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In Japanese there’s a word, shinrinyoku, which refers to spending time in a forest to relax and be soothed by the serenity and beauty of the natural environment. Shinrinyoku literally translates as “forest bathing,” a metaphorical allusion to the power of nature to cleanse your spirit, but there’s a place in Hokkaido where you can experience “forest bathing” in its literal sense too.
Our recent travels in Japan’s northernmost prefecture took us to Daisetsuzan National Park. Our first stop was Hakuginso, an onsen (hot spring) bathing facility famously featured in 2019 Japanese TV drama "Sado."
Hakuginso has a nice open-air bath (though they don’t allow photography), and at 700 yen for adult admission, it’s reasonably priced for a popular onsen. It’s also reachable without a car, something that’s not always true for hot spring facilities in the mountains, thanks to busses that run three times a day from Kami-Furano Station.
But if you really want to enjoy shinrinyoku and hot spring bathing at the same time, what you should do is head west on the road that runs in front of Hakuginso, as shown on the map here.
Before long, you’ll spot a parking lot (it’s about an eight-minute walk if you’re not going by car) with sign saying Fukiage Onsen (吹上温泉).
A walking path that starts in the parking lot leads into the forest.
After walking for about 100 meters, you’ll come to this ridge.
A stairway heads downwards from here, and leads to two all-natural hot spring pools to soak in.
Not only are the views incredible, the springs, known as Fukiage Roten no Yu (the Fukiage Outdoor Baths), are completely free to use.
There are a couple of things to be aware of before you visit. First, unlike at many other hot springs, the two pools here aren’t separated into men’s and women’s pools, because Fukiage Roten no Yu are konyoku, or mixed men’s and women’s, hot springs.
Instead, the upper pool here is the hotter one, and the lower pool the cooler one. On the day we stopped by, the upper pool was scalding hot. We’d guess it was about 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), which probably feels great during Hokkaido’s snowy winters, but not so much in late summer. The lower pool, by comparison, was a much more tolerable, and rejuvenating, heat, though still around 40 degrees Celsius, we’d estimate.
Second, there aren’t any attendants or amenities provided, so you’ll want to bring a towel with you to dry off with once you get out of the spring.
And last, and perhaps most importantly, there’s no changing room at Fukiage Roten no Yu, so any undressing you’re doing is going to have to take place out in the open.
There is one significant concession made towards modesty at Fukiage Roten no Yu, though, in that women are allowed to wear a bathing suit while in the spring, so changing into one before you arrive, putting your street clothes on over it, and then removing your outer layer of clothing once you get to the springs is an option. For men, though (and all of the people in the pools when we visited were men), bathing suits aren’t allowed, although you can sit outside the pool, dangle your legs into the water, and cover your lap with a towel.
Overall, Fukiage Roten no Yu is a very unique experience, even by Japanese hot spring standards, but it’s one we’ll never forget, and we imagine it’s even better when the surrounding mountains are blanketed in snow and you’re keeping yourself nice and warm in that upper pool.
Location information
Hakuginso / 白銀荘
Address: Hokkaido, Sorachi-gun, Kamifurano, Fukiage Onsen
北海道空知郡上富良野町吹上温泉
Photos ©SoraNews24
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9 Comments
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Aly Rustom
I heard that in most Konyoku everyone wears a towel- you don't actually bathe nude...
I don't know- never been to one. Does anyone know if this onsen allows men to wear a full bath towel, or do we just go in with a small hand towel to cover strategically?
1glenn
When I was young I used to go to a hot spring in the coastal mountains, here in California. One had to hike in to get there, about half a mile from Highway 1. It was a bearably hot sulfur spring. The few people I saw there were usually sans clothes. I imagine those things are all over the mountains, if one knows where to look.
Roten
I've been to Fukiage Onsen several times, lastly about 3.5 years ago. No one I've seen here wears anything. I think it would be more noteworthy if someone, especially a man, used a bath towel when in the spring, as the thing of wearing a towel would draw attention to him, and I would feel really uncomfortable if I were the only man in a spring wearing a bath towel. A small hand towel would not be unusual whilst outside the water, but would be out-of-place in the water. It would not be out of place on one's head while in the bath. As for women, about half were as nude as the men, and the other half were wrapped in bath towels while in Fukiage. Disrobing is completely in the open beside either bath. As I recall, the upper bath was about 50 degrees Celsius and the lower bath was abot 45 degrees, a bit hot for a long soak. Most of the time my wife and I sat on the side and dangled our feet in the lower bath.
Hakuginsou is an inexpensive cook-for-yourself inn, and if you want to wear a bathing suit, it is the appropriate place to go. The water is cooler than Fukiage, and there are three sets of baths, a men's area, a women's area, and a konyoku area. Each has several indoor and outdoor baths. No suits or towels allowed in the men's or women's areas. Suits are required in the konyoku area. I don't wear suits, and only looked at the picture map of the konyoku area. I stayed at Hakuginsou for two days on one of my trips to Fukiage, and the rest of my trips were day trips.
Aly Rustom
Roten- thank you very much for that detailed info!
And sorry that it took so long to thank you for taking the time out to explain it to me.
So helpful! Arigato Gozaimasu.
Rei
Aly Rustom
I'm assuming they were all old Obaasans?
Lord Dartmouth
I've always wondered what it's like to bathe in a rotten borough.
WA4TKG
Now I have a new onsen destination, if they ever let us back in.
Roten
There you go making uninformed assumptions again. Nope. Just women who love hot springs and are comfortable in their own skins without bodikon issues. Although youngsters might assume that my wife is an obaasan (baba) and I am the jiji. The best way to guarantee that not all the women in konyoku hotsprings are obaasan is to make sure you bring along some friends who are women.
Because of the really hot water at the free Furiage hot spring, I suggest that this is not a worthwhile place to make the center point of a trip. If you are in the Kamifurano area, it is a worthwhile stop. You might also stop at the Ryounkaku Tokachidake Onsen, also in the area. When I stayed there, it was the middle of winter. As I was getting on the bus to leave, two young men and two young women arrived, and invited me to join them again in the konyoku rotenburo. How could I say no? We spent an enjoyable two hours talking and having a snowball fight while in the bath. This was the only time I've sat in a bath, scooped up snow from the drifts on the side, and had a snowball fight. It was a wonderful experience to practice my language skills. I am not sure if that rotenburo is still konyoku (this was ages ago), but the hot spring is still around. Hakuginsou is much cheaper than Ryounkaku if you don't mind cooking for yourself.
Aly Rustom
Again? When did I make them before? and my last post was respectful to you. Why do you have to be nasty?