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[Kaminoyu Onsen in Yakumo] Day Trip Bath and Natural Hot Springs Can Be Enjoyed at Ginkonyu and Seiryuen

May 22nd, 2014

CONTENTS

Kaminoyu Onsen
List of Day Trip Onsen
- Pacific Onsen Hotel Seiryuen
- Onsen Ryokan Ginkonyu
List of Accommodations

Kaminoyu Onsen

Kaminoyu Onsen (上の湯温泉) is a hot-spring place in Yakumo town located in the northwestern part of Hakodate city, and is one of secret onsen in Yakumo. Only Ginkonyu (銀婚湯) and Seiryuen (清龍園) are built along Hokkaido Road 67 at about 70 m above sea level in a mountain that is around 30 km away from the center of the Yakumo. There is Banjyaku Onsen (盤石温泉) (one of famous secret onsen) near the Kaminoyu Onsen. The onsen is known for hot springs gushing out by Ainu people in the old days. It is the oldest record written in Emishi-nisshi (蝦夷日誌) that Mr. Shiro Matsuura (松浦武四郎) took a bath in 1846. After that, Mr. Fukutaro Kawaguchi (川口福太郎) succeeded in drilling a lot of hot springs, and built an onsen hut "Ginkonyu", and up to now.

The Yakumo is an unusual town with 2 seas, the Pacific Ocean and the sea of Japan. Famous tourist attractions in the Yakumo are Funkawan Panorama Park (噴火湾パノラマパーク) and Yakumo Ranch (八雲町育成牧場). Speaking of tasty restaurants in the Yakumo, Harvester Yakumo (ハーベスター八雲), Iseya Shokudo (伊勢屋食堂) and Elfin Motoyama Ranch Milk (エルフィン元山牧場牛乳) are popular in particular. I ate sushi and buckwheat noodles at Kameya (亀や) and Marumi Shokkudo (まるみ食堂). Those were so tasty.

Funkawan Panorama Park

Hills Station "Yakumo Panorama Museum" is a roadside station with an ocean view on a small hill in Yakumo town located in the northwest of Hakodate city and is next to Harvester Yakumo (ハーベスター八雲) that is known for a tasty chicken. There are Auto Resort Yakumo, Park Golf Course, Picnic Square, Flower Field at the Hills Station "Yakumo Panorama Museum" and those are composite facilities. Children seem to enjoy it, too. This is a place well-known for its scenic beauty particularly. Free admission. A parking lot is free of charge. Article is here

Kameya

Kameya (亀や) is a long-established sushi restaurant in Yakumo town located in the northwest part of Hakodate city and was founded in 1968. This sushi restraunt is famous for getting the Bib Gourmand in MICHELIN GUIDE Hokkaido 2012 Special Edition. There is a building near Yakumo station, but Kameya has no parking lot. Therefore I parked my car in the parking lot of Yakumo Station. Article is here

Marumi Shokudo

Marumi Shokudo (まるみ食堂) is a long-established restaurant in Yakumo town and was founded in 1958. A building is next to Yakumo station and they run an accommodation, too. I visited Yakumo, so I planned to eat Yakumo buckwheat noodles. However, in the first place I misunderstood about Yakumo buckwheat noodles. I thought that it was a kind of buckwheat noodles. Marumi Shokudo uses buckwheat flour produced in Horokanai. By the way, the Yakumo buckwheat noodles is a name of the restaurant. Article is here

List of Day Trip Onsen

Visitors can take a day trip bath at the Ginkonyu and the Seiryuen.

Pacific Onsen Hotel Seiryuen

Seiryuen is a small-sized long-established onsen ryokan founded in 1951, and is one of few hot spring places that the hot springs with high temperature of 98 C gush forth from 120 meters below ground in Japan. They have a park golf course on the site, too. An entrance fee to a bath facility is JPY 500. A staying is possible, too.

Kaminoyu onsen in Yakumo, Seiryuen — Appearance of Building

There are 2 open-air baths, 2 indoor baths, 1 cold bath and 1 sauna at a large public bathhouse. The round tiled bathhouse with large windows is feeling good. The large indoor bath is the size that about 20 people can take a bath, and the small indoor bath is the size that about 4 people can take a bath. 100% natural free flowing hot springs that are lowered the water temperature by a heat exchanger always overflow the bathtubs. It is very comfortable. The small indoor bath is very hot, so it makes bathers get up. There are the cold bath and the sauna at another hut, the bathers can go in and go out via open-air baths.

At the outside, a lot of decorative boulders are set as if it is a Japanese-garden, and the open-air baths replace ponds. It is marvelous! The open-air bath surrounded by rocks have 3 sizes, large, medium, or small. But only the middle-sized open-air bath is not used when I visted here. The large open-air bath with a gazebo is the size that about 15 people can take a bath. But a roof does not cover the open-air bath, so a sense of openness can be felt. In addition, 100% natural free flowing hot springs are very hot, so the bathers should not take a bath around a hot spring gushing place. But they can forget daily life. The small open-air bath is the size that about 1 person can take a bath, and is indeed like a pond.

The hot springs are sodium chloride sulfate spring, and are clear and light green and have salty taste and metallic taste smell, and have slippery touch. The sum total of the hot spring ingredients are 7.2 g/kg. Because the public health center does not admit it, Unfortunately, the hot springs are not drinkable. Only soaps are provided at the bathhouse. A restroom and a free hair dryer are installed at a dressing room.

