Motoyu Bath, Hirayama Onsen

Communal bath rebuilt in 2016: 400 yen, unrecycled spring water that feels slippery.

The Motoyu is the village bath: an indoor bath and, since 2016, an outdoor one. The water comes from the spring, passes through the bath and leaves, without being recycled, and it is so slippery that in Hirayama they call it ‘beauty water’ (美肌の湯, bihada no yu). You pay 400 yen at the entrance; reviews say there is no soap or shampoo and that there are hardly any shops around.

Hirayama Onsen, inland from Yamaga, is a hot-spring village with more than twenty establishments, including inns, drop-in baths and family baths. The name is written with the characters for ‘flat mountain’. Tradition says the water has flowed for about 1,300 years: according to one legend, around 790 the god of Aso levelled the area in a night and created the spring that cured a skin disease; another says that between 1573 and 1591 the villagers discovered the spring when a wounded crane stayed immersed in it until it healed. It is also said that Katō Kiyomasa, the lord of Kumamoto, went there to treat heat rash. The spring emerges at between 40 and 60 °C, simple alkaline with traces of sulphur, colourless. The Motoyu was rebuilt in November 2016 (the association's website); a 2019 review says it replaces the old hot-spring centre, which was moved to widen the road, a few steps from the old spot.

ℹ️ Entry 400 yen adults, 200 children from 3 years old to elementary school (the association's website). Opening hours and closing day are not published on the official page (telephone 0968-43-2041); the Jalan listing says 6:00–21:30 with no closures, but still gives 300 yen, an out-of-date price, and is not reliable. From Kumamoto: bus from the station to the Yamaga Bus Center (about 75 minutes), then a bus for ‘南関上町’ via Hirayama (about 10 minutes), getting off at ‘平山温泉元湯前’; from Tamana JR station, bus to the Yamaga Bus Center (about 60 minutes) and the same change. ⚠️ After the earthquake of 28/07/2026 the tourist association writes on 01/08/2026 that Hirayama suffered no damage, that all the drop-in baths and inns are operating as usual and that the roads are not blocked; no more recent notice read. Other drop-in baths in the village: Flora (600 yen, closed on Thursdays) and Hananobandai.

Sources: hirayama-onsen.jp · hirayama-onsen.jp · hirayama-onsen.jp · hirayama-onsen.jp · hirayama-onsen.jp · jalan.net

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