Hot spring cure (TOUJI). A Guide to Onsen Therapy in Japan.

"Let's learn more about Ozawa Hitoshi's hot springs" top page

　

Kusatsu Onsen Resort Mansion/Yudanaka Onsen Ooyu/Shinshu Shibu Onsen Ooyu/Nasu Yumoto Onsen Shikanoyu/Nozawa Onsen Ooyu

I was struck by sudden paralysis of my dominant arm. I received treatment at five different institutions, including hospitals, but doctors and others gave the judgment that the cause was "unknown." In the end, I spent my days doing only tests, prescriptions, and outpatient visits. The last doctor I saw told me. He said, "Your illness cannot be cured because you have no desire to cure it." That night I threw all the drugs away. The stress of going to a medical institution was so strong that I couldn't stand it. Since 2000, my wife and I have been traveling to Kusatsu Onsen and Manza Onsen in Gunma Prefecture for one night only once or twice a month. When I became ill in 2002, I also went to a hot spring resort in Gunma Prefecture once or twice a month. After about 10 months, my dominant arm suddenly recovered. I received a handwritten letter from a hotel manager whom I became acquainted with. I unconsciously picked up a fountain pen and wrote him a thank you letter. ---moved. My dominant arm moved. It was an emotional moment. Both Kusatsu Onsen and Manza Onsen have motor paralysis and nerve paralysis as "indications" under the Hot Spring Law, but I didn't see their adaptability to those diseases in advance. If I had seen the empire in advance, I would have been more stressed, thinking, "When will my illness be cured?" I believe that the "God of Hot Springs" helped me. The word "hot spring" was invented in ancient China. The word “touji,” which means “treatment in hot springs,” originated in Japan. "Toji" was practiced in Japan until recently, several decades ago. It was a time when medical science was not advanced, testing equipment was underdeveloped, and prescription drugs were underdeveloped. When a patient's chronic disease became chronic, the town doctor wrote a letter of introduction to the owner of a hot spring inn and asked for hot spring therapy. It is called "TOUJI". There are approximately 3,200 hot spring resorts in Japan, and each hot spring resort has the know-how of "TOUJI". Modern times, where medical science has developed. The Japanese themselves have forgotten "TOUJI", and there is a strong tendency for "leisure trips" of one or two nights. "Stress relief and relaxation effects" are found in hot spring trips. In addition, there are many opportunities to deeply experience Japanese culture through yukata and Japanese food. increase. i have a dream. I would like visitors from abroad to stay in Japanese hot springs for a few days, a week, or half a month, and experience "recovering their health with hot springs." And by exposing foreign tourists to Japan's "TOUJI" culture, we hope that you will reaffirm the splendor of your own country's and your own region's culture. What is "TOUJI"? I will explain step by step based on my own experience. I do not endorse any particular spa. I strongly hope that visitors from all over the world will understand the wonderful culture of "TOUJI". Also, I am a Japanese teacher with a master's degree in literature, so I am not a medical expert. Instead, I will introduce "TOUJI culture" as "a place of comprehensive Japanese culture". I will introduce the "primary principle" like linguist Noam Chomsky. I will explain things in an easy-to-understand way so that you can become the "best understanding of hot springs" no matter where you go in Japan's wide variety of hot spring resorts.

(1) High-quality ions of hot springs

"There are hot springs in many countries around the world." Yuseong Hot Springs in South Korea, Beitou Hot Springs in Taiwan, Xiaoshandai Hot Springs in China. Europe has hot springs since Roman times, and Germany has many Baden. The definition of hot springs varies from country to country. The temperature in Japan is higher than the hot spring condition temperature in Europe. This is because a hot spring is defined as having a temperature higher than the annual average temperature. In fact, it is said that whether it is bathing in fresh water at home or in a public bath, it keeps the body hygienic, warms the body, and increases the natural healing power. When bathing at home, "bath additives" are often used. "Bath agent" is a "medicine" approved by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. "Then what are the advantages of hot springs?" If you evaporate hot springs called sodium chloride springs to investigate the ingredients, the crystals that remain are salts. Then, if you ask me if adding salt to fresh water will turn it into a sodium chloride spring, I will answer, "It won't turn into a hot spring." Generally, hot springs take 80 to 120 years from rainwater to turn into underground water, taking in surrounding ion components in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment underground. In Japan, a country of volcanoes, the environment in which groundwater takes in surrounding ions in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment deep underground is different for each hot spring resort. In other words, there is the “essence of hot springs” that does not appear in the hot spring component analysis sheet. Even two hot springs with the same spring quality and the same concentration can feel very different when you actually take a bath. Hot spring water that has been kneaded deep underground for over 80 years contains high-quality ions. By bathing in the hot water, the hot spring ingredients are absorbed into the body through the skin and lungs, and high-quality ions begin to run throughout your body.

"Its quality is not unique." Each geological and volcanological feature appears. Traditions about which diseases it is good for also differ from region to region.

�A What is the difference between life in a big city and life in a hot spring resort?

My hometown is Nakano-ku, Tokyo. Located in the west of Shinjuku-ku, there used to be a lot of farmland in the past, but currently there are no specialized agricultural areas recognized by the Agriculture Committee. I was born in 1959, but recently Nakano Ward has become an asphalt jungle, and the summer heat is unimaginable several decades ago. In the middle of summer, I can't sleep at night unless I leave the air conditioner on. The temperature of tap water rises in summer. Along with that, chlorine disinfection is imposed. Commuter and school trains are in terrible rush hour. The air has no forest scent. In contrast, many hot spring resorts are located in areas with a rich natural environment. Since hot spring resorts were formed around hot spring gushing areas, there are no hot spring resorts with a population of several million people. Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture, Atami Onsen in Shizuoka Prefecture, and Hakone Onsen in Kanagawa Prefecture, which have a record of 3 million guests annually, are all located near mountain forests and the beauty of the sea. The population of hot spring resorts near the great outdoors of the sea and hot spring resorts in the mountains is not as large as in big cities, so the source of the water supply is in nature. The length of the pipes supplying water is short and the tap water is fresh. I am now at a house with a hot spring that my father and mother left behind in the former Shuzenji town in Izu City, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture. The house is located at the foot of the mountain, so the tap water is cold even in summer. As the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau put it in his Emile, it is true that ``humans are not made to live in cities as a group; they are made to live in nature.'' If so, staying in a local hot spring resort with rich nature will be a “Renaissance”.

�B How many days of stay is required for "TOUJI"?

