“Every journey begins with the first step,” JRR Tolkien wrote.
My visits to Japan’s onsen (温泉) hot springs began more than two decades ago. With Onsen Adventures, I’m building on all the subsequent journeys taken since then to create a useful resource to the best hot springs, ryokan (旅館) traditional Japanese inns and places that I’ve found along the way.
Photo: The women’s outdoor bath at Tsuru no Yu inn in Akita Prefecture is filled with blue-tinged sulfurous onsen water.
Nyuto Onsen hamlet: Tsuru no Yu inn
One of the finest examples is Tsuru no Yu inn in Nyuto Onsen hamlet in southeastern Akita Prefecture. The inn’s combination of a mountainous location, wooden structures, unique baths and sulfurous hot spring water – all at a reasonable price – make it, arguably, one of the most outstanding onsen ryokan in the country. If you go to only one onsen in Japan and visit Tsuru no Yu, you’ve made the right choice. ♨
