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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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In 1966, a typhoon-triggered landslide sent a 5-metre boulder through the original Yakushi-do at Onsenji Temple. The Yakushi Buddha was found intact atop the boulder; the temple was rebuilt nearby in 1973.
At nearby Yunodaira Marsh, spring warmth keeps parts from freezing in winter—and Japanese macaques sometimes lick mineral salts left behind as the water evaporates. Ducks live among the grasses year-round, too.
Yumoto’s springs supply baths at neighboring Chuzenji and Kotoku onsens. Early pipelines were wooden, and moss-covered sections of those old conduits still survive in the forest.
In the Edo period, 9 authorized bath keepers ran seasonal bathhouses at Yumoto. The inns opened for just 5 summer months, and visitors paid bathing fees to the Chūzenji religious office.
A small bronze shrine at Onsen Shrine bears an inscription dated 1513. It’s a tangible clue that people were already using Yumoto’s springs more than 500 years ago.
The Japan Onsen Association records that women were first allowed to bathe at Yumoto in 1871. The local hot-spring tradition had long been shaped by mountain-sanctuary restrictions.
Local tradition gives Yumoto two sacred beginnings: Shōdō is said to have found Yakushi-no-yu in 788; in 820, Kūkai is said to have discovered Kanjizai-yu and dedicated it to Kannon.
In 1954, Nikko Yumoto joined Sukayu and Shima as one of Japan’s inaugural 3 National Health Hot Spring Resorts—a government designation for springs suited to public health and recuperation.
Yumoto’s sulfur-rich water can be clear at the source; oxygen turns it milky white or yellow, while other minerals can lend it an emerald tint. The famous changing colors are chemistry at work.
At Yunodaira, wooden huts cover bubbling spring pools where the source water reaches 50–80°C. The huts help keep fallen leaves and rain out of the water feeding nearby baths.
In June 1878, British travel writer Isabella Bird stayed at the Yashimaya inn in remote Yumoto and wrote home about its lively hot-spring life. By then, 11 inns had opened, attracting writers and scholars too.
A major fire in 1928 destroyed most of Yumoto’s old wooden inns. Rebuilding helped shift the settlement from traditional long-stay therapy lodgings toward modern ryokan.
Yumoto had a ski slope by 1930, just 19 years after modern skiing was introduced in Japan at Takada, Niigata. This old hot-spring settlement embraced winter sports surprisingly early.