I hear that there are many long-term visitors to European carbonated and radium hot spring resorts. In some countries, it is possible to use health insurance. I think that the principle is to stay in carbonated springs and radium springs for 2-3 months to restore your physical and mental health, as in Germany and the Czech Republic. However, it is questionable whether ordinary people can afford to stay for a long period of time and take their time in the hot springs. If you come all the way to Japan and want to recover your physical and mental health in hot springs, how many days do you have to stay at hot springs to become "TOUJI"? "Do you know Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture?" It is a hot spring resort with the largest amount of natural hot spring water in Japan. It has been ranked number one among hot spring resorts for 20 years in a row in a survey conducted by a Japanese tourism and economic newspaper. There are more than 200 hot spring sources in this hot spring resort, but the six sources that supply a large amount of hot water to each facility are called the "six major sources." Although it is a strongly acidic sulfur hot spring, it is often transparent. Total sulfur content ranks ninth in Japan. Kusatsu Onsen is a highly transparent hot spring compared to the cloudy baths of sulfur springs around this rank. It is a hot spring with so much sulfur dissolved in it that it is thought to penetrate well into the skin. Until the 1960s, there were many "TOUJI" customers. I was doing spa therapy with several rotations of "Tooka(ten-days) TOUJI". A patient with a letter of introduction from a town doctor comes to an inn in Kusatsu Onsen. For example, suppose you are a patient with a stomach ulcer. He doesn't suddenly enter a high-temperature sulfur spring and start spa therapy. A land of fresh air, fresh tap water and high altitude therapy. Eat traditional local cuisine for several days, using local ingredients and no chemical seasonings. Patients who vomit blood or bleed from stools even after eating in a big city recover their physical strength with good air, good water, good quality local natural ingredients, and high altitude therapy. So the owner of the inn starts teaching "TOUJI". In addition to the inn's hot spring, we will promote hot spring therapy in the communal bath's 48°C hot spring. However, it is strongly acidic, so after ten days of spa therapy, one or two days rest. Finally, we will take a group bath where we will bathe in the “Time Bath” at 49°C for 1 minute and 51°C for 1 minute. A total of 1 to 2 months of "TOUJI", by which time the patient's toxins are rising to the skin and "pimples" may appear on the epidermis. Do "TOUJI" again in the hot springs surrounding Kusatsu Onsen to treat the condition of the skin exhausted by the strongly acidic hot springs. German doctor Berts conducted research on Ikaho Onsen and Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture and introduced it to the world in a paper. It was the end of the Meiji period. Dr. Belz is a medical specialist invited to the University of Tokyo. He gave a great deal of guidance to the Japanese imperial family in setting up villas and resort villas in Hakone, Numazu, and Hayama. Commoners shared a room with several people and stayed there while performing "TOUJI". However, in modern times, due to instructions from public health centers, there are only a limited number of TOUJI lodging facilities that allow shared lodging. It remains in Tamagawa Hot Springs in Akita Prefecture and Naruko Hot Springs in Miyagi Prefecture, where long-term patients interact with each other while doing "TOUJI". It is also used by people who do not require medical treatment. Farmers are unable to work during the winter season, so they recover their physical condition by using "TOUJI" in winter for a long period of time to relieve the physical burden of farm work from spring to autumn. They bring in their own rice and ingredients, and they cook their own food in the inn's communal kitchen. Users are exchanging dishes and information on how to prepare healthy meals. “JISUI” is a system in which guests prepare their own meals. When diet therapy is effective, patients reduce salt intake and take more fiber, and achieve recovery of health through diet therapy. The prototype of "TOUJI" is to do these "JISUI", share a room, and stay for a long time to recover mentally and physically. Currently, the unit price per night has risen, and hot spring resorts have become a leisure destination. Still, it has a relaxing effect, and staying at an inn in an environment rich in nature has the meaning of “transcendence therapy”. It is difficult to define how many days you need to stay to become "TOUJI". I think that it is possible to regard one week as the prototype of "TOUJI" blanc, and to regard it as "TOUJI" from about three nights. However, during this stay, you are requested to avoid overeating and drinking, and bathe with gratitude to the god of the hot springs.

　

�C Various types of "TOUJI" "TOUJI"

「TOUJI」was held at many hot spring resorts until the 1960s. As Japanese society entered a period of rapid economic growth, and with the development of medical science, diagnostic equipment, and pharmacology, hospitals took over most of the scope of medical treatment, and the weight of treatment in hot spring resorts decreased. The number of group trips by companies and local groups has increased rapidly, and the era of large-scale bus mobilization has arrived. The meals at the inns became more luxurious, and the hotels became gigantic. The hot spring resort has changed from the era of "TOUJI" to a place for social gatherings. However, there are still many hot spring resorts that can be used by "TOUJI". I would like to introduce the prototype.

・"Insensible temperature rise type hot spring"

"Japanese people like bathing." Summer is hot and humid, and daily bathing is required from a hygienic point of view. In Japan, where sashimi and sushi are often eaten, the risk of food poisoning increases during the hot and humid summer, and hygiene control is required not only for meals but also for all aspects of daily life. Winters are bitterly cold and dry, and there is a risk of influenza epidemics. So people bathe every day in their own bathhouses. The temperature is generally about 40°C to 41°C. It is a bathing method that warms the whole body and mind by bathing for 5 to 10 minutes. However, especially in winter, there are many accidents caused by the temperature difference called "heat shock", and the number of fatalities exceeds that of traffic accidents. On the other hand, there is also a bathing method where you enter a hot spring with a temperature of about 35°C and 36°C and gradually raise the temperature. The temperature of a hot spring that is close to body temperature and does not feel hot is called "FUKAN ONDO". However, even if you stay in a bathtub with a temperature close to your body temperature for a long time, your body will not warm up. Therefore, there is a hot spring bathing method that goes back and forth between a bath with the same body temperature and a bath with a temperature of about 40°C. It is characterized by the high quality ions from the hot spring being absorbed through the skin and respiratory organs over a long period of time. There are also hot spring resorts that do not have baths with a temperature of about 40°C, and only bathe at body temperature for a long time. Since the temperature of the hot spring is about the same as body temperature, it is necessary to wash the whole body carefully before bathing. It is different from high-temperature hot springs that have sterilizing power, so it is necessary to consider hygiene.

Tanigawa Onsen in Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture. A typical example is the hot spring at the Tanigawa Training Institute of the Moralogy Institute. ``MASU (a square wooden BATHING box)'' There are about 20 square-shaped bathtubs, and it takes 40 minutes to 1 hour to bathe from body temperature to 39 degrees Celsius to clear away distractions. It is a reproduction of the self-history that nurtured life from the mother's womb, and is a hot spring with the philosophy of regeneration. It can be called an amniotic fluid experience.

　　　

Gunma Prefecture Tanigawa Onsen Moralogy Research Institute training dormitory/Nagano Prefecture Aoki Village Shinshu Kutsukake Onsen public bath Ogura no Yu

Shinshu Kutsukake Onsen in Aoki Village, Nagano Prefecture. The communal bath "Ogura-no-Yu" has two baths. The fee is 200 yen (as of March 2023).

Bandai Atami Onsen, Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. The day-trip bathing facility in Gensenso has a large hot spring bath with a temperature lower than body temperature, and there is also a bath that is not large but has a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius. It is historically believed to be good for eye diseases. Many users take the hot spring source home with them. In the past, when a snake was bitten by a poisonous snake, the bitten finger was tied with a string and the blood was sucked out. I once had an elderly local show me a deep wound on his thumb that had been bitten by a snake. The bathing fee from 4:00 pm is 200 yen (as of 2020).

Bandai Atami Onsen also has a public bath. "Nishiki no Yu" is slightly higher than the FUKAN temperature, but it is suitable for long bathing at a temperature that does not strain the heart.

・Radium hot spring. Radioactive hot spring.

Radiation therapy in hospitals has side effects. Hair falls out or nausea hits. On the other hand, in radium hot springs, which are radioactive hot springs, the radioactive components become lead molecules and are discharged from the lungs in about four hours. In other words, it can be said that it is a hot spring for radiation therapy with no side effects. Even so, the burden on the body is heavy, so bathing in high-temperature hot springs is not suitable. There are hot springs with a temperature of 30°C, which is about the same as a heated pool, and there are hot springs with colder water than that. After about 30 minutes of bathing, my face started to sweat even though it was as hot as water. Continuing to take a bath will stain the bathtub with sweat, so it is necessary to get out of the bathtub once and wash off the sweat. Many radium hot spring users with terminal cancer also come to "TOUJI". Please do not use it for leisure.