Atmosphere of Seiryuen Can Be Watched on Youtube

Movie of Seiryuen

Types of Hot Springs	Sodium chloride sulfate spring (Type: Weak alkaline, Osmotic Pressure: low, Spring Temperature Type: Extra hot spring)
Water temperature of Hot Spring Source	98 C
ph	8.4
Indications	Neuralgia, Muscular pain, Arthralgia, Frozen shoulder, Motor paralysis, Tightening of the joint, Bruise, Sprain, Hemorrhoid, Chronic digestive diseases, Chronic skin diseases, Convalescent convalescence, Relieving fatigue, Healthy increase, Weak child, Chronic women's diseases, Cold sensitivity, Cut, Burn
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, Diabetes, Gout, Obesity disease
Contraindications of drinking	Diarrhea, Kidney disease, High blood pressure and diseases accompanied by edema in general
Facility	Open-air bath(2), Indoor bath(2), Sauna(1). * Sex-Segregated Bathhouse.
Entrance fee to the bath facility	Adult: JPY 500. Child: JPY 200.
Business hours	10:00-22:00
Regular closing day	Open all year round
Parking lot	A free parking is provided (30 cars)
Telephone number	+81-137-67-2011
Home page	Home page is here
Reservation	Jalan is here, Rakuten is here
Mapcode	687 135 284*07

Onsen Ryokan Ginkonyu

Ginkonyu is small-sized long-established onsen ryokan founded in 1927, and is one of the most famous Japanese-style onsen ryokans in Japan, and are popular with oversea tourists, too. They own 5 hot spring sources, and a lot of hot springs gush out, so it is one of popular reasons that fresh hot springs can be enjoyed. The Ginkonyu is one of 18 onsen fasilities that the Japan Association of Secluded Onsen Heritage (日本温泉遺産を守る会) will recognize the hot spring facilities using fresh free flowing hot springs in Hokkaido. An entrance fee to the bath facility is JPY 700. In case of day trip onsen, the day trip onsen users can use only publuic bathhouses at a buildings and Katarai-no-Yu Foot Bath (かたらいの足湯). A staying is possible, too, and is very popular. Delicious meals have a good reputation.

They have 2 large public bathhouses at the building, Bathhouse "Keiryu-no-Yu" (大浴場「渓流の湯」) and Bathhouse "Komorebi-no-Yu" (大浴場「こもれびの湯」), and the bathhouses for men or women are replaced depending on time. There are 1 open-air bath and 1 indoor bath at each bathhouses. The bathhouse with a high ceiling and large windows is feeling good. The indoor bath uses mixed hot springs with 4 hot spring souces. The hot springs are (1)sodium chloride spring, and are clear and light yellow and have salty taste and no smell. The sum total of the hot spring ingredients are 6.641 g/kg. Because the public health center does not admit it, Unfortunately, the hot springs are not drinkable. Shampoos and body soaps are provided at the bathhouse. A restroom and free hair dryers are installed at a dressing room.

The open-air baths are surrounded by trees, so forest bathing can be enjoyed, too. The baths uses mixed 100% natural free flowing hot springs with 2 hot spring sources. The hot springs are (2)sodium chloride sulfate spring, and are clear and light yellow and have salty taste and no smell. The sum total of the hot spring ingredients are 7.606 g/kg.

They have a vast garden of 16528 m2, and suspension bridge across Rappu River (楽部川) and walk paths are built on the garden. 6 chartered secret baths for hotel guests are set along the walk paths. Those are Katsura-no-Yu (かつらの湯), Momiji-no-Yu (もみじの湯), Tochini-no-Yu (トチニの湯), Oku-no-Yu "Tochini-no-Yu" (奥の湯トチニの湯), Donguri-no-Yu (どんぐりの湯) and Sugi-no-Yu (杉の湯), and it is one of popular reasons that onsen lovers enjoy the secret onsen tour. They can forget daily life, and the onsen whet their adventurous spirit. The baths use (2)sodium chloride sulfate spring. The sum total of the hot spring ingredients are different depending on each baths.

Atmosphere of Ginkonyu Can Be Watched on Youtube

Movie of Ginkonyu

Types of Hot Springs	(1)Sodium chloride spring (Type: Weak alkaline, Osmotic Pressure: low, Spring Temperature Type: Extra hot spring) (2)Sodium chloride sulfate spring (Type: Neutral, Osmotic Pressure: Isotonic, Spring Temperature Type: Extra hot spring)
Water temperature of Hot Spring Source	50.9 C
ph	7.2
Indications	Neuralgia, Muscular pain, Arthralgia, Frozen shoulder, Motor paralysis, Tightening of the joint, Bruise, Sprain, Hemorrhoid, Chronic digestive diseases, Chronic skin diseases, Convalescent convalescence, Relieving fatigue, Healthy increase, Weak child, Chronic women's diseases, Cold sensitivity, Cut, Burn
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	Not Drinking
Facility	Outdoor bath(7), Indoor bath(1). * Sex-Segregated Bathhouse.
Entrance fee to the bath facility	Adult: JPY 700. Child: JPY 350.
Business hours	12:00-16:00
Regular closing day	Monday
Parking lot	A free parking is provided (30 cars)
Telephone number	+81-137-67-3111
Home page	Home page is here
Mapcode	687 135 067*01

List of Accommodations

Refer to following websites for the accommodations in Kami-no-Yu Onsen. You can get information regarding online reviews and photos.

Pacific Onsen Hotel Seiryuen(パシフィック温泉ホテル清龍園)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten
Onsen Ryokan Ginkonyu(温泉旅館銀婚湯)	HP	Booking	Jalan	Rakuten