Wakayama · Ryujin Onsen
Ryujin Onsen Motoyu
龍神温泉 元湯
The source bath of Ryujin Onsen, counted with Yunokawa and Kawanaka among Japan's 'three beauty baths'. It stands on the Hidaka River deep in the Kii mountains, with a cypress indoor bath and a rock rotenburo overlooking the stream. The silky bicarbonate water is famous for leaving skin smooth. ¥800, 7:00–21:00, open daily. An hour by car from Koyasan via the Koya-Ryujin Skyline, or about 80 minutes by bus from Kii-Tanabe.
- Price (adult)
- ¥800
- Hours
- 7:00–21:00 (last entry 20:40)
- Closed
- Open daily
- Access
- About 80 min by Ryujin Bus from JR Kii-Tanabe to Ryujin-Onsen; 60 min by car from Koyasan
- Water type
- Bicarbonate spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults ¥800, elementary and under ¥400 (raised from ¥700 in 2017). Ticket machine. Shampoo and body soap provided, towels sold. Valuables lockers. Stay at the no-frills annexe 5 min away (room only, ¥3,000–4,500 per person) and bathe at Motoyu as often as you like. No meals
- Baths
- Ryujin's only dedicated day-bath, on the Hidaka river gorge — the 'Motoyu' where the spring originated. Gender-separated cypress indoor baths and rock-built rotenburo looking onto the stream and forest. No sauna or dining. Steps beside the building lead down to a small bridge and benches for cooling off in the river breeze. Ryujin drops below freezing in January–February, with snowy outdoor soaks
- Spring water
- Sodium bicarbonate spring (pure 'baking-soda' water with radium), 48°C at source, pH about 7.8 — the only bath in Ryujin that is 100% free-flowing with no dilution, heating or recirculation (the inns recirculate). Colourless and nearly odourless, slick on the skin from the first touch; the bicarbonate softens dead skin, earning Ryujin a place among 'Japan's three beauty waters' with Kawanaka and Yunokawa. Indicated for skin disease, rheumatism, neuralgia, stomach ailments and burns. Legend says the ascetic En no Gyoja found it 1,300 years ago and Kobo Daishi opened it at the bidding of the dragon king Nanda
- Access & parking
- Free parking for 70 cars. By car about 60 min (45 km) from Nanki-Tanabe IC on the Hanwa Expressway via Routes 424/371, 90 min from Arida IC, or about 100 min from Koyasan over the Koya-Ryujin Skyline (Route 371). By bus about 1 h 50 min on the Ryujin Bus 'Ryujin Onsen' service from JR Kii-Tanabe Station, 3 min on foot from the 'Ryujin Onsen' stop (a few a day). The Ryujin bus from Koyasan runs seasonally, April–November
- Phone
- 0739-79-0726
- Official site
- ryujin-motoyu.com ↗
- 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
- One of Japan's three beauty baths
- Rock rotenburo above the river
- 1 h by car from Koyasan
Birthplace of one of Japan's three 'beauty waters', Ryujin's only pure free-flow
Ryujin Onsen Motoyu is the birthplace of Ryujin Onsen and its only dedicated day-bath, set in the gorge of the upper Hidaka river deep in the Kii mountains at Ryujin village, Tanabe, Wakayama. An ancient spring said to have been found 1,300 years ago by the ascetic En no Gyoja and opened by Kobo Daishi at the bidding of the dragon king Nanda, Ryujin served as the Kishu Tokugawa clan's healing resort in the Edo period and is counted with Yunokawa (Shimane) and Kawanaka (Gunma) among 'Japan's three beauty waters'. In this small spa of a dozen inns strung along the gorge, Motoyu is the one bath that keeps its water 100% free-flowing with no dilution, heating or recirculation: the 48°C bicarbonate spring spills untouched into cypress indoor pools and rock rotenburo. Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. for ¥800, it is a cherished pause on the drive over the Ryujin Skyline from Koyasan or a Kumano pilgrimage journey.
Bicarbonate water that turns silky on contact, and a rotenburo in the river breeze
Buy a ticket and enter; the gender-separated changing rooms have valuables lockers, and the bath consists of a cypress-scented indoor pool and, beyond glass doors, a rock rotenburo. The water is colourless and almost odourless, yet the moment your hand goes in it feels as if soap were dissolved in it — the sodium bicarbonate gently loosens dead skin and sebum. The 48°C source is run without cooling, so the indoor bath is on the hot side, while the outdoor one is tempered nicely by the air and the gorge breeze for a long soak, with the sound of the Hidaka river, cedar forest, autumn colour and winter snow for company. A plain bathhouse without sauna or restaurant, it still provides shampoo, and afterwards you can take the steps down to a riverside bench, feel the breeze and notice how silky your skin has become. Since nearly all the inns recirculate their water, regulars insist that to feel 'the real Ryujin water' you must come here.
Practical details and a Koya–Ryujin–Kumano route
Hours are 7:00–21:00 (last entry 20:40), open all year. Some listings mention a 9:00 weekday opening or 6:00 in summer, so phone (0739-79-0726) if you plan an early visit. Adults ¥800, elementary and under ¥400. The 'Motoyu Annexe' five minutes away is a bare-bones room-only lodging at ¥3,000–4,500 per person with unlimited access to Motoyu — popular with cure-stay devotees. Access is 60 minutes by car from Nanki-Tanabe IC or 100 minutes from Koyasan over the Ryujin Skyline (around 1,000 m; snow and chains in winter); the bus from Kii-Tanabe takes 1 h 50 min with only a few services, so driving is realistic. It is the ideal midpoint of a Kii-peninsula traverse — Koyasan pilgrimage, the Gomasan Sky Tower on the Skyline, Ryujin Motoyu, then on to Tanabe and Shirahama or Kumano Hongu — and Ryujin village's pickled plums and yuzu, fireflies in June and autumn colour in November are further attractions. If staying in Ryujin, slip in before or after your inn dinner.
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
Convenience
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.
More in this area
Saki-no-Yu
An open-air-only bath at the edge of the Pacific. One of Japan's oldest springs, mentioned in the 8th-century Nihon Shoki; on rough days sea spray reaches the tubs. No roof, no wash stations.
Shirahama Onsen Muro-no-yu
Shirahama's other classic public bath, on the Yuzaki seafront near Saki-no-yu. Its draw: two distinct springs — Mabuyu and Miyukiyu — under one roof. 7 am to 10 pm, ¥420.
Yunomine Onsen Tsuboyu
The only hot spring inscribed as a World Heritage Site that you can actually bathe in, listed together with the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes. A tiny hut over the stream in Yunomine — said to be Japan's oldest onsen at 1,800 years — shelters a tub hollowed from natural rock that fits two adults. The sulfurous water is said to change colour seven times a day and served pilgrims for ritual purification. Private 30-minute slots, ¥800, sign up at the public bathhouse (6:00–21:00). Waits of several hours are common on holidays; boil onsen eggs in the hot-spring trough while you wait.