・Tamagawa Hot Springs in Akita Prefecture,

・Ena Radium Hot Springs in Gifu Prefecture,

・Murasugi Hot Springs in Niigata Prefecture

are representative places for radioactive spa therapy. I used

・Masutomi Radium Hot Springs in Yamanashi Prefecture

・Shimobe Hot Springs in Yamanashi Prefecture

to interact comfortably with the locals. At Masutomi Onsen, ``Tsuganerou'' and ``Saneiso'' can use cold springs and hot springs at the same time. The Rissho Koseikai Recreation Center is only a hot spring, but it is a wonderful hot spring. The public bathing facility "Masutomi-no-Yu" has baths with various temperature settings, and is suitable for bathing with an insensible temperature rise. "Sagamiya" in Shimobe Onsen has a cold spring bath and a hot spring bath. In radium hot springs, cold springs generally have large baths, and warm baths are small. Shimobe Onsen is highly rated as a drinking hot spring. During Japan's Sengoku period, Takeda Shingen used spa therapy to treat wounded soldiers. Hot springs for therapeutic purposes are not publicized and are said to be ``Takeda Shingen's hidden hot springs''. Both Sagamiya and Oshimaso(closed down), have only one bathhouse, and the couple uses it at the same time. This is not the idea of mixed bathing, but because therapeutic hot springs are places where wives and husbands help their disabled spouses undress and receive spa therapy. It is a different origin from leisure hot springs.

・Sodium chloride universal type.

Simple hot spring. This type of hot spring exists all over Japan. It is an almighty hot spring that everyone from infants to the elderly can bathe in with peace of mind. Even though the quality of the hot springs is similar, the hot springs were formed over 80 years in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment deep underground, so the traditions of each region are different. The weakly alkaline sulfur hot spring is also a versatile player. One of the judgment criteria is whether the hot spring is drinkable. “Permission to drink the hot springs” and “whether or not the hot springs are drinkable” are separate phases. The “drinking hot spring permission” is given by the health center after analyzing the hot spring components and evaluating the hygiene. Expenses required for permits are high. On the other hand, there are also hot spring resorts where land users say, ``You can drink the hot springs here for a long time.'' Many sodium chloride hot springs on the Izu Peninsula seem to be able to restore gastrointestinal function. It has the advantage of "entering the hot spring, drinking the hot spring, and sucking the steam from the lungs." There is a drinking fountain in front of Ishinoyu, a public bathhouse in Bessho Onsen, Nagano Prefecture. It is a hot spring resort related to the Sanada family, who became a feudal lord with 130,000 koku of rice during the Edo period.

・46℃ hot spring bathing method.

There are cases where the temperature is high when entering a public bath at a local hot spring resort. The source of the hot spring is poured as it is, and it is not chlorinated like water supply. Public baths in rural areas and public baths in Tokyo often have high temperatures. There is no guidebook explaining why high temperature bathing is performed. I will tell you my own experience. In general households and large hotels, people often take a bath in a bathtub with a temperature of about 41°C. This is because it requires training to take a bath at a temperature higher than that from a safety point of view. Moreover, the insensible temperature bathing method requires bathing for a long time, and is not suitable for bathing in a busy daily life. So I settled down to take a bath at about 41°C. It is standard to bathe twice for about 5 minutes by the whole body repetitive bathing method. Local public baths often have a temperature of 46°C. Let's explain the reason from the physiological function of the human body. If you bathe in a 46°C hot spring for 3 minutes, your skin will turn red all over your body. This is because it opens the capillaries and improves blood circulation throughout the body. In other words, the capillaries throughout the body open to scoop out waste products and discharge them. High-quality ions from hot springs enter trillions of cells, supply high-quality water, and refresh the body. Naturally, the immune system and natural healing power will improve. Instead, the bathing time is 3 minutes. Doing this twice or three times is the local communal bath bathing method. Instead, he sweats profusely. When you sweat, sit outside the bathtub to cool the epidermis. In the meantime, draw hot spring water from the bathtub and pour it over your body. When you stop sweating, take a bath in the bathtub again for up to 3 minutes. 2 minutes or 1 minute is fine depending on your physical condition. The high temperature puts a heavy burden on the body. Do not force yourself to continue bathing for 3 minutes. If you feel a strong burden on your body, it is good to take a 1-minute bath five times. Of course, before bathing, the body is accustomed to the high temperature by pouring hot springs from the head many times. If you neglect this preparation work, you may collapse due to heat shock, and you may lose your life.

・Two baths at 48℃ for 3 minutes. Timed bathing method. "JIKAN-YU". I explained how the 46°C high-temperature bathing method improves the natural healing power and immunity. However, a large amount of sweat comes out, and some of the high-quality hot spring ingredients that have been taken into the body are discharged outside the body. Therefore, Jikanyu (JIKAN-YU) is where you take a 3-minute bath twice in a 48°C hot spring that is hotter than that. Why is it 48 degrees Celsius? According to the physiology of the human body, the sweat glands close when the temperature is dangerous. For example, if the temperature is 60 degrees Celsius in the desert and the sweat glands are not closed and the people are sweating all the time, the caravan will be dehydrated and wiped out. For the same reason, when you enter a 48°C hot spring, the human body activates its protective function and closes its sweat glands. In addition, the bundle of nerves in the spine is hit by high temperature, and the nerve functions of the natural healing power and immune power that do not normally function are exposed. Especially for patients with chronic chronic diseases, there are cases where the hot spring therapy is finally performed by this high-temperature bathing method twice for 3 minutes at 48°C. Of course, the body is accustomed to the 48°C hot spring by pouring 48°C hot springs over and over from the head. Naturally hot. Put a towel over your head to soften the impact, and pour the 48°C hot spring over your head over and over again. And so as not to shake the hot water, straighten your toes and enter the hot spring like synchronized swimming. The representative facility of this bathing method is "Shika no Yu" in Nasu Yumoto Onsen, Tochigi Prefecture. There are 6 baths for men and 4 baths for women. The bath for men is 41°C, 42°C, 43°C, 44°C, 46°C, and 48°C. There is a 3-minute hourglass in the 48°C bath. The next person must not bathe while another person is in the bath. This is because there is a danger that the hot water will sway and cause burns. There is a cloth that a woman called YUYUGI hides her body in a mixed bathing hot spring, but in fact, the history of YUYUGI was to protect her skin while bathing in a hot spring with a high temperature of 48 degrees Celsius. Vortex damages her skin. She can protect her skin by wearing a Yugi and taking a bath. The bathing method of 48 degrees 3 minutes 2 degrees remains in many rural public baths. People who bathe in hot springs at this temperature are hot spring fans who have been trained, so greetings and information exchanges are actively carried out at the bathhouse. I would like to introduce the public bathhouses of Zao Onsen in Yamagata Prefecture, Kaminoyama Onsen in Yamagata Prefecture, Onogawa Onsen in Yamagata Prefecture, Yujuku Onsen in Gunma Prefecture, Nozawa Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, Shinshu Shibu Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, and Yudanaka Onsen in Nagano Prefecture (all 48 Although it is not a spring). It should be noted that there is a 48.5°C hot spring in the public bathhouse of Iizaka Onsen in Fukushima Prefecture, and the method of bathing is twice a minute. I learned how to bathe directly from two seniors in the area, but I was also impressed by the history of the local hot springs. At present, bathing in hot springs with a high temperature of 48°C at accommodation facilities has almost disappeared due to the danger. However, in Gunma Prefecture Yujuku hot spring "Yumotokan", a hot spring bath with a high temperature of 48 degrees Celsius is maintained. The large circular bath is a mixed bath. At the place where the hot spring is coming out, you can see a beautiful form of crystallized hot spring ingredients called HAKKA. If you touch the source directly, you will get burned, so be careful.

