Mie Wakayama: Yunomine, Tsuboyu, Kawayu Onsen [Trip Day 3.0] 三重・和歌山：湯の峰・つぼ湯・川湯温泉

Trip itinerary and map

A packed itinerary today – leaving Shingu (新宮) early in the morning, we would first drop by two interesting hot springs: Yunomine and Tsuboyu, before getting to Kumano Hongu Shrine (熊野本宮大社). Then moving inland along the Tosukawa River (十津川) valley for 100 km, we would return our rental car at Gojo city and change to express train heading up Koyasan, where hopefully we would be in time for the early dinner as part of our temple stay there.

: Early start – from the hotel room we could see sun rise.

: Shingu Hotel New Palace (新宮ホテルニューパレス)

Yunomine Onsen (湯の峰温泉)

Yunomine is tucked away behind the hills, the last stretch before getting there is a narrow one-way road. But it’s worth checking out, as it has (allegedly) the oldest hot spring in Japan, named Tsuboyu (つぼ湯), which is considered as part of the World Heritage Site of Kumano.

: The first part was a refreshing drive on a well-maintained part of Route 168 (国道１６８号) along Kumano River.

: Could see a small waterfall

: Road sign showing the goal of our drive later today, Gojo, is 120 km away if we continue on. But we have other places to visit first.

: Turning off from the main road, eventually we saw the sign for Yunomine, pointing to a narrow road.

: Down there is the village of Yunomine.

: Stream from hot spring running through the middle of the village.

: This scalding hot spring is used for boiling food. On the side are bags of eggs and vegetables purchased from nearby shops.

Tsuboyu (つぼ湯)

: The oldest hot spring in Japan, Tsuboyu (つぼ湯). The hot spring source is inside this little shed. The colour of the spring water varies throughout the day, but it’s mainly milky.

: View from behind. On the left is a bench for the next group in the queue to sit and wait.

Entry to Tsuboyu is by reservation (not a shared public bath). Ticket is bought from the office nearby and you can use it for half an hour. The hot spring is just the size of a small bath tub that can fit probably no more than 2 people at a time, so if there is any sort of a queue you have to expect a long wait. You would be told your place in the queue when getting the ticket, if you’re not the next group to go in, it’s common practise to come back later and kill time by boiling some food to eat.

We didn’t have much time to spare, and seeing one group already waiting outside, there was no chance for us. This explains why there is no photo of the actual thing inside the shed!

: On the left is a public bath (if you really want to just soak in some hot spring water and can’t be bothered to wait), and also where the Tsuboyu tickets are purchased.

: This little shop / restaurant sells eggs and sweet potatoes for boiling in the hot spring.

: View of the Yunomine Onsen village.

: Sign outside another shop.

: Leaving Yunomine… had to go through the narrow road again.

Kawayu Onsen (川湯温泉)

Kawayu Onsen is just a short drive away. The main point of interest is Sennin-buro (仙人風呂), which can be interpreted as “thousand people bath”. It’s an exaggeration of course, but as an outdoor bath it is definitely bigger than the normal ones, and the interesting thing is it is located in the middle of a stream, with cold water diverted from the stream mixing with the hot spring water, giving the right water temperate for bathing.

It’s important to note that Sennin-buro is normally only available between December and end February, as it depends on the seasons and river condition. Apparently we were quite lucky this year that they extended the opening period until March!