[Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture] Yutagawa Onsen has been designated as a national recreational hot spring area! Come visit us to relieve your daily fatigue

  • ikoke
  • Last updated: 2023.09.26

Yutagawa Onsen is located in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, and is popular for its abundant amount of hot spring water and its unique effects even in Japan.

This is a hot spring resort located between Shonai Beach and Mt. Haguro, which is famous for its national treasure five-storied pagoda.

You can visit here for recreational purposes, or you can also visit for a workday. What's more, there are many spots in the area that you'll want to visit, making it a hot spring resort that will soothe your body and enrich your mind.

In this article, we will introduce recommended spots around Yutagawa Onsen, which has been open for 1300 years.

Please read to the end.

Is Yutagawa Onsen designated as a national recreational hot spring area?

Yutagawa Onsen, which has been open for 1300 years and is said to be a famous hot spring, is a small hot spring resort with eight inns, two public baths, and one footbath.

Yutagawa Onsen

There is no entertainment district that is common in hot spring areas, and the view does not seem to be particularly good. but! It is no wonder that this hot spring has been designated as a ``National Recreation Hot Spring Area'' where you can be healed by its highly effective hot springs, meals rich in seafood and mountain delicacies, and a quiet space to spend time .

Yutagawa Onsen is a sulfate hot spring (formerly gypsum-containing saltwater hot spring) with an unusual quality of spring water, and is said to be good for arteriosclerosis, cranial nerve disease, eye disease, and lowering blood pressure.

What is a national hot spring resort?

These are designated by the Minister of the Environment based on the Hot Spring Law.

In terms of content is intended to be used as a health resort

It has been in effect since 1952, and as of 2020, 79 locations have been designated nationwide. 79 locations! That may seem like a lot, but there are 3,133 hot spring resorts with lodging facilities across Japan, and 28,000 hot springs, so you can see that 79 of them have been carefully selected . right.

INFORMATION

GOOGLE MAP

Yutagawa Onsen was surrounded by plum and bamboo groves and was in a quiet place.

Bairin Park, located on a hill within the Yutagawa Onsen area, is surrounded by a bamboo grove, with 300 red and white plum trees in full bloom overlooking the hot spring town.

plum

It's not as gorgeous as cherry blossoms, but it's the perfect place to relax after a hot bath while looking at the faintly fragrant red and white plum blossoms.

It looks like the plum festival will be held soon, so it's a good idea to be healed by the hot springs and plum blossoms!

List of festivals including specialties of Yutagawa Onsen

Plum FestivalApril 8th and 9th
Menso FestivalEarly May to mid-June
Firefly FestivalGenji fireflies: Mid-June to early July
Heike fireflies: Late June to late July

*The Moso Festival is a festival where Moso bamboo shoots, which are famous in the Shonai region, are made into a soup called Mosojiru.
It is said that the people of Shonai go out of their way to buy Moso bamboo when it goes on sale, rejoicing as they realize that spring has arrived. I would love to try it!

Also, the taste of Kappo sake, which is made by heating local sake with Moso bamboo, is exceptional!

A quiet setting that has also been used as a filming location for movies.

The movie "Twilight Seibei" (released in November 2002), based on the original work by Shuhei Fujisawa and directed by Yoji Yamada, stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Rie Miyazawa.

The film was filmed at Yuzusamo Shrine, located in the Yutagawa Onsen area.

Surrounded by a bamboo forest and covered in moss, the shrine is quiet and gives the illusion that time has stopped and you can't hear a single sound.

It's nice to walk around imagining that famous actors have visited here!

Highlights near Yutagawa Onsen

I would like to introduce two places that I think you should definitely visit when you visit Yutagawa Onsen.

Kamo Aquarium

Shonai Beach, where you can enjoy swimming in the calm sea, can be reached in 17 minutes by car! Moreover, there is also the Kamo Aquarium, which is famous for its jellyfish .

More than 50 types of jellyfish are displayed in a fantastical manner. The way the jellyfish swim gracefully makes you feel like time is slowing down!

There are also about 140 types of fish that live off the coast of Shonai on display.

INFORMATION

  • Name: Kamo Aquarium
  • Address: 657-1 Imaizumi Okubo, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture 997-1206
  • Business hours: 9:00-17:00
  • Closed days: Basically open all year round
  • Admission fee: Adults 1000 yen, Elementary and junior high school students 500 yen, Infants free
  • Phone number: 0235-33-3036

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Mt. Haguro five-storied pagoda

Mt. Haguro, one of the three mountains of Dewa, is the ``Three Gods Festival Hall'' that enshrines Mt. Gassan and Mt. Yudono, which cannot be visited during the winter due to snow.

Among them, the five-storied pagoda, a national treasure, stands in a forest of cedar trees that are unimaginably old, giving off a majestic and solemn atmosphere that is truly impressive. The cedar tree near the tower is said to be 1000 years old and has a circumference of 10 meters, and is called ``Jisugi''.

The five-storied pagoda, said to be the oldest pagoda in Tohoku, is said to have been built by Taira no Masakado.

INFORMATION

  • Name: Mt. Haguro five-storied pagoda
  • Address: 33-14 Temukahaguroyama, Haguro-cho, Tsuruoka-shi, Yamagata 997-0211
  • Phone number: 0235-62-2355

GOOGLE MAP

summary

Yutagawa Onsen, located in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, is a hot spring that can be expected to have effects that are rare even in Japan. Moreover, it is also a hot spring area that is secretly gaining attention as it is suitable for workdays as there is no red light district and you can enjoy a quiet retreat.

You can also swim in the sea and enjoy an aquarium nearby. You can also visit the majestic sacred mountain of Mt. Haguro. Yutagawa Onsen is full of charm and is a place that we highly recommend as a must-visit spot.

It might be a good idea to take a stroll and be tempted by the scent of plum blossoms!

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