- May 3rd, 2015
- Onsen
- Little-KnownGoodSpots
- SouthernArea
[Usubetsu Onsen in Setana] Day Trip Bath and Legend of Mythological Giant Can Be Enjoyed at Utopia Usubetsu
CONTENTS
Usubetsu Onsen
Usubetsu Onsen (臼別温泉) is a hot spring place in Taisei, Setana town located in the northwestern direction of Hakodate city. A signboard is a mark along Raiden National Route (雷電国道 * National Route 229), and visitors turn and go straight for around 3 km, and the end of the road is the Usubetsu Onsen. Only Utopia Usubetsu (湯とぴあ臼別) is built. This onsen has an atmosphere such as a secret onsen in the heart of a mountain. But it is easy to access by car. Drive carefully because a gravel road sometimes is landslides. Except the Utopia Usubetsu, restraunts, cafes, souvenir shops and convenience stores are not built.
In 1998, Mainichi Newspapers (毎日新聞) said that the Usubetsu Onsen was one of 5 onsen (Motta Kaigan Onsen in Shimamaki, Horonai Onsen (幌内温泉 * closing) in Okushiri, Futamata Radium Onsen (二股ラジウム温泉) in Oshamanbe and Kunbetsu Onsen (薫別温泉) in Shibetsu with natural radium in Hokkaido. The the radium hot springs are expected to treat leukemia and cancer, and prevent the spread of the leukemia and the cancer.
The Usubetsu Onsen has over 220 years history, and has been well-known as the hot spring place since Ainu period. Mr. Masumi Sugae (菅江真澄) wrote Emishi-no-Saegi (蝦夷喧辞辨) in 1789, and introduced about Legend of Mythological Giant, and . There are Otayama Shrine (太田山神社) that the Masumi Sugae visited and Parent and Child Bears Shaped Rocks (親子熊岩) near here.
Mythological Giant (大人伝説) in Usubetsu From Emishi-no-Saegi Written by Masumi Sugae
A traveler went to onsen in Usubetsu with a herring fisherman in old days. An old man said that the traveler with unknown background must not come to this hot spring carelessly. Because he doubted the old man’s talling, he brought his ear close to the mouth of the old man. The old man said that a giant lived in Usubetsu.
As for the giant, its mouth extended from ear to ear, and he was tall, and was a monster with a fierce look. He droped big trees and big rocks from a high cliff. If people take a bath, it will be dangerous.
In addition, there was the giant that took the form of common person before they knew when they took a bath in the hot spring. If they were careless, he pulled out their muscle. The old man whispered to the traveler, because such the monster lived in Usubetsu, he must never say about a giant and the death.
Otayama Shrine
Otayama Shrine (太田山神社) is in Setana town located in the northwestern direction of Hakodate city. This is the shrine in connection with Mr. Enku (円空), famous sculptor of Buddhist images, and it is famous as the most dangerous shrine in Japan. Because there are a large shrine gate and a parking space along Hokkaido Route 740, I think that it is easy to find it. There are Ota Shrine (太田神社) and Enku Buddhist Temple (円空仏堂) near the large shrine gate, and there are a restroom and a parking lot besides Enku Buddhist Temple. By the way, a enshrined deity is Sarutahiko-no-mikoto (猿田彦命). Admission free. The parking lot is free of charge. Read More
Day Trip Onsen
Visitors can take a day trip bath at Utopia Usubetsu.
Utopia Usubetsu
Utopia Usubetsu is a public bath founded in 1995 along a tributary river of Usubetsu River. The appearance looks like a mountain hut with a delta roof. Some camper vans often park in front of a building. An entrance fee to the bath facility is JPY 100. Visitors for bathing write down their name on a note. They close a business in a winter season (from December to mid April).
There are 1 open-air bath and 1 indoor bath at a large public bathhouse. The indoor bath surrounded by rocks is the size that about 4 people can take a bath. Although it is said the indoor bath, the bath with a roof is at outside, but a view is not good.
