Meotobuchi Onsen Hotel (Tochigi-ken)
女夫渕温泉ホテル (栃木県)


Access

Entrance fee : 1000 yens
Bathing time from 08:30 to 15:00
(price for 2 hours only, but no effective check is made)
Located in a hotel
Home page (in Japanese)
Phone : 0288-96-0001 
Address :
栃木県塩谷郡栗山村大字川俣字荒井田880-2
Maps : Mapfan - Google


Number of baths

♂♀

inside

-

-

-

outside

-

2

10


Spring information

Water type : chloride salts


Onsen in Tochigi-ken

Ichiryuukaku honkan (Kawaji Onsen)
Oomaru Onsen Ryokan (Nasu)
Meotobuchi Onsen Hotel (Meotobuchi)
Hatcho yu (Okukinu Onsen)
Kani yu (Okukinu Onsen)
Nikkozawa (Okukinu Onsen)
Shirakaba (Arayu Onsen)
Yumori Tanakaya (Oami Onsen)
Fudo no yu (Shiobara)
Hito no yado (Shiobara)
Iwa no yu (Shiobara)
Honke Bankyu Bankyu Ryokan (Yunishigawa)
Kitanoyu Ryokan (Nasu)
Momiji no Yu ()
Yuppo no Sato (Shiobara)
Azumaya (Shiobara)
Warakuyuen (Shiobara)
(Arayu Onsen)

Other prefectures in Kanto

Gunma-ken
Kanagawa-ken
Saitama-ken
Tokyo-to


Other links

www.tobu.co.jp/yagan/ensen/e02.html
Bus schedule from Kinugawa onsen to Okukinu onsen (in Japanese)


One the twelve baths, all of them located close to a river

      
      
      
    

(explanation on symbols)

Ratings   (explanation of our rating system)

Global rating :    
Meotobuchi Onsen marks the entrance of the Okukinu Onsen area... and the end of the road open to private cars. This hotel offers a very pleasant bathing, after a long journey by car or bus, and before starting the walk to the more remote ryokan. A large number of outside baths (10 mixed + 2 women only) are available. Most of them are located on the shore of a beautiful, small mountain river. Unfortunately, the baths are quite packed together, and the whole story looks a little too artificial.

Size :      
With so many baths - and some of them are really large - it was impossible not to give the highest quote for the size...

View :     
The onsen flows inside the river and gives a kind of shade off colors. When you enter, the left part is quite new and not so nice, the right part is older and the view looks more natural.

Modesty :   
Usually, having a lot of baths together makes it easier for women to enjoy mixed bathing. Here however, the women's changing room is quite far from the women baths, and men tend - due to the remoteness of the place ? - to walk around without even keeping a small towel on them... which can be disturbing for other bathers...

Area :    
The Okukinu Onsen area is called the home of secret spas. Haccho No Yu, Teshirosawa, Kaniyu and Nikkozawa are some of the hot springs located within this wild area, which is partly accessible only by foot. Should you have time, and provided that you spend one night in one of those ryokan, you can walk from Okukinu Onsen to Oze marshland, an incredible marsh located at an altitude of about 2000 meters. The whole area is designated as a National Treasure; indeed, the marshland and can be extremely crowded from June to September, and is better visited later in the year.

   Visit the Secret Japan forum for a guide of Okukinu

Comment

Several months ago, I found this onsen on a web site, and was really amazed by the large number of baths. It looked really like a nice place, located in a beautiful area. I wasn't really disappointed by this hotel, but I wish they had integrated a little better the baths in the surrounding nature. Even if this would have meant to lower the total number of baths.

sanji



Pictures



Although located in green surroundings, this place still looks quite artificial...

This is perhaps due to the green carpets, which have been placed around all baths!

Behind the building, you can find other bathes, which are less exposed