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Joshin’etsukogen NP, Nagano
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Near Yamada Onsen’s grand Ōyu bathhouse, Mamekura Shoten makes the area’s onsen manju. A village guide describes its springy brown dough and gently sweet, almost-melting smooth koshian filling.
In 1890, a carriage driver refused to continue toward Yamada because the road was too steep, so Mori Ōgai rode a farmer’s ox. His diary counted about 30 homes and only 7 inns in the village.
Mori Ōgai’s 1890 diary records buying a large iwana char brought from Kusatsu—and being laughed at for it. He learned that locals prized smaller fish caught nearby, and agreed the local catch tasted better.
Yamada’s resort quarter was deliberately planned: around 1798, hot-spring water was piped about 2 km from Matsukawa gorge, and inns were arranged around two communal baths.
Historical references called the spring Matsukawa-no-yu and the bathing settlement Ushikubo-no-yu. “Yamada Onsen” appears to have taken its name from Yamada Village, formed in 1889.
Poet and scholar Aizu Yaichi later recalled that after leaving Yamada Onsen, the sound of the valley stream still seemed to ring in his ears. His memory is preserved in the history of the inn where he stayed.
A 1794 account described Yamada’s spring as having a noticeable smell and taste, with a sulfur scent, yet being neither too hot nor too cold. It was written just 4 years before the resort quarter opened here.
Mori Ōgai’s diary says Yamada’s old bath had been a simple shed where men and women bathed together. By his 1890 visit, a new communal bath had recently replaced it.
Ōyu’s sweeping roof and carved gable evoke Momoyama-era style, but the present wooden bathhouse was completed in 1989. Its historic look is an architectural homage, not proof that the building is centuries old.
Yamada has another communal bath besides visitor-friendly Ōyu: Taki-no-yu. It is reserved for local residents and guests staying at inns belonging to the local ryokan association.
After the postwar fire at Yamada Onsen, Fukeikan’s fifth-generation owner built the Sennin-iwa rock bath, named for a “hermit’s bed” legend. It served bathers for about 60 years before closing in 2021 for safety reasons.
Yamadakan’s family history says a local lord granted the inn its trade name along with a sword, gave the family a surname, and allowed them to carry the blade. The historic inn stands beside Ōyu.
