[Access] About a 10-minute walk from Mochimune Station on the JR Tokaido Line
[Webpage] Mochimune Minato Onsen (Japanese)
I had some errands to run and found myself back in Mochimune for the first time in a while. My grandparents used to live nearby, so I often visited the area as a child and have fond memories of playing in the ocean at Mochimune—it’s a nostalgic place for me. While there, my family, who had arrived ahead of me, suggested we go to the local onsen. I asked, “Wait, there’s an onsen here?” and they replied, “Yeah, it’s been around for quite a while now.” I was surprised—I’ve been back to my grandparents’ house several times in recent years, but somehow I never knew about it…
There are quite a few stylish restaurants built around the harbor, and even the Mochimune Minato Onsen is a surprisingly modern building—especially for someone like me who remembers how it used to be. It used to feel like a quiet, rural fishing port, but the atmosphere has completely changed…
What surprised me even more was that there’s a brewery inside (or maybe attached to?) the onsen building, and when I looked closer, I saw the name West Coast Brewing. Later, a colleague who’s really into craft beer told me it’s actually a pretty famous brewery—people even come from outside the prefecture just for this. I was honestly shocked that such a well-known spot had popped up at the Mochimune Fishing Port!
At Mochimune Minato Onsen, the indoor baths use natural groundwater drawn from the nearby Abe River, which is known for its abundant and clear underground water. There are three indoor baths: the main bath, a cold plunge, and a high-concentration artificial carbonated bath. The carbonated bath is especially intense—once you get in, your body is quickly covered in tiny bubbles, and it warms you up thoroughly.
The open-air bath uses actual hot spring water. Its quality is typical of coastal areas: a sodium-calcium chloride spring, slightly yellow-green in color. It’s mildly alkaline with a pH of 8.3 and has a total dissolved content of 5,120 mg/kg.
I felt bit sick that day, so I skipped the beer at the brewery next door, but I was surprised at how nice the onsen was. The area also has some stylish restaurants and cozy izakayas, and with craft beer available and even some attractive places to stay, I’m definitely planning to come back to enjoy all of it properly.