Housenkaku, Fukiage Onsen @ Onikoube, Miyagi Pref.

Onikoube Onsen of Naruko Spa Area, Miyagi Pref. is known as a very active geothermal area, and Fukiage Onsen (吹上温泉) at Onikoube Onsen is famous for geysers and a hot spring waterfall.  I made a day visit to a ryokan named Hounkaku (峯雲閣) to soak in the natural hot spring waterfall. It's usually soakable late May through October, too cold to soak during winter and in early spring and late fall.

Hot spring waterfall was lukewarm in early Oct.

There is another large mixed bath just outside of indoor baths.

Another angle of the mixed bath same above.

Indoor bath is gender separated.

Outside of the Hounkaku.

This is highly recommended for mixed bath beginners. Ladies are allowed to wrap their bodies with bath towels and usually you can meet other ladies and probably you don't feel being isolated. Swimsuit bathing is prohibited.

◆Hounkaku, Fukiage Onsen (Onikoube Onsen), Naruko Spa Area
（鳴子温泉郷、鬼首温泉、吹上温泉、峯雲閣） 

Type: Gender  Separated indoor baths, one gender mixed open-air bath, and natural hot spring waterfall

Business hour for day visit: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Holiday for day visit: Monday

Admission fee: ¥500

Address: 16 Fukiage, Onikoube, Naruko Onsen, Osaki City, Miyagi Pref.

Location: 38.80219, 140.67157

Access: Only a few bus services a day from the Naruko Onsen Railway Station, taking about 30 minutes. Get off at the "Kanketsusen mae（間欠泉前）" bus stop and walk about 5 minutes. 

My rating (A - E):  A

Taki-no-yu, Naruko Onsen, Miyagi Pref.

Although it is rebuilt many times, the Taki-no yu has about 1000 year history. There is an Onsen Shrine nearby.

The "Taki-no-yu" is a traditional Japanese public bath without any located just a stone throw's away from the JR Naruko Onsen Station in Miyagi Prefefture, in Tohoku Region. It's one of my most favorite onsen public baths and attracting many other soaking addicts.

It looks an uninteresting single story house outside, but you'll see how the typical public bath looks like when you enter the gender separated changing room. It makes me wowed whenever I visit there.


Sharpened logs are used as pipes. The left bath is the bigger and hotter. You can try pelting water on your shoulders at the smaller right bath.

The acid hot spring (pH2.8) is slightly whitish, and tastes like a lemon It's not for drinking). It's strange that the hot spring gushing only a few meters away at neighbouring ryokan "Yusaya" is alkaline at pH8.9.  There are no soaps and shampoos. The acid water has some sterilization effects.



◆Taki-no-yu, Naruko Onsen (鳴子温泉　滝の湯）

Type: Gender separated indoor bath

Address: Yumoto, Naruko Onsen, Osaki-city, Miyagi Pref.

Location: 38.74195, 140.717831

Business hour: 7:30 AM to 22:00 PM

Holiday: None

Admission fee: ¥150

Equipment: Small lockers for valuables.

Access: 3 minutes walk from the Naruko Onsen (鳴子温泉) Station. To the Naruko Onsen, take the Tohoku Shinkansen (bullet train) to Furukawa（古川）, about 400km north from Tokyo, then change to Rikuu Tosen（陸羽東線）line to Naruko Onsen.

My rating (A - E): A