TokyoTomo Travel Guide

Surrounded by high mountains, Yamagata is a Kingdom of Onsen with hot springs pumping out from all the cities and towns in the prefecture. Each one of them are unique with a vast range of spring quality. Moreover, many hot springs have a spectacular view from its abundant nature that makes you even more relaxed. In this article, I would like to introduce to you some remarkable onsen resort in Yamagata.

We can always relax in hot springs, but I would say that the best season is from autumn with its colored foliage and winter with snows around. Steam coming out of outdoor hot springs in the biting cold air. It feels like paradise to lounge into the hot water gazing into the piled snow. This is an experience you cannot get anywhere but here in Japan. And onsen, unlike normal bath, keeps you warm for a long time. After you soak in for a while, the component of the natural hot springs will make you feel the cold air refreshing. That is why onsen lovers never gets tired of bathing, dipping in and out of the hot springs again and again.

This hot spring effect is utilized as “tojiba,” a rehabilitation facility to cure wounds and illness. Tojiba is a traditional hot spring used as chronic care facility. There are many of them available in Tohoku Area, and the famous tojiba in Yamagata is Hijiori Hot Springs (with 22 accommodations with hot springs).

Hijiori Hot Springs has attractive hot spring inns, public bath, and spring water drinking spot, and also has a vibrant morning market with fresh local vegetables. Balneal tourists come and go in their yukata, giving the town a unique atmosphere that naturally enables you to get in touch with other people while relishing the hot springs. In this town, you can enjoy simplicity; the origin of Japan. Spend your holiday in this therapeutic hot spring resort, I’m sure any tired body will be eased and refreshed.

There is one more onsen we must not forget in Yamagata. That’s “Ginzan Hot Springs” (12 hot spring accommodation) that gives us a nostalgic sense of an onsen trip. In this hot spring resort, row of retro-flavored Japanese inns resembling those in “Spirited Away” by Hayao Miyazaki, stand along the silently flowing Ginzan River. No wonder, there are gas lamps and white-walled storehouses where films were shot. Especially at dusk, the row of houses with lights gives a romantic view. The town is in an admiring beauty especially with its snowy landscape. The hot spring is in a milky white color with mineral deposit. It is slightly hot, but makes your body warm from the inside.

For those of you who want to appreciate the nature, I would recommend “Zao Hot Springs, Ubayu Hot Springs and Gassan Shizu Hot Springs. Zao Hot Springs is within the highlands on the mountainside of Zao Mountain Range, a key site for skiing. The strong acidic water is said to relieve skin disease and gastrointestinal illness, also known as “Hime no yu (bath for princess)” or “Bijin no yu (bath for beauty) .”

Ubayu Hot Spring is located at 1230 m elevation, a hot spring resort located at the highest altitude in the prefecture. Surrounded by sheer rocky cliff, here you can enjoy a thrilling outdoor bath. Gassan Shizu Hot Springs is around halfway up Mount Gassan, in a snowy area where you can enjoy skiing even during summer.

Yamagata is also a producer of fruits such as cherries, grapes, and apples. Some hot springs are gushing out from those town of fruits. To name some major ones, Sakuranbo Higashine Hot Springs, Sagae Hot Springs, Tendo Hot Springs and Kaminoyama Hot Springs are famous. In particular, Samukawa Hot Springs have been achieving popularity from its unique bath using its local specialty, roses. The rose petals makes an elegant view floating in the hot spring for beautiful skin, as well as giving you a sense of peacefulness from its fragrant scent. Of course, the best season is the harvest time of the fruits. It would be perfect if you take a trip in the middle of such season.

Other then that, some hot springs are associated with historical icons. For example, Onogawa Hot Spring is said to be the place where Komachi Ono, a poet in Heian Era, cured her illness. Semi Hot Springs is believed to be discovered by a famous samurai Yoshitsune Minamoto, and tradition says that Atsumi Hot Spring was found by Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Buddhism. I had a great time indulging in the legends of the past while lounging in the historical onsen.

Source: Travel Vision

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