[Access] Right by the Yubara I.C. on the Yonago Expressway

Yubara Onsen is located right near the border of Tottori and Okayama prefectures. It’s ranked as the “Yokozuna of the West” in the national outdoor bath rankings, and since I spent my childhood years in Okayama, I’ve always been really curious about this spot. Even so, it’s the kind of place where it’s hard to find a specific excuse to head all the way out there…

As you walk upstream through the Yubara Onsen town along the river, a massive dam comes into view beyond a suspension bridge that leads to a hotel called Hakkei. If you look closely, you can see steam rising from the river surface between the foot of the dam and the bridge. Seeing that much steam in the middle of summer means some seriously hot water must be bubbling up from the riverbed—my expectations definitely started to build. Then, on the right bank of the river, I spotted several large outdoor baths; apparently, this is the famous “Sunayu.”

Beneath a stone monument engraved with “Sunayu,” you’ll see three baths with a changing area to the right. The three large pools are named “Kodakara-no-yu” (Fertility Bath), “Bijin-no-yu” (Beauty Bath), and “Choju-no-yu” (Longevity Bath). You can clearly see bubbles rising from the bottom of Kodakara-no-yu, and considering the steam on the river, the hot spring must be bubbling up directly from below. The water is clear and colorless, and it feels very gentle on the skin. After drying off, your skin stays feeling moisturized, so it definitely earns its reputation as a beauty bath. In the evening, with the soft glow from Hakkei on the opposite bank and the steam over the water, the atmosphere is quite lovely. I’m sure the scenery of this outdoor bath changed completely when that massive dam was built right in front of it, but I’m just glad they preserved the hot spring. When you think about it that way, maybe that towering dam wall has become a unique part of the Yubara Onsen experience itself.