Hyōgo · Yumura Onsen (Shin'onsen)
Yumura Onsen Yakushi-yu
湯村温泉 薬師湯
The town-run communal bath at the heart of Yumura Onsen in northern Hyōgo, where the 98 °C 'Arayu' source boils eggs and vegetables for visitors on the banks of the Haruki River. Bicarbonate water flows freely through separate men's and women's main baths, with an open-air tub, sauna, an assisted bath and an upstairs rest room. ¥500 for non-residents; open 9:00–21:00, closed on the 15th of each month. No towels or soap are provided — bring your own or buy at reception. Parking is free for two hours for bathers. About an hour by car from Kinosaki; pairs well with the San'in Kaigan Geopark or Hamasaka's snow crab season (Nov–Mar).
- Price (adult)
- ¥700
- Hours
- 8:30–21:30 (last entry 21:00)
- Closed
- 15th of each month (open if Thu/Sat/Sun/holiday; closes next weekday instead)
- Access
- About 25 min by Zentan bus from JR Hamasaka Station to Yumura Onsen, then 6 min on foot; 50 min by car from Yōka-Hyōnosen IC; about 60 min from Kinosaki
- Water type
- Bicarbonate spring
- Tattoos
- Ask ahead
- Admission
- Non-residents: adults ¥700, children ¥500; Shin-onsen town residents ¥350 / ¥250. JAF member discount (¥590). Towel sold for ¥150. Lockers, soap, shampoo and dryers free. Parking free for 2 hours for bathers
- Baths
- A timber building of 2008 with a tiled roof and a Yakushi-hall-style lookout tower. Spacious gender-separated indoor baths (about 16 wash stations), a compact rotenburo, sauna and two private family baths; rest room upstairs. Next door at 'Arayu', a free 98°C source pool for boiling eggs, a foot bath and the 'Reiwa-no-yu' hot-water tap opened in 2019
- Water
- Sodium bicarbonate-sulphate-chloride spring (hypotonic, mildly alkaline, high-temperature), 85.2°C at source (Yumura's Arayu spring reaches 98°C, among Japan's hottest). Free-flowing from the source. Colourless, gentle, lathers soap well and rinses away dead skin — a 'beauty bath'. Drinkable (faintly bitter). Indicated for skin care, burns, gastrointestinal and skin complaints
- Parking & access
- Parking for 47 cars (free for 2 hours for bathers). Town bus from JR Hamasaka Station (San-in Line) towards Yumura Onsen, about 25 min, then 3–5 min walk from the terminus. Zentan highway bus from Osaka or Kobe to 'Yumura Onsen', about 3.5 hours. About 1 hour by car from Yoka-Hyonosen IC on the Kita-Kinki Toyooka Expressway
- Phone
- 0796-92-1081
- Official site
- town.shinonsen.hyogo.jp ↗
- Open in Google Maps
- Google Maps ↗
Essentials
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Why go
- Town bath by the 98 °C Arayu source
- Free-flowing + open-air + sauna for ¥500
- Closed the 15th; bring a towel
The communal bath beside the 98°C Arayu spring, in an 1,150-year-old spa town
Yumura Onsen lies in the hills of Shin-onsen town in north-western Hyogo, a spa said to have been opened by the priest Jikaku Daishi in 848 — 1,150 years ago. Its central source, 'Arayu', is one of Japan's hottest at 98°C, gushing 470 litres a minute, and the sight of locals boiling eggs and vegetables in it is the town's emblem. Yakushiyu is the communal bath right beside Arayu, rebuilt in 2008 as a timber building with a tiled roof topped by a Yakushi-hall-style tower. Visitors can enjoy its free-flowing source water, complete with rotenburo and sauna, for ¥700, making it the natural base for a stroll around the town made famous by the 1981 NHK drama 'Yumechiyo Nikki'.
A gentle 'beauty bath' and a walk around town
The water is a sodium bicarbonate-sulphate-chloride spring; though it emerges at 85.2°C, it is cooled to a comfortable heat in the tubs and left to flow. Colourless and almost entirely non-irritating, it lathers soap well and rinses away dead skin, leaving it silky — a textbook 'beauty bath' — and it can be drunk, with a faint bitterness. The indoor bath has plenty of wash stations for its size; the rotenburo is small but catches a pleasant mountain breeze; there are also a sauna and two private family baths. Afterwards, the classic Yumura routine is to boil eggs (bought at a nearby shop) in Arayu next door, dip your feet in the 'Fureai-no-yu' foot bath along the Haruki River, and fill a bottle at the 'Reiwa-no-yu' hot-spring tap opened in 2019.
Practical details and access
Hours are 8:30–21:30 (reception until 21:00), closed on the 15th of each month — unless the 15th falls on a Thursday, Saturday, Sunday or holiday, in which case it opens and closes on the next weekday instead. Non-residents pay ¥700 (adults) or ¥500 (children); soap, shampoo, dryers and lockers are free and towels are sold for ¥150. Parking is free for 2 hours for bathers. By public transport, take the town bus 25 minutes from JR Hamasaka Station, or the Zentan highway bus from Osaka or Kobe (about 3.5 hours); by car it is about an hour from Yoka-Hyonosen IC. Kinosaki Onsen is an hour's drive away, so it slots neatly into a San-in onsen circuit.
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
Sauna & wellness
Price
Convenience
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
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Kin-no-Yu
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Ichi-no-Yu (Kinosaki outer bath)
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