・How to take a bath at 53°C by Dr. Beltz. In the latter half of the Meiji period, the University of Tokyo invited Dr. Berz, a German doctor. He proposed a hot spring city plan for Ikaho Onsen, continued his research on Kusatsu Onsen, and published a paper on it to the world. He made proposals to the Japanese imperial family on the health maintenance of hot springs, designed a villa for the imperial palace in Hakone, and designed villa sites for the imperial family in Numazu City, Shizuoka Prefecture and Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Good seawater ions at the beach are also important for health recovery. The conditions are not only the presence of the sea, but also the warm climate and the formation of forests on land. Seawater ion therapy at the beach is called "Shio-Touji". It is a non-hot spring cure that is often practiced on the coast of Niigata Prefecture. At the time when Bertz visited Kusatsu Onsen and began his research, medical treatment methods for venereal disease infected people in red-light districts in Tokyo had yet to be established. Sufferers relied on treatment in high-temperature hot springs with strong bactericidal sulfur springs. This use has been done since the Edo period. Dr. Beltz organized it and supported the treatment of terminally ill patients with a super-high hot spring group bathing method of 53 degrees Celsius. Dr. Beltz himself obtained a large plot of land in Kusatsu Onsen and applied for the right to draw a hot spring, but he met with opposition from the district managers and left Kusatsu Onsen in disappointment. The hot spring facility realized by Dr. Beltz is the Hakone Rikyu in Hakone Town, Kanagawa Prefecture. Here, I would like to talk about the bathhouse of the imperial villa called Goyotei. Nasu Onsen in Tochigi Prefecture, Shiobara Onsen in Tochigi Prefecture, and Nikko Onsen in Tochigi Prefecture are hot spring villas of the imperial family. Shiobara Onsen and Nikko Onsen can be visited as facilities. The Nasu Imperial Villa is still used by the Imperial family today. Foreigners will probably guess that the bathtub must be spacious and luxurious. But in fact it is the other way around. The space between the surrounding boards is overwhelmingly wider than the bathtub. The bathtub is overwhelmingly smaller than the public bath of a large tourist hot spring hotel. The bath is about the size of a small hot spring inn. Of course, the number of people taking a bath is small because the emperor and the crown prince take a bath. The reason why the bathtub is small does not depend on the number of people taking a bath. In Japanese hot spring bathing, which is based on the “whole-body repetitive bathing method”, if the bathtub is small and the floor board is wide, the bath will be filled with high-quality hot spring steam. After bathing, the body cools down between the wooden boards, inhaling the steam, and then reentering the bathtub. Chamberlains wash their bodies and converse with each other to contribute to the health maintenance of the emperor and the royal family. Suction of hot spring water vapor is an important hot spring function. During the Edo period, bathing methods in public baths changed due to the development of thermal power resources and the development of water supply systems. In the first half of the Edo period, it was a 'steam bath', that is, a method of simply inhaling water vapor. A half-body bath in the middle of the Edo period. Only the lower half of the body was bathed. In the latter half of the Edo period, it finally became a method of bathing the whole body. Since ancient times, hot springs in Japan have been places for maintaining health and recuperating from illnesses, because there are limits to how to bathe in urban areas.

