Hyotan Onsen

photo by Everjean · CC BY 2.0

photo by Jordi Sanchez Teruel from Seúl, South Korea · CC BY-SA 2.0

The only Japanese onsen with three stars in the Michelin Green Guide, open since 1922.

Founded in 1922 (Taisho 11) by Kawano Junsaku, who discovered a high-temperature spring here; the original name was Yoro-en (養老園). The women's bath still has the gourd-shaped (hyotan) tub carved into the rock at the time of the founding; the name of the establishment comes from Toyotomi Hideyoshi's battle standard, the ‘senninari hyotan’. A seven-storey wooden observation tower, the Hyotangaku, was built in 1927 and demolished in May 1945 on military orders, for fear that it would serve as a target for bombing raids. It is the only onsen in Japan to have received three stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japon, and is today home to the ‘hall of fame’ of the Eight Onsen of Beppu (Beppu Hattō Meguri).

Family-run hot-spring bathhouse in the Kannawa district, one of Beppu's ‘eight hells’. It offers large communal baths, hot sand baths, a waterfall bath, a steam bath and 14 private baths for hire.

ℹ️ Open 9:00–1:00 (large bath until midnight, sand bath until 23:00); irregular closures during the year, check before visiting. Adults ¥1,080, children aged 7–12 ¥400, 4–6 ¥280, under 4 free. Family bath (60 min, up to 3 adults) ¥2,400. Tel. 0977-66-0527.

🚉 鉄輪 · 3 min walk

Sources: jalan.net · ja.wikipedia.org

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