What Are the Five Hot Spring Areas of Yufu? Yufuin, Yunohira, Tsukahara, Shonai, Hasama

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who know the name Yufuin and want to understand what hot spring areas lie around it. Yufu City is made up of five areas with their own hot springs. This guide describes each one, the different kinds of spring water, and the bathing tax that visitors pay.

We used the official Yufu travel guide, run by the Yufu City Tourism Bureau, and JR Kyushu's page on the Yufuin no Mori train. We read both on 2026-10-04. The tourism bureau's text is in Japanese, and we have summarised it in plain English.

The short answer: five hot spring areas, not one

The tourism bureau says Yufu City has five hot spring areas: Yufuin, Yunohira, Tsukahara, Shonai and Hasama. Each has its own character, and the springs differ in flow and in water type. It says the springs are also designated as a National Recreation Hot Spring area.

Yufuin Onsen

Yufuin lies at the foot of Mount Yufu. The bureau says the area has about 850 spring sources and a rich flow of water. Rain falling on the surrounding mountains soaks underground and is warmed by the heat of the Kuju volcanoes and the Yufu-Tsurumi volcanoes. It calls this a typical volcanic hot spring.

The bureau describes three main kinds of water:

• Simple alkaline springs, which it says help remove old skin cells.
• Sodium chloride springs, which can turn blue or milky white over time.
• Sodium chloride, sulfate and bicarbonate springs, with a good balance of minerals.

The name Yufuin appears in the Bungo Fudoki, an old record compiled in the early Nara period. The bureau says the town became known across Japan as a spa resort after residents began leading town planning in the late 1950s. Its efforts to fit in with nature and farmland shaped the form of the area today.

JR Kyushu adds some places for visitors. It describes Lake Kinrin, where hot spring water and clear spring water rise from the bottom. It says the lake water is said to change completely twice a day. It also lists a footbath on Platform 1 at Yufuin Station and a simple alkaline spring bath with a view of Mount Yufu.

Yunohira Onsen

The bureau describes a spa town beside the Kagono River, with a stone-paved street and red lanterns running down the middle. It says the springs have been known for treating stomach and bowel complaints, and that people long used the town as a place for extended cure stays.

It gives the age of the springs as about 800 years, from the Kamakura period. A legend says a woodcutter saw an old white monkey bathe in and drink the spring water and recover in a few days. The present form of the town dates from the late Edo period, and the bureau says the stone paving was laid to pray against illness.

Tsukahara Onsen

The source of Tsukahara's springs is Mount Garan. The bureau says it still has vents with steam above 120°C and a mud volcano, and is still an active volcano. It describes the water as rare and strongly acidic, at about pH 1.8, with very high iron and aluminium content.

The bureau says that, according to tradition, the spring was found in the 12th century by Minamoto no Tametomo. He saw an injured deer heal itself in a pool of hot water while he was hunting.

Shonai and Hasama

In the Shonai area, the bureau says two mineral springs at the foot of Mount Kurodake produce natural carbonated water, which is rare in Japan and has long been drunk. The bathing springs are mostly weakly alkaline. Their colour can be clear, or brown or yellow-brown, and some are moor springs. It says bathing springs were first drilled here in 1968, and about 30 sources were drilled around 1977.

In Hasama, most springs are simple alkaline. The bureau says drilling began in 1973 and there are now more than 10 springs along National Route 210 and the hills towards Beppu. Many are day-use facilities used by locals and visitors.

The bathing tax

Visitors who bathe in a hot spring pay a bathing tax. Yufu City raised it from 1 October 2024. The bureau gives these rates:

• Overnight stay with a room charge of 4,000 yen or less before consumption tax: 100 yen per person per night.
• Overnight stay with a room charge of 4,001 yen or more: 250 yen per person per night. It was 150 yen until 30 September 2024.
• Day bathing with a fee of 400 yen or more: 70 yen per person.

Children under 12 are exempt. Overnight guests are treated as having bathed. The bureau says the tax is spent on tourism and on protecting the springs, and on environmental, sanitation and fire-fighting facilities.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Health effects. The bureau uses phrases such as "believed to" for skin benefits, and we did not look for medical sources.
• Which baths take day visitors, their hours and prices. The bureau links lists, which we did not read.
• Bathing rules and manners at public baths.
• Whether the acidic Tsukahara water suits all skin types.
• The English-language version of the bureau's page.

Related guides

• How do you get to Yufuin from Fukuoka?
• How do you stay safe in Yufuin? Mountain roads, volcanoes and heavy rain

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. 温泉 (Yufu City Tourism Bureau, YUFUINFO) — (five areas; water types; histories; bathing tax rates and uses)
2. YUFUIN NO MORI (JR Kyushu) — (Lake Kinrin; Yufuin hot springs; footbath on Platform 1)