�DVariety of hot spring management

There are three types of hot springs: self-flowing, pumping, and Kazusa-bori. A self-flowing hot spring is a hot spring that naturally gushes out from the ground under its own power. Pumping is the process of using a pump to pull hot spring water out of the ground. There are hot springs with a depth of about 50m, and there is also pumped water with a depth of more than 1000m. Kazusa-bori is a method of supplying hot springs that has been practiced since the end of the Meiji era in Kagoshima and Oita prefectures. Originally, in the hilly areas of southern Chiba Prefecture, a technique was developed in the Kyushu region in which a small amount of groundwater naturally gushed out by digging a long bamboo stick from which the knots were removed and pointing the ground slightly upward. It is a hot spring supply method that was introduced to There are hot springs that pull up water veins deep underground with pumps, but hot springs don't come out just by digging deep underground anywhere in the world. Let's explain in the Kanto Plain. Earth has ice ages and interglacials. During the Ice Age, seawater also shrunk due to a drop in temperature, and glaciers were formed on land in large quantities, so the sea level was 200m lower than it is today. The continental shelf was formed at that time. During the interglacial period, seawater expanded and land ice almost melted, so the sea level was 40m higher than today. The tops of the Tama hills in Tokyo are aligned. This topography was formed when the sea level was 40m higher. In other words, there was a time when the Kanto Plain was land, and there was a time when it was below sea level. The plain was pushed into the ground in a fan shape by plate movement and formed a stratum. In the sub-sea age, it contained salt, and in the sea age, the strata contained trees and animal carcasses. The pumped-storage hot springs in the Kanto region include moor hot springs, which are dark brown hot springs, and chloride hot springs, which are slightly cloudy salt hot springs. The slanting strata pushed deeply by the fan-shaped Pacific plate is called the Chichibu geosynclinal. In the Chichibu region of Saitama Prefecture, there is a cliff where you can see strata formed diagonally. The Tama River, which runs through Tokyo, also transported organic matter downstream, so there are moor-type hot springs in public baths in Ota Ward. Japan has a "Public Bath Law". This is a law that stipulates hygiene management at bathing facilities, which are sanitary facilities. Free residual chlorine concentration is defined as 0.2-0.4mg/kg. Although the water supply law stipulates a disinfection standard of 0.1-1.0 mg/kg, the disinfection standard is low because it is not drinking water. However, the facilities subject to the ``Public Bath Law'' are ``facilities where an unspecified number of people take a bath,'' and include public baths in Tokyo and large-scale hot spring baths in hot spring tourist areas. On the other hand, there are many cases where small-scale hot spring inns and public baths are exempt from disinfection. In addition, in the case of sulfur-based hot springs, hydrogen sulfide gas is generated when chlorine-based disinfection is applied, so disinfection is exempted in consideration of the sterilization power of sulfur. However, in any facility, regular "Legionella bacteria inspection, etc." is obligatory, and hygiene is protected. Looking at research materials on hot springs, of the 3,200 hot springs in Japan, about one-third are natural hot springs, and about two-thirds are pumped hot springs. We usually think that it is ideal to have a hot spring source nearby, preferably with hot springs gushing out from the bottom of the bathtub, with a constant supply of hot springs, and overflowing from the bathtub. However, it is a case-by-case basis for hot spring resorts or hot spring facilities. If you are close to the source, you will also be affected by toxic gases. The too fresh source is rough and burdens the skin. The farther from the source, the softer the hot spring in the bath. The ㏗ value will also settle down. There is also a provision for sterilization by the Public Bath Law, and there is a dilemma that if the hot springs are always flowing, the sterilizer must be continuously added. Therefore, the classification of hot spring supply is as follows. "Non-sterilized hot spring flowing directly from the source". This is realized in many public bathhouses. In addition, sulfur-based hot springs and small-sized hot spring inns allow non-sterilization, so bathing in this type of hot spring is recommended. Although the act of sterilization itself is stipulated by law, chlorine-based disinfection has the risk of aggravating the condition of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis. However, there are certain things that this type of hot spring requires. It is a condition that the hot water in the bathtub is completely replaced every day or regularly. "Circulation filtration type hot spring". Whether it's a public bath in Tokyo or a bathtub at home, the water never overflows. In the case of public baths, heat is added and circulated to prevent temperature drops. Instead, disinfect according to the law. The reason why Japanese people wash their bodies carefully in public baths is that they understand that it is against public morals to pollute the bath water. This method of supplying hot springs has the advantage of preventing the wasteful use of hot spring resources and the depletion of hot spring resources. "Combined type of circulation filtration and source supply". In the hotel's large hot spring bath, the source may continue to be supplied while circulating the hot spring. This system, which constantly supplies fresh hot springs while maintaining hygiene, should also be evaluated. ・"Kazusa Digging" (KAZUSA-BORI). Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture has the highest number of hot springs in Japan. There is a maximum of 32,800 liters of free-flowing hot springs per minute, and 2,000 liters of privately pumped hot springs. Beppu Onsen in Oita Prefecture has a total hot spring volume of over 10 liters per minute. The number of hot springs is several thousand, which is the largest in Japan. A study of hot spring materials from the Meiji period revealed that the total amount of hot springs in Oita and Kagoshima prefectures was not large. Shizuoka Prefecture, which ranks third in terms of the number of hot spring resorts in Japan, especially the Izu Peninsula, can be inferred to have been a major hot spring resort area in the late Edo and early Meiji periods. After learning about Kazusa digging in southern Chiba Prefecture, hot spring resorts developed in Kagoshima Prefecture and Oita Prefecture at the end of the Meiji period, like a gold rush. When we dug diagonally upward with a piece of bamboo that had its knots removed, hot springs gushed out steadily. It is unreasonable to classify this as a pumping hot spring. This is because no pump power is used. However, it is unreasonable to classify it as a self-flowing hot spring. This is because the source area and the hot spring supply area are far apart. I would like to name the wisdom of this hot spring supply system "semi-self-flowing hot spring". In a questionnaire to Japanese people asking, "Which prefecture is the hot spring prefecture?", Oita Prefecture came out on top. �DVariety of hot spring management There are three types of hot springs: self-flowing, pumping, and Kazusa-bori. A self-flowing hot spring is a hot spring that naturally gushes out from the ground under its own power. Pumping is the process of using a pump to pull hot spring water out of the ground. There are hot springs with a depth of about 50m, and there is also pumped water with a depth of more than 1000m. Kazusa-bori is a method of supplying hot springs that has been practiced since the end of the Meiji era in Kagoshima and Oita prefectures. Originally, in order to obtain groundwater in the hilly area of southern Chiba Prefecture, a long bamboo stick with bamboo knots removed was used to dig up the ground slightly, and a small amount of groundwater naturally gushed out. This is the hot spring supply method introduced to the Kyushu region. There are hot springs that pull up water veins deep underground with pumps, but hot springs don't come out just by digging deep underground anywhere in the world. Let's explain in the Kanto Plain. Earth has ice ages and interglacials. During the Ice Age, seawater also shrunk due to a drop in temperature, and glaciers were formed on land in large quantities, so the sea level was 200m lower than it is today. The continental shelf was formed at that time. During the interglacial period, seawater expanded and land ice almost melted, so the sea level was 40m higher than today. The tops of the Tama hills in Tokyo are all here. This topography was formed when the sea level was 40m higher. In other words, there was a time when the Kanto Plain was land, and there was a time when it was below sea level. The plain was pushed into the ground in a fan shape by plate movement and formed a stratum. In the sub-sea age, it contained salt, and in the above-sea age, the strata contained trees and animal carcasses. The pumped-storage hot springs in the Kanto region include moor hot springs, which are dark brown hot springs, and chloride hot springs, which are slightly cloudy salt hot springs. The slanting strata pushed deeply by the fan-shaped Pacific plate is called the Chichibu geosynclinal. In the Chichibu region of Saitama Prefecture, there is a cliff where you can see strata formed diagonally. The Tama River, which runs through Tokyo, also transported organic matter downstream, so there are moor-type hot springs in public baths in Ota Ward. Japan has a "Public Bath Law". This is a law that stipulates hygiene management at bathing facilities, which are sanitary facilities. Free residual chlorine concentration is defined as 0.2~0.4mg/kg. Although the water supply law stipulates a disinfection standard of 0.1 to 1.0 mg/kg, the disinfection standard is low because it is not drinking water. However, the facilities subject to the ``Public Bath Law'' are ``facilities where an unspecified number of people take a bath,'' and include public baths in Tokyo and large-scale hot spring baths in hot spring tourist areas. On the other hand, there are many cases where small-scale hot spring inns and public baths are exempt from disinfection. In addition, in the case of sulfur-based hot springs, hydrogen sulfide gas is generated when chlorine-based disinfection is applied, so disinfection is exempted in consideration of the sterilization power of sulfur. However, in any facility, regular "Legionella bacteria inspection, etc." is obligatory, and hygiene is protected. Looking at research materials on hot springs, of the 3,200 hot springs in Japan, about one-third are natural hot springs, and about two-thirds are pumped hot springs. We usually think that it is ideal to have a hot spring source nearby, preferably with hot springs gushing out from the bottom of the bathtub, with a constant supply of hot springs, and overflowing from the bathtub. However, it is a case-by-case basis for hot spring resorts or hot spring facilities. If the bathhouse is close to the source, it will also be affected by toxic gases. The too fresh source is rough and burdens the skin. The farther from the source, the softer the hot spring in the bath. The ㏗ value will also settle down. There is also a provision for sterilization by the Public Bath Law, and there is a dilemma that if the hot springs are always flowing, the sterilizer must be continuously added. Therefore, the classification of hot spring supply is as follows. "Non-sterilized hot spring flowing directly from the source" This is realized in many public bathhouses. In addition, sulfur-based hot springs and small-sized hot spring inns allow non-sterilization, so you can enter this type of hot spring. Although the act of sterilization itself is stipulated by law, chlorine-based disinfection has the risk of aggravating the condition of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis. However, there are certain things that this type of hot spring requires. It is a condition that the hot water in the bathtub is completely replaced every day or regularly. "Circulation filtration type hot spring" Whether it's a public bath in Tokyo or a bathtub at home, the hot water never overflows. In the case of public baths, heat is added and circulated to prevent temperature drops. Instead, disinfect according to the law. The reason why Japanese people wash their bodies carefully in public baths is that they understand that it is against public morals to pollute the bath water. This method of supplying hot springs has the advantage of preventing the wasteful use of hot spring resources and the depletion of hot spring resources. "Combined type of circulation filtration and source supply" In the hotel's large hot spring bath, the hot spring is circulated and the source is sometimes continuously supplied. This system, which constantly supplies fresh hot springs while maintaining hygiene, should also be evaluated. "Kazusa Digging" (KAZUSA-BORI) Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture has the best natural hot spring in Japan. There is a natural hot spring of up to 32,800 liters per minute, and a private pumped-up hot spring of 2,000 liters per minute. Beppu Onsen in Oita Prefecture has a total hot spring volume of over 100,000 liters per minute. The number of hot springs is several thousand, which is the largest in Japan. A study of hot spring materials from the Meiji period revealed that the total amount of hot springs in Oita and Kagoshima prefectures was not large. Shizuoka Prefecture, which ranks third in terms of the number of hot spring resorts in Japan, especially the Izu Peninsula, can be inferred to have been a major hot spring resort area in the late Edo and early Meiji periods. After learning about Kazusa digging in southern Chiba Prefecture, hot spring resorts developed in Kagoshima Prefecture and Oita Prefecture at the end of the Meiji period, like a gold rush. When we dug diagonally upward with a piece of bamboo that had its knots removed, hot springs gushed out steadily. It is unreasonable to classify this as a pumping hot spring. This is because no pump power is used. However, it is unreasonable to classify it as a self-flowing hot spring. This is because the source area and the hot spring supply area are far apart. I would like to name the wisdom of this hot spring supply system "semi-self-flowing hot spring". In a questionnaire to Japanese people asking, "Which prefecture is the hot spring prefecture?", Oita Prefecture came out on top.

