3 Facilities
A communal bath with over a thousand years of history as the shrine's sacred spring. Milky acidic sulfur water pours like a waterfall from log flumes into cypress tubs. ¥300; bring your own soap.
A communal bath using a spring that Waseda University students struck during fieldwork in 1948. Architect Osamu Ishiyama's yellow avant-garde building is unmistakable; descend the stepped 'sajiki' gallery to the bathroom. The modern counterpart to Taki-no-yu.
A public bath at Nakayamadaira Onsen, at the western end of the Naruko onsen cluster. High-temperature source water is run through a wooden flume about 200 m long to cool it naturally, with no added water and no recirculation. At pH 9.4 it is alkaline, and the silky feel is where the name 'Shintoro' comes from. Open 9:00–20:30 (last entry 20:00) with no closing day, at ¥500 for adults, ¥250 for elementary pupils and free for younger children. There are separate indoor baths for men and women; lockers cost ¥100. Towels are sold for ¥400 and bath towels for ¥700. A local-produce shop, Yunokei Shintoro, shares the grounds.