Amakazari Onsen was added to Your Favorites!
Myōkō-Togakushi Renzan NP, Niigata
Claim this place to tell your story your way.
This mountain inn opened in 1880, but its remoteness lasted well into living memory: a vehicle road reached the lodge only in 1999. Before then, the nearest bus stop meant a 2-hour walk.
The lodge’s operator, a local construction company, grows the rice served to guests and uses local vegetables when possible. Climbers can get a hot breakfast here as early as 4:30 a.m.
The outdoor bath’s water begins as a natural seep in a rock crack about 400 m from the lodge. It is piped to the tubs and used as free-flowing spring water, without added water or heating.
The Amakazari-yama trail starts beside the outdoor bath. About 4 hours uphill, a stone Buddha faces the Sea of Japan; local tradition says Itoigawa’s Rakan Shonin carved it and carried it to the summit.
This is snow-country architecture: the lodge’s frame uses beech from the surrounding woods, with massive beams built to endure deep winter snow. In the cold season, snow can bury the building.
Local history says charcoal burners found the spring while working in the mountains. An old sign calls it Kajiyama Shin-yu (“new spring”); a separate nearby Moto-yu (“original spring”) explains the curious name.
The mountain above the onsen has two distinct summits, giving it a cat-ears profile. Itoigawa Geopark notes that its recognizable silhouette also serves as a useful landmark for fishing boats offshore.
The outdoor bath is called Miyakowasure-no-yu (都忘れの湯)—literally, “the bath where you forget the capital.” Tucked among the mountains, it has a name that fits its far-from-the-city setting.