�ECombined use of "communal bath" and hot spring of the accommodation facility

　There is a guesthouse in a hot spring area with a signboard that says "Ushi-yu". “Uchiyu” means that the inn has a hot spring bath. Historically, hot spring resorts were a mix of high-end inns where daimyo (feudal lords), wealthy merchants, and royal aristocrats stayed in the Edo period, and low-cost lodging facilities where ordinary people enjoyed hot spring cures. Commoners stayed at inns that did not have hot spring baths, and used the public baths to heal themselves. With the development of hot spring supply facilities and the development of hot spring sources, the total amount of hot springs increased, and hot springs began to be installed in lodgings for the common people. I would like you to think that the 1960s is the center. At first, there was only one bathhouse, and it was a mixed bathing for men and women. However, with the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Western moral principles were introduced and separate bathing for men and women progressed. However, even now, there are old-fashioned hot spring inns where couples and lovers can bathe in one bathhouse. Shimobe Onsen Sagamiya, Kusatsu Onsen Minshuku Yamadaso, and Masutomi Radium Onsen Saneiso are of this type. In 1952 and 1953, there are many photos of mixed bathing in the photo book "Hot Springs in Japan through the Eyes" (edited by the Japan Hot Spring Association and published by Japan Transportation Public Corporation). Many pre-World War II photographic materials have been published. There are photographs of people of all ages taking baths, from elementary and junior high school students to the elderly. I think that it is recognized as a material of hot spring culture because there is no recall order under Japan's "anti-child pornography law". In other words, it shows that the sympathetic experience of bathing naked in hot springs has been rooted in Japan for more than 1,000 years, even before the "commercialization of sex." I would like to recommend a hot spring resort with a communal bath that can also be used by hotel guests. If the spring quality of the public bath is diverse, the hot spring that soaks into the body also forms a musical chord. I learn a lot from the local people. "Nozawa Onsen, Nagano Prefecture". 13 communal baths are open to the public free of charge. The spring quality is diverse. You can enjoy hot springs in the large public bath of the facility where you stayed, and enjoy the communal baths of the local people. Nozawa Oyu is ranked third in Eastern Japan in the "National Public Bath Ranking (BANDUKE)" created by the Japan Onsen Association. Takinoyu and Shinyu are famous hot springs that are highly rated by the locals. The gate is automatically locked at night, so it cannot be used. We recommend that you stay for about a week and visit the 13 hot springs at your leisure. There is also a hot spring for washing used by local residents. There is a ``Okama(Asagama) hot spring'' area where local vegetables called Nozawana are boiled, and the source is drawn to the ``Asagama no Yu'' public bath. When you boil vegetables in the source area, the smell of vegetables is transferred to the hot spring. A precious communal bath that makes you feel like a vegetable being boiled when you enter the hot spring. At the Japan Ski Museum, materials from the Winter Olympics have been exhibited since the first tournament. In the Oborozukiyo no Yakata, the study of Dr. Tatsuyuki Takano, a lyricist of school songs and a scholar of Japanese literature, has been recreated. It is a place for Japanese heartfelt songs that foreigners should remember, such as "Spring Creek" and "Momiji".

　"Nagano Prefecture Shinshu Shibu Onsen". You can use the 9 public baths free of charge if you stay at an inn that is a member of the Ryokan Cooperative Association. It is locked, but you can use it by opening the door with the key common to all 9 public baths. The bamboo bath is hot enough to burn you, so add mountain water to lower the temperature. The public bath that draws hot water from the natural monument Jigokudani source is very hot, so be careful. The Jigokudani Onsen area has a wild monkey park where you can see Japanese macaques bathing in the hot springs. The sight of Japanese macaques bathing in hot springs with snow on their heads is especially famous during the snowy season, and is named "SNOW MONKEY". Actually it is "ONSEN MONKEY". "Iizaka Onsen, Fukushima Prefecture". You can use 9 public baths for 200 yen each. Sabakoyu is a famous hot spring bathed by Basho Matsuo, a master of haiku. The quality of the springs at the nine locations is similar, but the quality of the springs is the result of analysis of dried molecules, so the hot springs at each public bath are slightly different. There are communal baths built with gorgeous giant trees, as well as communal baths in rustic prefabricated buildings in the area. If you go to a rustic communal bath in the area, you can chat with local seniors and learn a lot. I would like you to stay at this hot spring resort for about a week and experience "Touji" ("TOUJI"). "Nagano Bessho Onsen". There are 3 public baths. 150 yen each. Ishiyu ranks 5th in the East Japan ranking of public baths nationwide. Yakushi-no-Yu is a hot spring in front of the north-facing Kannon. Bessho Oyu (Aoi-no-Yu) is a circulation system, but the indoor bath is a hot spring with a deep green color, and there is also an open-air bath. 150 yen is well worth it. There are free parking lots in front of Ishiyu and under Oyu. There is also a laundry hot spring, but only local residents can use it.

�F Japanese taboo. There is a simple Japanese kimono called "Yukata". KIMONO is worn at fireworks festivals and when sightseeing in Kyoto. The word "yukata" (YUKATA) contains kanji characters for bathing. In other words, it means clothes when staying at a hot spring resort. Japanese onsen culture allows you to bathe as many times as you like once you check in. At that time, instead of formal clothing, "YUKATA" is prepared as casual clothing so that guests can relax in their own homes. There is a point to be noted here. Men wear it with his left side forward. Women wear it with the right side facing forward. When this is reversed, it becomes "how to wear clothes when you die and go to the coffin". In other words, it is taboo to wear it in reverse. Japan also has a culture of chopsticks. It is the same as the Chinese cultural sphere and the Korean cultural sphere. However, in Japan, two people do not pick up the same ingredient with chopsticks at the same time. In Japan, people are cremated after death. When moving the remaining remains into a container, the two of them said, "I'm so sad that I can't carry them alone." In other words, two people holding one ingredient with chopsticks means holding the ashes after cremation. I used to be a Japanese language instructor at Yonsei University in Korea, and in Korean society, it is normal to use chopsticks to help. If one person finds it difficult to hold food with chopsticks, another person helps them with chopsticks. But in Japan it is taboo. During funerals and memorial services, in Japanese Buddhism, a "candle" is lit with a match and a scented stick called "SENKOU" is burned to emit fragrant smoke. At this time, when you extinguish the flames of matches, candles, and SENKOU, you must not extinguish them with your breath. This is because it means "to extinguish with breath", that is, "breath cuts off = death". If "SENKOU" catches fire, shake the hand holding "SENKOU" left and right to extinguish the flame. Use the palm of your hand to blow the air as you extinguish the flame of the candle. Blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, on the other hand, is not taboo. It is a symbol of life force that breathes powerfully. "Kicking a basket" in English and "going home" in Korean can mean "die" as a polysemy.

�G When Muslims wear swimsuits and enter hot springs.

