The King of Hidden Hot Springs! Refresh Your Mind and Body at Nyuto Onsen, Akita
Official Name: Nyuto Onsenkyo
Area: Hokkaido/Tohoku Location: Semboku City, Akita Prefecture
Features: Milky white water and thatched-roof buildings create a deep, atmospheric hidden hot spring experience
Other: Jalan Popular Hot Spring Resort Ranking 2023, Ranked 1st in the Nationwide Hot Spring Resort You Long to Visit "Jalan Popular Hot Spring Resort Ranking 2023"
(Surveyed by Recruit Jalan Research Center)
Hello everyone!
I am Nishioka, a young hot spring sommelier.
I would like to introduce a hot spring that I highly recommend!
It is the king of hidden hot springs"Nyuto Onsen". I will explain later why I call it the king of hidden hot springs.
Well then, here it is...!
As you drive through the legendary lake in a retro bus...
Japan's deepest lake, "Lake Tazawa," is counted as one of the "Three Lake Tales," which are dragon god legends.
It is a poignant story about a beautiful girl named Tatsuko who wished for eternal beauty, drank too much water from a spring, and turned into a "dragon" that became the master of Lake Tazawa.
As time passed, Tatsuko realized she had become a large dragon. Having become a dragon, Tatsuko became the master of Tazawagata and sank deep into the bottom of the lake.
While riding a retro-style bus through such a Lake Tazawa, and driving past beech trees, the "king of hidden hot springs," "Nyuto Onsenkyo," comes into view.
(By the way, even if you visit by train, the nearest station is "Tazawa-ko Station," the legendary lake.)
The legendary hidden hot spring "Nyuto Onsenkyo"
I remember my heart racing at the thought that beyond the bus ride, nature would spread out in a quiet, secluded land, and a hidden hot spring would be waiting there.
While feeling that way, a milky white river appears before my eyes, intensifying the sense of being at a hidden hot spring.
Actually, Nyuto Onsen is not just any hidden hot spring.
It is a hot spring area consisting of seven hot springs located within the Towada-Hachimantai National Park.
Taenoyu is a hot spring that is safe for beginners, as it has separate open-air baths for men and women, reflecting the owner's desire to create an inn where women working in the city can heal their minds and bodies.
Tsurunoyu is great, but... 'a hidden hot spring among hidden hot springs'
There are two reasons why I call it a 'legendary hidden hot spring'.
The first is that while Nyuto Onsen is certainly a 'hidden hot spring,' it is also a well-known one. Haven't you all seen or heard of it at least once on travel programs or in travel magazines? It is that famous of a hidden hot spring.
However, that alone is not the reason.
The other reason is that many people would answer 'Tsurunoyu' when asked about Nyuto Onsen.
However, there is a hot spring that I felt was even more of a hidden hot spring than Tsurunoyu.
That is a hot spring called Kuroyu Onsen. It is located in the opposite direction from Tsurunoyu.
If you look at the local map to understand the location, you can see that it is on the eastern edge.
The road leading there is a tunnel of beech trees, so you can truly feel nature.
Kuroyu Onsen, reached after a long journey.
Kuroyu Onsen has a retro thatched-roof exterior and also features a stylish cafe. I visited in the summer, so I drank a ramune outside and felt a sense of nostalgia.
And when I finally came face-to-face with the hot spring, I was amazed... it felt exactly like the "quintessential hidden hot spring" I had imagined.
It had a thatched roof, small light bulbs, yellow buckets, milky white water, and nothing but nature all around. Isn't this exactly what everyone imagines when they think of a hidden hot spring!?
This is the hidden hot spring among hidden hot springs, and it is a legendary hidden hot spring!!
Nyuto Onsen, which changed my life
From Kuroyu Onsen, the hidden hot spring among hidden hot springs, you can cross over to Magoroku Onsen.
( Currently temporarily closed. Please check the official website for the latest information. )
Actually, there is a river called the Sendatsu River nearby, and there is a small bridge over it. (Position of the orange circle)
I wasn't thinking about anything, and as I was heading to Magoroku Onsen next, I was walking from Kuroyu Onsen toward the bridge.
And when I arrived at the bridge, I felt a shock so intense it was as if "lightning had struck my body"!!
The scene I saw at that moment is in the photo below. ↓
At the time, photo editing apps like B612 were popular, but this is the scene without any editing at all. (Beautiful...!)
Seeing this, I felt that there are wonderful places in Japan that even a travel-loving Japanese person like me doesn't know about, and I started my company because I wanted to make travel more enjoyable by sharing more of such places. (That story is for another time...)
This was the moment that changed my life. There are still many wonderful, unknown charms in hot spring areas.
This is the hot spring I wanted to recommend first and foremost; it is a legendary hidden hot spring.
Find your own recommended hot springs on LINE ♨️
There are approximately 2,900 hot spring areas in Japan (according to Ministry of the Environment data). Why not find a recommended hot spring carefully selected by a Hot Spring Sommelier from among them? ♨️
Search for "ONtabi bot" (formerly Onsen Bot-kun) on the messaging app LINE, or become friends via this URL to find your own hot spring recommendations!
<Writer for this article>
Takashi Nishioka
Born in January 1999, my "life" changed on the bridge between Kuroyu Onsen and Magoroku Onsen in Nyuto Onsen. As a Hot Spring Sommelier and member of the Hot Spring Society, I am researching how to get more young people to visit hot springs. I founded "Tabifan," a company that makes travel more enjoyable. I frequently write articles about hot spring trips by train.
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