Travel Kawayu Onsen 川湯温泉

[thomas]

Kawayu Onsen (川湯温泉), located along the Otogawa, a unique geothermal river in Wakayama Prefecture, is a unique hot spring where visitors dig their own pools to soak in. The hot spring bath opened from the beginning of December until the end of February 2023. Soaking is free.

The Kumano Hongu Tourist Association and the Sennin-buro executive committee have opened the bath every year since 1985 by digging up gravel along the river. Water at a temperature of 73 degrees Celsius springs out from the riverbed, and the temperature is adjusted to around 40 C using river water. Some 55,000 people visited the natural hot tub last season. The tub measures about 28 meters by 12 meters, and is roughly 60 centimeters deep. Following a ceremony during which a Shinto ritual was held, committee head Shinichi Shiba, 63, disguised as a mountain hermit, declared the onsen open, and tourists enjoyed the first hot spring of the season. [...] The bath is open between 6:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. Lanterns surrounding the tub are lit to create a dreamy atmosphere between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Saturdays. Changing rooms, which had been closed for two seasons in a row to prevent crowding amid the coronavirus pandemic, are open this season and equipped with sterilization machines. A signature "karuta" playing cards event, in which participants vie for wooden tablets floating in the tub is planned for Jan. 22 for the first time in three years.

Riverside 'mountain hermit' hot spring bath opens for season in west Japan - The Mainichi

TANABE, Wakayama -- A large outdoor riverside hot spring bath opened for the season in this western Japan city on Dec. 4, and visitors can take a dip

mainichi.jp

Link:

Kawayu Onsen｜熊野本宮観光協会

Kumano Hongu Tourist Association official website

www.hongu.jp