[Access] About 15 minutes by car from Minakami IC
[Webpage] Yuboso Onsen Nakaya Ryokan
On the way back from hiking trip to see Ichinokurasawa, the world-famous steep cliff of Mt. Tanigawa, I stopped by Yubiso Onsen. I noticed this small Yubuso Onsen while heading to Ichinokurasawa, so I was thinking about visiting here on the way back. Although most of the inns were closed for day-trip onsen due to the COVID-19, Nakaya Ryokan was probably the only one which was open today.
When I asked the landlady if it was possible to take a day-trip onsen, she said OK but I should wait a bit because they might have not finished cleaning the bathtub and the onsen might not be ready yet. However, luckily I just need to wait a little while, then I could go in. It seems that there is an open-air bath on the rooftop, but it seemed it was only for overnight stay guest. Anyway, I could enjoy and relax hot spring of Yubiso Onsen in the freshly cleaned indoor bath.
The source of this onsen is from the Yakushi-no-yu of Yubiso Onsen, a simple alkaline hot spring with a slightly high temperature but a gentle texture. So rather than taking a leisurely dip, it’s perfect for a quick dip in the hot water and wash off a sweat.
To get to Ichinokurasawa of Mt. Tanigawa, I didn’t have to take the ropeway, instead, just went deeper into the forest along the road. After a pleasant walk about 30 minutes, I arrived at Machigasawa where the cliff of Mt. Tanigawa were right in front of me. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but it was quite impressive to see the cliff appeared all the sudden.
When I arrived at Ichinokurasawa, there was still snow on the ground and the air was cool and refreshing. It is a world-famous criff, and there were explanations about each cliff on the board. But I could not imagine climbing it at all. I could find there were people sticking to the cliff through telephoto lenses…it was too scary to watch.
Since I came with a decent lite climbing equipment, I decided to go a little closer to the rocky area. A person walking along the snow bank told me that the glaucidium palmatum was blooming beautifully, so I should go check it out. To be honest, I’m not an expert on alpine plants. So I wasn’t sure which was it, the beautiful yellow flowers that bloomed here and there or the pale purple flowers in the photo. This is when cell phones are very useful to investigate quickly 🙂
I was wondering how much I should go further. Today I decided to go until the place called “Buna-no-shizuku (Beech tree drops)” where the fresh water is springing up, then turned back.
Speaking of Mt. Tanigawa, I wanted to stop by at Doai Station once, where there are stairs leading to the platform deep underground. When I entered the station building with its sharp triangular roof, I found that the place where the station staff used to sell tickets had been turned into a café. It created a strange atmosphere. The staircase leading to the underground platform was indeed quite impressive. It’s so deep that you can’t see the platform at all from the top, but I didn’t go down because I didn’t plan to get on the train 🙂