Niigata · Tsukioka Onsen
Tsukioka Onsen Furinya
月岡温泉 風鈴屋
An hour by car from Niigata city, a ryokan in Tsukioka Onsen, famed for water that 'makes you beautiful'. Its emerald-green spring, among the most sulfur-rich in Japan, fills indoor and open-air baths, and day use runs late — 15:00–23:00 — so you can soak while the garden is lit up. ¥800 on weekdays (¥1,000 with towel), +¥200 on weekends and holidays. Combine with the free footbath and spring-source park in the village.
- Price (adult)
- ¥800
- Hours
- 15:00–23:00 (last entry 22:00)
- Closed
- Open daily (closes for maintenance)
- Access
- 20 min by shuttle bus from JR Toyosaka Station; 60 min by car from Niigata city
- Water type
- Sulfur spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Adults ¥800 (no towel) or ¥1,000 (with towel); ages 1 to elementary ¥400 / ¥600. Add ¥200 on weekends, holidays, New Year, Golden Week and Obon. Free for overnight guests. Check the official site for current prices
- Baths
- Ground-floor gender-separated baths: an indoor pool and a smallish rotenburo facing the garden. No sauna. Lobby lounge. The 3,300 m² Japanese garden is lit at night and day visitors may stroll it. Colourful yukata hire and kamameshi dinners are for overnight guests. Run by the Area One group
- Water
- Sulphur-bearing sodium chloride spring from the inn's own source (Tsukioka ranks among the highest in Japan for sulphur content). The water shifts from pale emerald to yellow-green and smells of sulphur; heated. Known as the 'water that makes you beautiful' for the smooth skin it leaves. Indicated for chronic skin disease, neuralgia, diabetes and high blood pressure. Tarnishes silver
- Parking & access
- Free parking. About 20 min by shuttle (reservation, overnight guests) or local bus from Toyosaka Station (JR Hakushin Line), or about 15 min by taxi from JR Shibata Station. About 15 min from Toyosaka-Niigata-Higashiko IC on the Nihonkai-Tohoku Expressway. About 40 min by car from Niigata Station. The Tsukioka Waku-Waku street in the town centre is walkable
- Phone
- 0254-32-2231
- Official site
- furinya.jp ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- Emerald-green sulfur spring
- Day use until 23:00
- Night bath over a lit garden
Tsukioka's late-night door for day bathers
Tsukioka Onsen Furinya is an inn on the west side of the spa street in Tsukioka, Shibata, Niigata — a resort famed for its 'water that makes you beautiful' — run by the Area One group. Tsukioka's sulphur spring gushed out during oil test-drilling in 1915, ranks among the highest in Japan for sulphur content, and glows emerald green. Furinya has its own source and, above all, accepts day bathers from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. (last entry 22:00). Since most other Tsukioka inns admit day visitors only around 11:00–14:00, it is practically the only option for enjoying Tsukioka's water in the evening after sightseeing or work. Its 3,300 m² Japanese garden is lit at night for a post-bath stroll.
Emerald sulphur water and a garden rotenburo
The main bath is on the ground floor: an indoor pool and a smallish rotenburo facing the garden, no sauna. The water, from the inn's own sulphur-bearing sodium chloride source, smells clearly of sulphur and shifts with light and time from pale emerald to yellow-green. It feels slick and leaves the skin noticeably smooth; take off silver jewellery, which blackens. Early evening can be busy when day visitors overlap with hotel guests, so 15:00–17:00 or after 21:00 is quieter. Afterwards, wander the illuminated garden and take the five-minute stroll to the 'Tsukioka Waku-Waku' street in the town centre for Niigata sake tasting, rice-cracker grilling and craft souvenir shops.
Practical details and tips
Day bathing runs 15:00–23:00 (last entry 22:00), normally every day, with occasional closures for maintenance. Adults ¥800 (no towel) or ¥1,000 (with towel), children ¥400 / ¥600, plus ¥200 on weekends, holidays, New Year, Golden Week and Obon. There is no sauna or private bath — it is purely about the water. By public transport, take a local bus about 20 minutes from Toyosaka Station on the JR Hakushin Line (overnight guests can book the shuttle) or a 15-minute taxi from Shibata Station; 40 minutes by car from Niigata Station. One idea is to compare Tsukioka's water twice in a day — another inn at lunchtime (Toeikan or Hisagoso, 11:00–14:00) and Furinya in the evening.
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.
- Payment is usually by ticket machine in cash — bring coins.
- Last entry is 30–60 minutes before closing.
Features
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.
More in this area
Yuzawa Onsen Egami Public Bath
A locals' public bath three minutes from the east exit of Echigo-Yuzawa Station, tucked into the shopping street. Indoor pool only, but the slightly hot, soft water that clings to the skin gets praise. Shampoo is provided and a towel set costs ¥400, so you can drop in empty-handed while waiting for the shinkansen. ¥600 since December 2025.
Tsukioka Onsen Bijin-no-izumi
Forty minutes by car from Niigata city, the communal bath of Tsukioka Onsen, which bills itself as the spring that 'makes you beautiful'. The emerald-green water has one of the highest sulfur contents in Japan — you smell it the moment you step in. Indoor pool only, ¥600. On the edge of the ryokan street and popular with locals. 25 minutes by bus from Shibata Station. Closed Tuesdays and the third Wednesday.
Matsunoyama Onsen Center Taka-no-yu
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.