At the age of 40, I entered graduate school again. I had a friend who was an exchange student from Turkey. When we went to a hot spring together, he was worried for a long time because he was a Muslim, saying, "It is forbidden in Islam to be completely naked in front of other people." I advised him that he had brought a bathing suit. He said, "Please wear a bathing suit according to Islamic rules and take a bath." I explained the situation to each of the Japanese tourists who were bathing at the same time. After completing graduate school, he planned to become a Japanese language teacher at a university after completing his military service. "I want to cherish Japan's hot spring culture, but I'm a Muslim," he said. Both Hindus and Muslims have taboos. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics required “halal certification”. Similarly, Japanese society needs to understand the taboos of each religion. If there are Muslims who are viewing this website, please print out the following text and post it at hot springs and public baths.

「私はイスラム教徒です。宗教上の理由で他人の前で全裸になることができません。水着を着用して入浴します。下半身は水着の中で石鹸で洗います。御理解下さい」（I am Muslim. For religious reasons, I can't be completely naked in front of other people. Wear a swimming suit and take a bath. Wash my lower body with soap in my swimming suit. please understand.）

�H You can see the Japanese lifestyle in "common people's hotels, restaurants and local railways"

I bought a resort apartment in Kusatsu Onsen for 500,000 yen and am receiving medical treatment for whiplash. I also use the hot springs at the mountain house in Shuzenji Onsen, Shizuoka Prefecture, which my parents left behind. It is an ideal life to have a hot spring at home, but for sightseeing and hot spring fieldwork, I continue to stay at a hot spring inn from my savings. The year before last, I stayed at an inn in Kusatsu Onsen for 14 nights. Due to the spread of the new virus covid-19, the tourism industry was in trouble, so the Japanese government created a subsidy system for Japanese people, so I used it. We also stayed in a 5 star hotel. We also stayed at a family-run inn. I also stayed at a public hotel. And I realized that I would like to recommend a "commoner's hotel" to foreign tourists. "Before that, I would like to talk about the restaurant." High-end restaurants have dress codes and some restaurants are not suitable for children. Many of them are also introduced in guidebooks. However, since privacy is emphasized, it is not easy to chat with the Japanese who are present. Considering the cost-effectiveness, it is a waste of time to chat with others at a fancy restaurant. On the other hand, there is a system called "family restaurant" in Japan. It is an inexpensive restaurant that can be used by grandparents, parents and grandchildren. It tastes good too. You sometimes hear the voices of their grandchildren's children. You can see grandchildren leading their grandparents by the hand to the machine where they buy toys by inserting coins, and begging for toys. In fact, this situation is the closest to the meal scenery at home. We commoners don't sit like aristocrats at long tables and eat fine food with silver tableware while butlers stand and watch. At family restaurants, conversations with family members present are not considered an "invasion of privacy." All the customers who use the store are family. Similarly, ordinary people's hotels have charm. Guests can exchange hot spring information with each other, and share a table when they are lonely eating alone. If you talk to them in simple Japanese or simple English, they will often welcome you. I think it would be a waste to have you go back to your home country without interacting with Japanese people, even though you have come all the way from abroad to travel to Japan. Also, for foreign tourists who find it difficult to rent a car because the traffic rules are reversed, we recommend local trains stopping at every station. It stops at all stations and passengers get on and off. A high school boy with a baseball club tool calls out to an elderly person. "Grandma, how are you? Grandpa, is your back sick?" Two people who are not relatives. A high school boy just called out to an old lady he'd known since childhood. This is difficult to encounter on metropolitan railroads. Because many passengers use it for work. A view of the daily life of Japanese people. If you press the intercom at a Japanese house and say, "I am a foreigner who has come to Japan, but I would like to see how Japanese people eat everyday, please let me in." would call In that case, I would like you to see the daily life of Japanese people at family restaurants, hotels for commoners, and local railways that are close to the everyday scenery. I guarantee that the hot spring resort is one of the stages. Based on my experience, I recommend the following two hotel chains. Also, although it is not a hot spring resort, it is recommended to use a guesthouse in Kyoto City, as it is inexpensive and exchanges of sightseeing information are held every night in the common room.

・Itoen Hotel: 2 buffets per night. All-you-can-drink beer, wine, and several types of local sake. The buffet has a wide variety of ingredients, including sashimi and sushi. Both Western and Chinese food are served. Local sake is called "jizake" (local sake). Specifically, at the Itoen Hotel store in Shizuoka Prefecture, the only sake brewery on the Izu Peninsula, Bandai Brewery, and Hana no Mai, a brewery in Hamamatsu City, offer several types of sake. The fruit wine is also made by Bandai Jozo. In Nagano Prefecture, 'Nanasho', 'Chikuma Nishiki' and 'Yukiguni' are often served. The "Snow Country" label is handwritten by Yasunari Kawabata, a novelist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In Gunma Prefecture, Asama Sake Brewery 'Higen', Shotoku Meijou 'Shotoku' from Kanra-town, and wine from Nakanojo-town Tsukada Farm 'Sanzan Wine' are offered. There is a cheap plan for consecutive weekday stays (starting at 13,200 yen for 2 nights and 4 buffets; some plans are slightly more expensive depending on the rank of the hotel), so I will introduce it, but there may be rules regarding reservations from overseas. It would be a problem for the hotel to make a reservation with malicious intent and cancel it without permission, so I would like you to use a credit card pre-registration system such as booking.com.

Consecutive Stay Week [Official Website] Itoen Hotels (itoenhotel.com)

https://www.itoenhotel.com/special/thanks_week/

・ Ohruri Group: A representative hotel for the common people. Due to the spread of the new virus covid-19, the stores have been reorganized, but several hot spring resorts are operating as hotels for the common people. There are stores in Kinugawa Onsen, Tochigi Prefecture, Shiobara Onsen, Tochigi Prefecture, and Kusatsu Onsen, Gunma Prefecture. Shiobara Onsen has a free shuttle bus from Utsunomiya Station and Oyama Station to Shiobara Onsen. Kusatsu Onsen has a free shuttle bus from Takasaki Station. There is also a discount plan for consecutive nights for two or more people staying in one room.

Cheap hotels Kinugawa Kusatsu Nasu Inn boasting hot springs and pick-up tour | Ohruri Group (ohruri.com)

https://www.ohruri.com/

As a family restaurant chain, I recommend the following. As a small shareholder myself, I once made a statement at a shareholders' meeting and was praised by management. There are many part-time workers of local housewives and students who are store staff, and the staff often teaches local information.

https://www.skylark.co.jp/

It is a family restaurant chain called "Skylark". Customers over the age of 60 will receive a 5% discount coupon free of charge. Foreigners can also get coupons. If you register on the smartphone site, you will be provided with a discount coupon. I often use two types of stores, "Gusto" and "Bamiyan", but there is a bargain drink bar. I also sometimes use the shabu-shabu specialty restaurant "Shabuha". All-you-can-eat shabu-shabu is cheap, and soft serve ice cream, waffles, udon, curry, and ramen are also all-you-can-eat.

https://www.skylark.co.jp/gusto/

https://www.skylark.co.jp/bamiyan/

https://www.skylark.co.jp/syabuyo/

I often use Zensho Holdings' family restaurants, conveyor belt sushi restaurants, and beef bowl restaurants. I am a minor shareholder of Zensho.

https://www.zensho.co.jp/jp/

https://www.hama-sushi.co.jp/

https://www.cocos-jpn.co.jp/

https://www.sukiya.jp/

I will introduce hot spring tourism and stores with good locations.

