Ryujin Onsen

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Recherche et rédaction Hinato

Ryujin Onsenthree beauty watersTanabeKoya-Ryujin Skylinebicarbonate spring

Photo: Dokudami / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · original

Ryujin is counted with Kawanaka in Gunma and Yunokawa in Shimane as one of the three waters of beauty in Japan. The spring is sodium bicarbonate, which dissolves surface keratin and leaves skin unmistakably smooth — the effect is immediate and is the entire reason for the reputation. The Kishu lords built a retreat here and the village has been a bathing place for centuries.

It sits in a deep valley on the Hidaka river in the mountains between Tanabe and Koyasan, along the Koya-Ryujin Skyline, which is one of the best mountain drives in western Japan. The Motoyu is the village's own bathhouse: undiluted source water, changed daily, open from seven in the morning to nine at night, ¥800, and it does not close. There are a handful of inns and nothing else.

Informations essentielles

Horaires d'ouverture

Motoyu 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM, last reception 8:40 PM

Fermé: Open year-round

Tarif d'entrée

Motoyu ¥800 for junior high school age and above | ¥400 elementary school children and under

Meilleure saison

Late April–November while the Koya-Ryujin Skyline is open | Autumn colour in late October

Durée de visite

1.5–2 hours | Overnight recommended

Comment s'y rendre

Informations d'accès

37 Ryujin, Ryujin-mura, Tanabe. Car recommended — in the mountains between Tanabe and Koyasan on the Koya-Ryujin Skyline. Motoyu day bathing 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM with last reception at 8:40 PM, open year-round. ¥800 for junior high school age and above and ¥400 for elementary school children and under.

Guide d'initié

**The Motoyu is source water, changed daily.** Not the inns' baths — the village's own bathhouse, undiluted, at ¥800. That is the one to use. **Fourteen hours a day, no closing day.** Seven in the morning to nine at night, though some winter weekdays open at nine instead. **The skin effect is real and immediate.** Sodium bicarbonate water dissolves surface keratin. You will notice it within minutes, which is not true of most onsen claims. **Drive the Koya-Ryujin Skyline.** The mountain road between Koyasan and Ryujin runs along a ridge for about forty kilometres and is the reason to come this way at all. It closes in winter snow. **There is very little here.** A few inns, the bathhouse, and a deep valley. That is the appeal.

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