[Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture] Visit a hot spring connected to the Uesugi family of the Yonezawa Domain

The Okitama region, which was ruled by the former Yonezawa clan, including Yonezawa City, is dotted with hot springs connected to the Uesugi family

The Uesugi family was founded in Echigo (Niigata Prefecture) by Kenshin, the first generation, but after Kenshin's death, it was moved to Aizu by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Kagekatsu era, and then in the Edo period by Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was transferred to Yonezawa (so-called demoted). Furthermore, during the Aizu period, the amount was 1.2 million koku, but after becoming the Yonezawa domain, it was reduced to 300,000 koku.

The Uesugi family made good use of hot springs to run their domain.

The first lord of the Yonezawa domain was Kagekatsu Uesugi, but at first the domain seemed to have difficulty running due to financial difficulties.

The fourth lord of the domain, Tsunakatsu, suddenly died at a young age without an heir, and the family was in danger of extinction, but they managed to continue. However, due to this, the management of the domain hit rock bottom for a while.

Yozan Uesugi (Harunori), who became the 9th lord of the domain in 1767, succeeded in successfully implementing financial reforms through thorough frugality.

During the Echigo period, the Uesugi family used hot springs such as Kaikake Onsen and Matsunoyama Onsen (both in Niigata Prefecture) as their "hidden hot springs," and during the Aizu period, they also maintained hot springs with some connection to Aizu Higashiyama Onsen. Apparently, they often used hot springs.

After moving to Yonezawa, they built a palace (villa) at Akayu Onsen, which the feudal lord frequented, and set up a gun factory and tried to make salt using hot spring water (Onogawa Onsen). I always had my eye on hot springs.

Akayu Onsen developed as an official hot spring for the Yonezawa clan.

Akayu Onsen (Nanyo City) is a hot spring said to have been discovered in the late Heian period by Yoshitsuna, the younger brother of Minamoto no Yoshiie (Yohata Taro), who bathed soldiers injured in battle in the hot springs. The wound seems to have healed instantly.

However, it is said that the hot water was stained deep red with blood, and that is when it came to be called ``red hot water''.

The spring quality is sulfur, sodium, and calcium chloride spring, and the color is clear and colorless (not red!). This hot spring is said to be a ``warm hot spring'' with a faint sulfur scent and is rich in effects.

During the Edo period, the Yonezawa clan's villa, Akayu Goten, was located here, and it flourished as an official entertainment area of ​​the clan.

At Akayu Onsen, there are ``Uesugi no Oyu Gotenmori'', an inn that continues from the hot water guard of Akayu Palace, ``Gotenmori'', and ``Ryokan Daimonjiya'', which was founded in the mid-Edo period and still has buildings from the early Showa period. There are a total of 16 hot spring inns, including ``Yamagataza Takinami'', which was relocated from an old village headman's mansion.

There are 3 public baths. There is also a free footbath, and you can enjoy interacting with people in a different way than you would at a ryokan in the townscape typical of a hot spring town.

Akayu Motoyu

This is a public bath that was opened by combining the long-standing Oyu and Tamba-yu into one. It is adjacent to the Akayu Onsen Tourist Center ``Yunavi Karakorokan''.

Information

• Facility name: Akayu Motoyu
• Location: 754 Akayu, Nanyo City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 0238-40-3211 (Nanyo City)
• Business hours: 8:00-14:00, 15:00-21:30
• Bathing fee: 240 yen for adults, 100 yen for children (elementary school age and younger)
• Closed: Wednesday

Eboshi no Yu

Eboshi no Yu is characterized by a bath shaped like an eboshi. The appeal is that the bathing fee is 120 yen.

Information

• Facility name: Eboshi no Yu
• Location: 356-2 Akayu, Nanyo City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 0238-40-3211 (Nanyo City)
• Business hours: 6:00-11:30, 14:00-21:30
• Bathing fee: 120 yen for adults, 100 yen for children (elementary school age and younger)
• Regular holiday: Friday

Akayu Onsen Yukotto

We are fully equipped with a large public bath, an open-air bath, and a barrier-free bathroom that can be enjoyed by people with disabilities and those who require nursing care.

Information

• Facility name: Akayu Onsen Yukotto
• Location: 3004-1 Akayu, Nanyo City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 0238-49-7350 (Yukotto)
• Business hours: 6:00-22:00
• Bathing fee: 300 yen for adults, 100 yen for children (elementary school age and younger)
• Closed: Tuesday
• URL: Yukotto

Akayu Onsen Ryokan Cooperative Association＜Information＞

• Facility name: Akayu Onsen Ryokan Cooperative Association
• Phone number: 0238-43-3114
• access:
• Railway/Yamagata Shinkansen get off at Akayu
• Car: Approximately 5 minutes on National Route 13 from Nanyo Takahata IC on the Tohoku Chuo Expressway
• URL: Akayu Onsen Ryokan Cooperative Association

GOOGLE MAP

Shirabu Onsen, where the Yonezawa clan's gun factory was located

Shirabu Onsen is a hot spring that gushes out at an altitude of 900 meters at the headwaters of the Mogami River, and is a hot spring with a long history, having opened in 1312.

Legend has it that the name "White Cloth" came from the fact that a white-spotted hawk was cured of an eye disease in this hot spring. It seems to be correct that the place name "Shirabu" became the name of the place. The kanji for "white cloth" was applied later.

