Yutagawa Onsen, Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture
Yutagawa Onsen Shomen-yu
The clearest first stop for a first visit to Yutagawa: an easy way to experience both the town and its communal-bath culture.
Check before bathing
- Opening hours
- 07:30–08:30 and 11:00–19:00. Closed for cleaning from 08:30 to 11:00; otherwise open daily.
- Tattoo policy
- The current profile material does not include a confirmed tattoo policy. Ask the bath before visiting.
Spring & water temperature
- Spring-source temperature
- 42.0°C for Yutagawa source No. 1 in the 2025 official analysis; this was not sampled inside Shomen-yu.
- Bathing temperature
- Not published. The association describes the water as not too hot and gentle on the skin, but gives no fixed temperature.
- Spring source
- Yutagawa Onsen association supply. The current official analysis is for Yutagawa source No. 1, not a sample taken inside Shomen-yu.
- Spring classification
- Sodium-calcium sulfate spring, based on the 2025 official analysis of Yutagawa source No. 1.
- pH
- pH 8.6 for Yutagawa source No. 1 in the 2025 official analysis; this was not measured inside Shomen-yu.
- Flow rate
- Not published for this bath; the spring system's total flow is not allocated to Shomen-yu.
- Water handling
- The tourism association describes Shomen-yu as source-flowing and unheated. It says the communal baths do not add water, heat or recirculate the spring. The current pages do not give a separate pool-by-pool disinfection statement, so none is inferred.
- Analysis date
- 2025
Bathing indications
The tourism association lists general bathing indications for sulfate springs. These are not treatment guarantees.
The association confirms source flow without heating; it says the communal baths do not add water, heat or recirculate. Pool-specific disinfection conditions are not published.
The latest price notice, dated 7 July 2026, lists ¥300 for junior-high students and older and free admission for elementary-school children and younger. Day visitors pay at Funami Shoten to have the bath unlocked. There is no washbasin, hair dryer, soap, shampoo or shower.
How to read a bath profile
Spring-source temperature and actual bathing temperature are kept separate. Each score is shown independently for comparison rather than collapsed into one overall score.
