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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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In 1966, a typhoon sent a huge boulder down the slope and crushed nearby Onsenji Temple. Its Yakushi Buddha statue survived and was found sitting atop the rock; the temple was rebuilt in 1973.
A fisheries history says about 100 brook trout escaped a ryokan garden pond during Yumoto’s 1928 fire, then bred naturally in Lake Yunoko. A town disaster accidentally seeded a lasting fishery.
On June 22, 1878, traveler Isabella Bird reached Yumoto and was served plum-flower tea, a bean sweet and a lacquer bowl of frozen snow. She found the village bustling, with all 4 public bath-sheds crowded.
Yumoto’s sulfur spring emerges clear, then turns milky white—or sometimes emerald green—when exposed to air. The color change is natural oxidation, so the same spring can look like a different bath.
In 1902, Thomas Glover arranged 25,000 brook-trout eggs from Colorado for the Yukawa below Lake Yunoko. A typhoon killed the first batch, but a later release thrived—helping launch Japanese fly-fishing.
Since 1951, Yumoto’s roughly 78°C hot spring has traveled more than 12 km by pipe to the Chuzenji Onsen area. By the time it arrives, the water has cooled to bathing temperature.
The visitor center’s wildlife display turns a stroll into detective work: deer traces are common around Lake Yunoko, while footprints and macaque droppings appear on boardwalks near Yumoto’s hot-spring sources.
From Lake Yunoko, the Yukawa plunges over Yudaki and crosses Senjogahara—but marsh water drains into the river, rather than the river supplying the marsh. The water continues toward Lake Chuzenji.
Lake Yunoko formed when a Mitsudake eruption dammed the Yukawa, and hot-spring water still bubbles from its lakebed. Its name—literally “hot-water lake”—has a geothermal side.
Yumoto’s spring is traditionally credited to monk Shōdō’s discovery in 788. Nearby Onsen Shrine holds a tiny bronze shrine dated 1513, evidence the hot springs were already in use by then.
Nearby Onsenji is no ordinary temple: this branch of Rinnoji stands at Yumoto’s spring source and offers visitors a bath supplied by the hot spring—a rare temple-and-onsen pairing.
For 5 summer months, 9 recognized yumori (hot-spring keepers) once ran Yumoto’s lodgings and communal baths. In 1878, Isabella Bird reported residents wrapped their houses and moved downhill for winter, leaving one caretaker.
Yumoto was among the first 3 Japanese hot-spring areas designated National Health Resort Hot Springs in 1954, alongside Sukayu and Shima—a government distinction for places suited to public health and recuperation.
The visitor center sits beside Lake Yunoko, part of the 260-hectare Ramsar wetland registered in 2005. The protected mosaic also includes the Yukawa River and the Senjogahara and Odashirogahara marshes.
