Chichibu · OtakiNo.156★Open in map →
Otaki Onsen Yuyukan
A public day-bathing house run by Chichibu City, inside the Otaki Onsen roadside station on the banks of the Arakawa River, in the far west of Chichibu, Saitama.
Otaki Onsen Yuyukan is a day-use public bath built into the Michi-no-Eki Otaki Onsen, a government-run roadside rest area deep in Chichibu City. It sits above the Arakawa River, a few kilometres upstream from Mitsumineguchi Station, the last stop on the Chichibu Railway line — from there a Seibu Kanko bus continues west and passes the bath. The bathhouse is run by Chichibu City itself, not a private resort, and entry is under 1,000 yen. Inside there is an open-air rock bath and a sauna finished entirely in hinoki, a fragrant Japanese cypress. The water is drawn from about 1,000 metres underground, making this mineral-rich spring one of the few amenities on the quiet valley road that carries travellers toward Mitsumine Shrine.
Why it stays quiet
Almost everyone who travels this far up the valley is heading to Mitsumine Shrine, and they change from train to bus at the station without stopping. The bath has little signage and sits inside what looks like an ordinary roadside rest area, and there is very little English information about it, so it stays quiet.
Background & history
The spring is a sodium-chloride water measured at about pH 8.4, mildly alkaline and gentle on the skin. The source rises tepid, in the low 30s Celsius, and is heated for bathing. It is tapped from roughly 1,000 metres below the Arakawa gorge. The bath is operated by Chichibu City as part of the Otaki Onsen roadside station, pairing the bath with a rest stop and a shop of local produce on a road that has long carried travellers and pilgrims toward Mitsumine Shrine.
What to look for — in walking order
- Open-air rock bath
- outdoor stone bath looking out over the Arakawa valley
- All-hinoki sauna
- sauna lined entirely in hinoki cypress, with windows toward the gorge
- Sodium-chloride spring
- mildly alkaline water (about pH 8.4) drawn from around 1,000 metres underground
- Roadside station
- rest stop with a shop of local goods, run by Chichibu City
How to enjoy it
Ride the Chichibu Railway to its final stop at Mitsumineguchi Station, then take the Seibu Kanko bus up the Arakawa River and get off at Otaki Onsen Yuyukan. Pair the bath with a rest at the roadside station's shop. Note it is closed every Thursday and keeps shorter hours from December to March (until 19:00).
How to actually get there
- Ikebukuro Station → Seibu-Chichibu Station (Seibu Railway Ltd. Express Laview, ~80 min).
- Seibu-Chichibu Station → Ohanabatake Station (walk, ~5 min) → Mitsumineguchi Station (Chichibu Railway, ~25 min).
- Mitsumineguchi Station → Otaki Onsen Yuyukan stop (Seibu Kanko bus toward Mitsumine Shrine / Nakatsugawa, ~20 min).
- The bath is inside the roadside-station building — follow the onsen sign from the bus stop.
- Ikebukuro → Seibu-Chichibu → Mitsumineguchi Stn → Seibu Kanko bus
- Ikebukuro Station →(Seibu Railway Ltd. Express Laview, ~80 min)→ Seibu-Chichibu Station → walk ~5 min to Ohanabatake Station →(Chichibu Railway, ~25 min)→ Mitsumineguchi Station (the last stop) →(Seibu Kanko bus toward Mitsumine Shrine / Nakatsugawa, ~20 min)→ Otaki Onsen Yuyukan stop. Total about 2 hours. The bus runs only about 6 times a day — check the day's timetable before you leave.
- return: buses back to the station stop by evening
- Buses back to Mitsumineguchi Station run only through the afternoon and stop by early evening, so do not linger too late. When you get off the bus, check the return times posted at the stop before you go into the bath.
Before you go
- Cash
- The day-bathing fee is under 1,000 yen (about 800 yen on weekdays, 900 yen on weekends and holidays). Pay at the roadside-station counter; rural buses like the Seibu Kanko line are often cash-only, so carry coins and small notes.
- Closing days
- Yuyukan is closed every Thursday (open if that Thursday is a national holiday, with no make-up day). Hours are 10:00–20:00 from April to November and 10:00–19:00 from December to March. Check before making the trip.
- Another way
- On some days, Chichibu City's own community bus (the Seseragi-go, Kawamata line) also stops at the roadside station.
- After you get off
- From Mitsumineguchi Station forecourt, board the Seibu Kanko bus toward Mitsumine Shrine or Nakatsugawa and get off at the Otaki Onsen Yuyukan stop (about 20 minutes). The bath is inside the roadside-station building.