The open-air bath surrounded by rocks is the size that about 4 people can take a bath. Although the open-air baths are gender segregated, the open-air baths for men or women are linked with each other at a resting place, so it may be said that those are semi-gender segregated open-air bath. Above all, a view from the open-air bath is amazing. It has an atmosphere that the creature of legend might really appear. A sense of openness can be felt very much.
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I took a bath while talking with 75-years-old local man. Here used to be a accommodation called “Inn of Lamp (ランプの宿)”, and they discontinued their business, and this facility seemed to make use of bathtub facilities in old days. A bathing seemed to be possible for 24 hours. But this facility become entirely dark in the evening without a lighting, so bathers must light. In addition, this hot spring became too much popular recently, and a lot of the bathers visited here, and he seemed to return home without taking a bath. He said “I did not mind because I could take a bath every day”. He is a man of integrity very much.
The hot springs are sodium and calcium chloride sulfate spring, and are opaque and colorless and have salty taste and no smell. The sum total of the hot spring ingredients are 3.616 g/kg. A plastic cup is provided on a stone, so the hot springs are drinkable. When I drank the hot springs, it was mysterious taste such as soup. I like it. Shampoos and body soaps are not provided at the bathhouse. The bathers must bring those. A restroom (Japanese style toilet) is installed at a dressing room.
Atmosphere of Usubetsu Onsen Can Be Watched on Youtube
Movie of Usubetsu Onsen
| Types of Hot Springs | Sodium and calcium chloride sulfate spring (Type: Neutral, Osmotic Pressure: Low, Spring Temperature Type: Extra hot spring) |
|---|---|
| Water temperature of Hot Spring Source | 51.8 C |
| ph | 6.5 |
| Indications | Neuralgia, Muscular pain, Arthralgia, Frozen shoulder, Motor paralysis, Tightening of the joint, Bruise, Chronic digestive diseases, Hemorrhoid, Cold sensitivity, Convalescent convalescence, Relieving fatigue, Healthy increase, Chronic skin diseases, Cut, Burn, Chronic women’s diseases, Weak child, Arteriosclerosis |
| Contraindications | Acute disease(when there is the heat in particular), Active tuberculosis, Malignant tumor, Severe heart disease, Respiratory failure, Renal insufficiency, Hemorrhagic disease, High anemia, Other diseases during condition of a patient progress generally |
| Indications of drinking | Chronic digestive diseases, Chronic constipation, Chronic cholecystitis, Cholelithiasis, Obesity disease, Diabetes, Gout |
| Contraindications of drinking | Kidney disease, High blood pressure, Diarrhea and diseases accompanied by edema in general |
| Facilities | Open-air bath(1), Indoor bath(1). * Sex-Segregated Bathhouse. |
| Entrance fee to the bath facility | JPY 100 |
| Business hours | 07:00-19:00 * Bathers Seems to take a bath for 24 hours |
| Regular closing day | From December to mid April |
| Parking lot | A free parking is provided (30 cars) |
| Telephone number | +81-1398-4-5511 |
| Home page | Home page is here |
| Mapcode | 718 815 229*20 |
List of Accommodations
Refer to following websites for the accommodations in the Setana. You can get information regarding online reviews and photos.
Taisei
Kaitorima Onsen
Kitahiyama
Kitahiyama Onsen
Setana
A page of Secret Onsen in Hokkaido is here
Secret Onsen in Hokkaido
By the way, Club Tourism (クラブツーリズム), a Japanese tour travel agency, provides various types of tours such as day trip tours or ordinary tours. In the case of bus tours, tourists do not drive their cars themselves, so they can savor alcohol. Choosen tourist attractions are national parks such as Rishiri and Rebun, Shiretoko, and popular tourist places such as Furano and Biei, and some activities such as hiking and fruit picking are also enjoyed depending on seasons. If you are interested in tour trips, you should visit the club tourism's website for details.
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