C and pH 7.5 at source, about 15,000 mg/kg total minerals. Reputedly Japan's highest boric-acid content, ranking with Kusatsu and Arima as one of the 'three great medicinal springs'. Salty enough to harvest salt, with a distinctive oily (petroleum) smell and pale yellow tint. Diluted, partly recirculated and chlorinated (barely noticeable). Indicated for neuralgia, cuts, burns, chronic skin disease, gynaecological complaints and skin care
- Parking & access
- Free parking for about 10–21 cars (fewer in snow season). About 25 min by Tokamachi city bus from Matsudai Station (Hokuhoku Line) to 'Matsunoyama Onsen'. About 50–60 min via Route 353 from Shiozawa-Ishiuchi IC on the Kan-etsu Expressway. About 40 min by car from central Tokamachi. Heavy-snow country in winter — snow tyres essential
- Phone
- 025-596-2221
- Official site
- tokamachishikankou.jp ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- One of Japan's three great medicinal springs
- 12-million-year-old fossil seawater
- ¥500 after 17:00
One of Japan's three great medicinal springs, richest in boric acid
Matsunoyama Onsen Center Taka-no-yu is the municipal day-bath in the middle of the spa street at Matsunoyama, a mountain village in Tokamachi, Niigata, near the Nagano border, and it functions as the town's communal bath. Matsunoyama ranks with Kusatsu and Arima as one of 'Japan's three great medicinal springs': fossil seawater some 12 million years old forced up by rock pressure, carrying fifteen times the mineral content the Onsen Law requires. It is said to have Japan's highest boric-acid content, is salty enough to yield salt and has a distinctive oily smell. The name 'hawk's bath' comes from the founding legend of a woodcutter who saw a wounded hawk soaking in the spring. For ¥600 you get an indoor pool and a streamside rotenburo, kept so well that locals come daily saying 'just right again today'.
Hot, salty, oil-scented water and a streamside rock bath
Each side has a bright indoor pool lit through big windows and a rock rotenburo built beside a small stream. The source is a scalding 85–97°C, diluted to around 43°C — still quite hot, and children may find it hard to get in. The pale-yellow water is intensely salty on the tongue with a faint petroleum-like smell peculiar to Matsunoyama; filtration keeps sulphur flakes to a minimum, but the potency remains, leaving you glowing for hours with smooth skin. In winter the rotenburo becomes a snow-view bath, and that is when it is at its best. There is no sauna or cold plunge and only a small rest room — this is a place to concentrate on the water, and when busy the local style of short, repeated dips fits well.
Practical details and enjoying Matsunoyama
Hours are 11:00–20:00 (last entry 19:30), closed Thursdays (a substitute day if a holiday) and occasionally at other times, so check the latest information. Adults ¥600, elementary ¥300, preschoolers free, and since spring 2025 you enter through station-style ticket gates. Rinse-in shampoo and body soap are provided; there is no restaurant, so use the eateries in the spa street. By public transport it is a 25-minute city bus from Matsudai Station on the Hokuhoku Line; by car about an hour from Shiozawa-Ishiuchi IC, and in winter this is heavy-snow country, so snow tyres are essential. Add the free foot bath, a comparison soak at the larger 'Nastview Yunoyama' nearby (closed Fridays), January's bizarre 'groom-throwing and soot-painting' festival, the Hoshitoge rice terraces and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field works, and you have a full Tokamachi day.
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
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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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