The Okitama region, where Shirabu Onsen is located, was under the control of the Date clan during the Sengoku period, and there is a record that Date Masamune, the feudal lord at that time, visited the area, and during the Edo period, Yonezawa feudal lords such as Uesugi Takayama visited.

In the early Edo period, Kanetsugu Naoe prepared for the unstable times by setting up a matchlock gun manufacturing facility in Shirabu Onsen, where sulfur and other gunpowder raw materials were available. This gun is said to have been useful during the Osaka Winter Siege in 1614.

At Shirabu Onsen, the thatched-roofed ``Yutaki-no-Yado Nishiya'' and the newly built ``Azumaya Ryokan'' that were rebuilt after a fire stand side by side, and a little further apart is the ``Nakaya Bekkan Fudo,'' an old private house built in the Taisho period. There are 5 hot spring inns including "Kaku". The spring quality is sulfur-containing, calcium-sulfate spring, and this sulfur was the raw material for gun balls.

Shirabu Onsen＜Information＞

• Facility name: Shirabu Onsen
• Location: Seki, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 0238-53-2761 (Around Nishiazuma)
• access:
• Railway: Approximately 50 minutes by bus bound for Shirabu Onsen from Yonezawa Station on the Yamagata Shinkansen, JR Uetsu Main Line, and Yonezaka Line.
• Car: Approximately 30 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Yonezawa Hachimanbara IC
• URL: Shirabu Onsen

Google Map

Onogawa Onsen, where the remains of the Yonezawa clan's salt factory remain.

Onogawa Onsen is a hot spring with a history of about 1,200 years, and is said to have been opened by Ononokomachi, a poet of the Heian period who was praised as an unparalleled beauty. It is said that Ono no Komachi fell ill when he visited the area to look for his girlfriend's father, and upon receiving a message from Yakushi Nyorai, she bathed in the hot springs, recovered from her illness, and regained her beauty.

During the Sengoku period, it was used as a hot spring by the Date family, and later became one of the hot springs frequented by the Uesugi family of the Yonezawa domain. Additionally, since Onogawa Onsen's source water contains a lot of salt, a salt factory was built by Yozan Uesugi to extract salt from the hot spring water. Onogawa Onsen's spring quality is a sulfur, sodium, and calcium chloride spring, but it seems that the salt concentration was higher in the Edo period than it is now.

There are 13 accommodations in Onogawa Onsen. Founded in the Muromachi period, it is said to be the first inn in Onogawa Onsen, and there is a wide variety of inns, including Ogiya Ryokan, which is still in use in a building from the Meiji period, as well as luxury inns with rooms with open-air baths, and inns with homely hospitality. You can choose according to your budget and purpose. There are two public baths, and there are many popular events such as the firefly festival in summer, rice field art in autumn, and Kamakura Village in winter.

Shared Bath Amayu

``Amayu'' is a communal bath that is loved by locals and is known for its slightly hot water.

Information

• Facility name: Community bath Amayu
• Location: 2472-2 Onogawa-cho, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 238-32-2740 (Onogawa Onsen Ryokan Association Office)
• Business hours: 7:00-21:00
• Bathing fee: 200 yen
• No regular holiday

Public bath Taki no Yu

Taki no Yu is a public bath that is popular among tourists and has showers and coin lockers.

Information

• Facility name: Public bath Takinoyu
• Location: 2501 Onogawa-cho, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 238-32-2740 (Onogawa Onsen Ryokan Association Office)
• Business hours: 7:00-21:00
• Bathing fee: 250 yen
• Regular holidays: Irregular holidays

Onogawa Onsen＜Information＞

• Facility name: Onogawa Onsen
• Location: Onogawa-cho, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 238-32-2740 (Onogawa Onsen Ryokan Association Office)
• access:
• Railway/Approximately 25 minutes by bus from Yonezawa Station on the JR Ou Main Line
• Car: Approximately 20 minutes from Tohoku Chuo Expressway Yonezawa Chuo IC
• URL: Onogawa Onsen

Google Map

Namegawa Onsen is a one-house inn opened with permission from the Yonezawa clan.

Namegawa Onsen is a hot spring discovered about 350 years ago, and was opened as a hot spring resort with the permission of the Yonezawa clan due to its beautiful scenery.

The only accommodation available is Fukushimaya, and the most appealing feature is the hot springs that use three sources. Nearby is the 100m-high Namegawa Falls, which has been selected as one of Japan's 100 best waterfalls

Namegawa Onsen＜Information＞

• Facility name: Yonezawa's secret hot spring inn Fukushimaya
• Address: 15 Osawa, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 238-34-2250
• access:
• Railway: Get off at Toge Station on the JR Ou Main Line, and take a taxi for about 15 minutes (pick-up and drop-off available)
• Car: Approximately 1 hour from Tohoku Expressway Fukushima Iizaka IC, approximately 50 minutes from Yonezawa city
• URL: Namegawa Onsen Fukushimaya

Google Map

summary

I visited a hot spring connected to the Uesugi family of the Yonezawa domain, but unfortunately, the secret hot spring that Naoe Kanetsugu visited, ``Goshiki Onsen,'' has gone out of business and cannot be accessed as of May 2023. Since it was a popular hot spring in the mountains, I can only hope that it will reopen.