Yunomine Onsen

What to expect

Yunomine Onsen is a single short street of inns, minshuku and a few shops squeezed into a narrow valley in the Hongu area of Tanabe city, in the mountains of southern Wakayama. A small creek runs down the middle. Steam rises from it, the smell of sulfur is everywhere, and in the cold months the whole village sits in a haze.

It is old. The Kumano Hongu Tourist Association dates its discovery to the 4th century and calls it one of the oldest hot springs in Japan, with a history of about 1,800 years. Pilgrims on the Kumano Kodo stopped here for yugori, a purifying soak, before walking on to Kumano Hongu Taisha. Retired emperors on the Kumano pilgrimages helped make it famous.

What day visitors actually use comes down to three things, all within a few minutes’ walk of each other:

• The public bathhouse (koshu yokujo), next to Toko-ji temple, with a plain bath, a kusuri-yu and a family bath.
• Tsuboyu, the tiny rock tub in a hut on the creek that one group uses at a time. It has its own listing: Tsuboyu.
• Day baths at the inns, offered by several ryokan and minshuku in the early afternoon.

There is very little else. The Tanabe tourism bureau notes one small diner in the village and suggests buying food in Hongu, where there is a convenience store near the Kumano Hongu Heritage Center.

The water

The Hongu tourist association lists the spring as a sulfur-containing sodium bicarbonate spring, colourless at the source, coming out of the ground at 198°F92°C. That heat is why the village can cook with it. At the Yuzutsu, an open basin by the creek (6:00 to 21:00), you lower a net of eggs or vegetables into the boiling water; the shops sell them ready to cook. A tap near the bathhouse lets you take spring water home for ¥100 per 10 litres.

The baths are cooled to a bearable temperature, but expect them hot. The bathhouse lists a hotter (atsume) and a cooler (nurume) tub in the plain bath. Neither tourism office says whether the water is circulated, chlorinated or diluted, so we cannot tell you.

The public bathhouse

The bathhouse was renovated and reopened on April 23, 2022, with partly revised prices that were still posted in January 2026.

Bath	Adults	Under 12
Plain public bath (ippan-yu)	¥400	¥200
Plain bath, 12-visit book	¥4,000	¥2,000
Kusuri-yu, single	¥600	¥300
Kusuri-yu, day ticket	¥800	¥400
Kusuri-yu, 12-visit book	¥5,000	¥2,500
Family bath	¥700	¥300
Tsuboyu (includes one public bath)	¥800	¥400

Hours are 6:00 to 21:00 with the last ticket at 20:30, and the bathhouse closes on irregular days for cleaning. Buy tickets from the machine by the bathhouse and hand them in at the counter. A kusuri-yu ticket also covers the plain bath.

The plain bath has shampoo and body soap. The kusuri-yu does not allow soap or shampoo, so wash in the plain bath first if you want to. The tourism bureau says soap, shampoo and towels are sold at the shop in front of the ticket counter. The family bath is a separate room; the price list does not say how long a turn lasts, so ask at the counter.

Inn day baths

The Tanabe City Kumano Tourism Bureau lists these day-bathing options. Hours shrink or vanish when the inns are busy.

• Ryokan Adumaya: ¥730 adults, ¥420 children, 13:00-15:00.
• Minshuku Adumayaso: ¥600 adults, ¥400 children, 13:00-15:00, may close early.
• J-Hoppers guesthouse: ¥600, ¥300 ages 6-12, under 6 free, 10:00-15:00.
• Iseya: ¥600, ¥300 for 12 and under, 10:00-16:00.
• Ryokan Yunomineso: ¥1,000, ¥300 ages 6-12, 12:00-15:00.
• Yoshinoya Ryokan: ¥600, ¥400 for 15 and under, hours vary and a reservation is required.

Onsen etiquette

• The public baths are split by sex and you bathe naked. Towels stay out of the water.
• Wash or rinse before you get in. No soap in the kusuri-yu or Tsuboyu.
• No swimsuits in Tsuboyu or the kusuri-yu.
• Wakayama’s rules for town baths stop mixed bathing from about age 7, so an older child uses the bath for their own sex.
• Camping is banned anywhere in Yunomine, and cooking in the car park is strictly prohibited.
• No tattoo policy is published. Call 0735-42-0074 if this matters to you.

Getting there

Yunomine is a short drive from Kumano Hongu Taisha. The Tanabe tourism bureau says buses run every day from Tanabe (Kii-Tanabe Station) and Shirahama, from Shingu and from Gojo in Nara, and regularly from the Hongu Taisha-mae stop; it posts current timetables on its Kumano Travel site. Many people walk in: the Dainichi-goe section of the Kumano Kodo links the shrine area with the village, and the Akagi-goe also ends here.

By car, the public car park (46 spaces) is beside Minshuku Takiyoshi at the southern entrance to the village, shared with the bathhouse. The street through the village is narrow.

When to go

The baths are open all year. Weekends, holidays and the spring and autumn Kumano Kodo seasons are the busiest, and the queue for Tsuboyu can stretch for well over an hour. The public bathhouse rarely has that problem. Early morning soon after 6:00 is calm, and winter is when the steam over the creek looks best. Summer in the valley is humid and the 198°F92°C water makes everything feel hotter.

Because closing days are irregular, call the bathhouse (0735-42-0074) or the Kumano Hongu Tourist Association (0735-42-0735, 9:00-17:00) if you are coming a long way.

Where to stay nearby

Every inn in the village has its own onsen bath, according to the tourism bureau. Names you will see include Minshuku Kuraya, Ryokan Adumaya, Minshuku Yunotaniso, Yoshinoya Ryokan, Minshuku Teruteya, Minshuku Yamane and Ryokan Yunomineso. Many walkers stay two nights.

Close by, Kawayu Onsen has hot water rising through the riverbed and the free Sennin-buro river pool from December to February (swimsuits required). Wataze Onsen is the third Hongu spa village. Across the Nara border, Totsukawa Onsen is reachable by bus from Hongu, and on the coast Nachikatsuura and Shirahama have larger hotels.

Safety notes

• Very hot water: the spring is 198°F92°C at source and the Yuzutsu basin is boiling. Keep children away from its edge, and test every tub with your hand.
• Sulfur: strong sulfur water tires you quickly. Keep soaks short, cool off between dips and drink water.
• Alcohol: do not bathe after drinking, especially in Tsuboyu, where you lock yourself in.
• Footing: wet stone and tile around the creek and the baths are slippery.