Tawarayama Onsen is an elegant hot spring resort town in a quiet mountainous area upstream from the Kiya River, where inns with small Japanese-style houses are clustered together, retaining the original landscape of a therapeutic hot spring.
The hot springs are designated as a national health spa and a national health spa. It is a sacred hot spring with a tradition of more than 1,000 years, and is said to be the incarnation of Buddha Yakushi Nyorai who told the villagers about it.
The spring is an alkaline simple hot spring. The main springs, “Machinoyu-sen” and “Kawanoyu-sen,” are both highly alkaline with a pH of 9.9, and are known to be effective for neuralgia and rheumatism.
Only one of the inns in the hot spring resort has an indoor hot spring, and local residents and tourists use the public bathhouses “Hakusaru no Yu” and “Machinoyu. Both are free-flowing hot-spring baths with no added water.
30 min. by bus from Nagato Yumoto Stn. on the JR Mine Line *Toward Tawarayama, get off at “Tawarayama Onsen” stop.
60 min. by bus from Kozuki Sta. on the JR Sanyo Main Line *Toward Nagato City Station, get off at “Tawarayama Onsen” stop.