Entrance fee : 500 yens |
Number of baths | |||
♂ | ♀ | ♂♀ | |
inside | 1 | 1 | - |
outside | - | - | 2 |
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-kenKanagawa-kenSaitama-kenTokyo-to |
Other links |
www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ht3m-endu... www.ne.jp/asahi/katzlin/deligh... www7.tok2.com/home/zisuioyazi/... |
) The upper bath - its water did not look very special |
(explanation on symbols) |
Global rating :  | |
| Nikkozawa is the farthest of the four ryokan located in the Okukinu Onsen area. No transportation is offered from Meotobuchi, and therefore you will need to hike the 90-minutes path to reach the place. The rustic buildings are made of wood, and two rotenburo can be found there. One of the bath, containing lots of sulfur, has a milky suspension in it, while the second one might contain normal tap water (we couldn't find information one this second type of water). | |
| Size : | |
| Reasonably sized baths - considering the remoteness of the spot, most bathers are staying in the ryokan anyway. | |
| View : | |
| Although this place is located in a beautiful surrounding, with absolutely no other house around, the view from the bath is not that great - surrounded by the ryokan on one side, and by a high, ugly metallic fence on the other side (to hide the bath from the view of the people hiking around). | |
| Modesty : | |
| Changing there will probably be very challenging for even slightly shy people... There is no real changing place - except a small place open directly toward the bath - and you need to walk down several stairs to reach the sulfur bath. The ryokan is also very close to the baths. | |
| 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 | |
| Three of us walked the about 12-minutes distance from Kani-yu to soak in this remote onsen. While we enjoyed the bathing there (mostly because we were the only one in the bath), we were really surprised by the cold welcoming received from the ryokan's staff. Indeed, when we asked to have a look at a room, explaining that we would be interested to stay there during our next trip, the only answer given to us was "dame, dame" (forbidden), although it was 10 o'clock and the ryokan was obviously empty. That guy also added that anyway, there was no transportation offered, suggesting that we weren't able to walk from Meotobuchi. We definitively won't stay there, and suggest our readers to choose another option, too! sanji |
) The second bath, with a much more interesting sulfur water... but with an ungly metallic fence behind it | ||