Yunohana Onsen

photo by Mti · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Mti · CC BY-SA 3.0

Its waters were born, legend has it, from the tears of a defeated demon.

The hot-spring town lies in a quiet valley west of central Kameoka, with about ten ryokan (traditional Japanese inns with hot-spring baths) gathered along the stream. Two legends tell of its origin: one has it that samurai wounded in battle came here to heal their sword wounds; the other that the waters were born from the tears of a demon defeated by the power of a local rock, the ‘cherry stone’ (桜石), the same one that, according to tradition, gave rise to the bean-throwing of Setsubun.

A hot-spring village in the rural part of Kameoka, a city that was for a time the domain of Akechi Mitsuhide, the same general who built Fukuchiyama Castle.

ℹ️ It is not a single establishment but a group of independent ryokan, each with its own hours and its own rates for day bathing (日帰り入浴); several accept passing visitors for a fee during the day.

🚉 湯の花温泉 · in front of the station

Sources: city.kameoka.kyoto.jp · kameoka.info

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