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Joshin’etsukogen NP, Gunma
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Shima’s name is tied to a legend of a spring that heals 40,000 illnesses. In one version, warrior Usui Sadamitsu dreams of a mountain spirit revealing the source, now called Gomuso-no-yu. It’s folklore, not a documented discovery date.
A study of nearby Lake Shima found that its blue-white tint isn’t caused by iron or copper ions: researchers identified tiny, roughly 40-nanometer allophane particles that scatter light. The finding is specific to Lake Shima, not every “Shima Blue” lake.
Shima’s old-time spa guests brought their own ingredients to the inn: mountain greens and mushrooms they gathered, stream fish they caught, and pickles bought in town. The inn was their place to cook and stay while taking the waters.
Shima confectioner Takadaya turns locally prized hana-ingen flower beans—long eaten here as simmered beans—into a soft, glossy sweet called “Oiran-furo.” A second version pairs them with a steamed cake made from yam and rice flour.
An 18th-century record lists 10 inns but 2 public baths in Yamaguchi, and 7 inns with 4 baths and 4 steam baths in Shinyu. The springs served the wider community; Shima still has shared baths created for local residents.
Shima’s Yudate festival was revived in 2006, inspired by a 1712 votive tablet showing priests performing the rite. On the Great Cold day, hot spring water is boiled and sprinkled with bamboo leaves as people give thanks and pray for good health.
In Shima folklore, a mysterious woman sends young Maya to a waterfall, where she meets the man she will marry. The falls take her name, and the story lives on in the local character Maya-hime-chan.
When Japan began designating National Hot Spring Health Resorts in 1954, Shima was among the first three selected, alongside Sukayu and Nikko Yumoto. The designation recognized the area as suitable for public health and rest—not a guarantee that hot springs cure disease.
Shima had no sake brewery, so in 2011 a local liquor-shop owner set out to make a drink of its own: Shima Onsen Ale, brewed with water from the Shima River. One of its ales carries the name of the local Maya-hime legend.
Sekizenkan built a bathhouse and lodging in 1691, then opened as an inn in 1694. Its Honkan is regarded as Japan’s oldest surviving wooden hot-spring inn building—and it remains part of the working inn today.
Local history says that after Iwabitsu Castle fell in 1563, retainer Tamura Jingoro stayed in Shima to guard his lord’s escape toward Echigo. He later settled in Yamaguchi and is remembered as the first person to open an inn there.
Each January 14, Shima’s Torioi festival sends a huge drum through town to drive crop-raiding birds and beasts away and pray for a good harvest. A Shima inn’s records recount guests being invited to strike the drum, too.
