If you are FEMALE, please do not use this place alone or even in a group! Come with a guy to LOOKOUT for you. I brought my wife and a lady friend here. While they were relaxing inside i stood outside waiting for them as i was not in the mood for onsen that day. An old Japanese man came up the hill and it looks like he wanted to use the onsen. But upon hearing the ladies chatting inside, he just stood outside pretending to stretch while trying to look into the ladies sides. The entrance to the ladies side is only covered by a flimsy see through blind that could still allow people outside to see in if you stretched your neck abit. I started staring at him and he just smiled and walked into the men’s side. But after a few minutes, i felt suspicious and decided to see what the man was up to. Turns out he was buck naked and peeking over the rocks at the ladies. I then shouted at him, and he quickly came out of the onsen, put on his clothes and hurried away apologising.
With all that, it is still a nice little charming free public onsen out in the hills. The water is milky and very mineralised so i guess it is good for the skin. It is separated by a wall of rocks each side for men and women, with a little hut on each side for you to change. There is no toilet or shower facilities.,There is no view except for the forest surrounding the onsen, so you are just getting the experience of a free outdoor onsen on a hill in the middle of nowhere. You can purchase towels at the shop below before climbing up to the onsen or bring your own. For those who can’t read Japanese, take the left lane up, the right lane leads to a hiking trail.
It is their culture to be naked when using onsen, but i would suggest ladies to wear a swim suit as there are peeping toms there. Or come with a trusted guy to stand guard for you.
It was my first ever open-air bath. I went there in the fall, and the drive was shrouded in fog. I couldn't tell if the hotel-like buildings were still open, but we passed through them and climbed a path that seemed to be deep in the mountains. Being afraid of heights myself, I was out of breath and worried about bears, which felt like Silent Hill. The whole experience was amazing.
It's a strong memory.
I saw a few foreigners there, and I really wondered how they got there...
I assumed the hot springs would be different every day. There was a lot of mineral deposits scattered in the water, but they weren't that concentrated. Instead, they were a vibrant emerald green, which made me excited about the water's ingredients. The water itself was like a pale version of bone mineral water, but the emerald green color was a concern. The smell was faintly sulfurous, with no thickening. It had almost no taste.
But the outdoor experience and the journey alone were enough to make me shiver.
I was able to enjoy the free open-air bath, "Ougon-no-Yu," without encountering any of the "spring bears" that had surprised me so much near Sekiyama Station. It was reassuring that it was separated for men and women.
It was great, absolutely wonderful.
For 30 years, I've been told by many that this hot spring is excellent, and I finally went there, fulfilling a long-held wish.
The autumn leaves hadn't changed color yet. The location was a bit scary, as it felt like a bear might suddenly appear from the bushes along the way. All the hikers going up were wearing bear bells, which made it even more frightening.
The bathwater was cloudy but smooth.
Apparently, there are insects in the summer, but by late October, there were no insects, making it very comfortable.
The cool outside allowed for a long soak, and there were few other bathers, perhaps because the leaves hadn't changed color yet, making it very pleasant.
A perfect hot spring.
There were some foreign guests with me, and they seemed unsure of the procedures, so I managed to explain things in my broken English, resulting in a mini-international exchange.
I'm grateful to the local people who manage this wonderful hot spring!