Shizuoka Prefecture Shuzenji Onsen (Bamiyan Shuzenji location)

Shizuoka Prefecture Izu Nagaoka Onsen (Gust Izu Nagaoka location)

Yudanaka Shibu Onsenkyo (Gust Shinshu Nakano location)

Bessho Onsen in Nagano Prefecture: Gusto Ueda branch, Ueda Tenjin branch, Cocos Ueda branch, two Sukiya branches, Hamazushi Ueda Tsuneiri branch, and Shabuha Ueda Chuo branch

Nozawa Onsen, Nagano (Gust Iiyama branch, Sukiya Iiyama branch)

Iizaka Onsen, Fukushima Prefecture Family restaurants in Fukushima City

Aizu Higashiyama Onsen (Fukushima Prefecture): Gust Aizu Inter branch, Shabuyou Aizuwakamatsu branch, and Cocos Aizuwakamatsu branch

Nasu Yumoto Onsen Tochigi Prefecture, Gust Tashiro location in,

Tochigi Prefecture Shiobara Onsen, Gust Shioda location

Kanagawa Prefecture Hakone Onsen (Gust Odawara Minami location)

Atami Onsen, Shizuoka Prefecture Jonathan Atami, Jonathan Atami Sun Beach, Gust Ajiro

Kanagawa Prefecture Yugawara Onsen, (Gusto Yugawara branch/Jonathan Yugawara branch)

I would like everyone to use the local railway in cooperation with the hot spring resort.

Nagano Prefecture Yudanaka Shibu Onsen Village → Nagano Electric Railway　https://www.nagaden-net.co.jp/

Bessho Onsen, Nagano → Ueda Kotsu Bessho Line　https://www.uedadentetsu.com/

Shizuoka Prefecture Shuzenji Onsen → Izu Hakone Railway　　http://www.izuhakone.co.jp/railway/

Iizaka Onsen, Fukushima Prefecture→Fukushima Kotsu　https://ii-den.jp/

Yasunari Kawabata's "Snow Country" Tunnel. Minakami Onsen, Yubiso Onsen, Gunma Prefecture, Echigo Yuzawa Onsen, Niigata Prefecture (7 round trips per day on weekdays, 8 round trips per day on weekends → https://www.navitime.co.jp/diagram/depArrTimeList?departure=00004558&arrival=00000702&line=00000150&updown=1

Shiga prefecture Omi-machi residential area private railway → Ohmi Railway　https://www.ohmitetudo.co.jp/

Hakone Onsen, Kanagawa → Hakone Tozan Railway　https://www.hakonenavi.jp/hakone-tozan

Bandai Atami Onsen/Aizu Higashiyama Onsen in Fukushima Prefecture → JR Ban'etsu West Line

https://www.jreast-timetable.jp/2304/timetable/tt0675/0675080.html#time_20

�I Put “TOUJI” in the schedule of your visit to Japan

"I sometimes pick up a Japanese tourist guidebook." Korean, English, etc. 30 million people live in the Kanto Plain, where Tokyo is located. There are many event facilities in the city. There are many art galleries and museums in the city. However, if you have time to spare, if you have come all the way to Japan for sightseeing, I would like you to stay at a local hot spring for about a week and interact with the local people. When I look at Kusatsu Onsen, Shuzenji Onsen, Atami Onsen, etc., it seems that many foreign tourists come to Japan and spend three nights in the city, and then spend one night at a hot spring resort to commemorate the occasion. It seems that the number of foreign tourists who stay for a week in Hakuba Village, Nagano Prefecture, for skiing is increasing recently. Niseko in Hokkaido is also popular with long-term residents. It's a waste to stay one night even though you've come all the way to ski or snowboard. In the same way, it would be a waste to spend one night at a hot spring resort with a beautiful natural environment in Japan's mountains and seas. Kyoto is also a city filled with nostalgia for being the capital of Japan for 1,000 years, so I definitely want foreign tourists to stay there. If you want to save money, there are many guesthouses in Kyoto, which are traditional kyomachiya style houses. There is also a guest house where you can cook for yourself. At hot spring resorts, we would like them to have the opportunity to interact with Japanese people by staying at a hotel for commoners, or staying at a hot spring inn with their own kitchen, which has become rare, and have the experience of cooking with Japanese people. The possibility of interacting with Japanese people at a commoner's hotel is also valuable.

�JLet's memorize the song that praises hot springs. With this, you will also become a pro-Japanese group. "Japanese people like hot springs." Even on TV programs, programs in which TV celebrities travel to hot spring resorts are broadcast almost every day. At that time, there is a song that flows as BGM. The song was written by Rokusuke Ei and composed by Taku Izumi. It is a song that praises hot springs, and when it comes to hot springs in Japan, this song is representative, and almost all Japanese people know it. If you memorize the main part of the song in Japanese and switch the names of prefectures and hot springs, you will have more chances to interact with Japanese people. "It's a good hot spring. This is Joshu. Kusatsu no Yu" is the best original. "Joshu" is the name of Gunma Prefecture in the Edo period. When you visit Nozawa Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, all the locals will be delighted if you sing, "It's a nice hot spring. This is Shinshu. Nozawa no Yu." "Shinshu" is the name of Nagano prefecture in the Edo period. To be precise, it is called "SHINANO". It means "Shinano State" or "SHINANO STATE". ”I I YUDANA KOKOWA SHINSHUU NOZAWA NO YU!” It's a little difficult for people who haven't learned Japanese, but when they visit Nozawa Onsen in Nagano Prefecture, I want them to sing songs from elementary and junior high schools. "Mountain colored leaves shining in the autumn sunset"＝"AKINO YUUHINI TERUYAMA MOMIJI"

. It would be wonderful if you could sing even the first part.

�K “Onsen and Literature”

There are two Japanese Nobel Prize winners in literature. Yasunari Kawabata and Kenzaburo Oe. Yasunari Kawabata came from a family of chief physicians in the Kamakura Shogunate, and both his grandfather and father were doctors. His parents passed away when he was an infant, and his older sister, his only sibling, who lived apart during his junior high school years, passed away. He took care of his grandfather while he was still in high school. So in high school he lost his whole family and became lonely. Although his alma mater was in Ibaraki City, Osaka Prefecture, he left Osaka due to the pain of losing his family and studied hard at an entrance exam preparation school in Asakusa before entering the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tokyo. Initially he majored in English Literature, but later changed to Japanese Literature. Yasunari Kawabata, who was suffering from loneliness, entered the first high school of the University of Tokyo Liberal Arts School, but he was reluctant and was not good at making friends. After receiving a check from his relatives that his grandfather's mountain had been sold, Yasunari Kawabata suddenly sets off on a trip to the Izu Peninsula without informing his professors or friends. There, he meets Kaoru, a 13-year-old traveling entertainer who has only been able to attend elementary school for two years. Yasunari Kawabata, who became close to Kaoru's older brother, leaves the hot spring at the inn and relaxes with Kaoru's older brother by the river. Kaoru, who saw the two persons, stretched out naked from the mixed bathing open-air public bath on the opposite bank of the river and waved her hand. Kaoru wears make-up to look like an adult when performing at her tatami room, but Yasunari Kawabata realizes that she is actually a child girl. Yasunari Kawabata is shocked to find that, while he is an intellectual and is reluctant because of loneliness, Kaoru, who is poor, has only two years of education and cannot read kanji, is cheerful and positive. received. He packed up his intellectual school hat and bought a commoner's hat to continue his itinerary. "The moment when I returned to the human Yasunari Kawabata". This work is "Izu no Odoriko". After Yasunari Kawabata managed to graduate from the University of Tokyo with poor grades, he began his novelist life by staying at an inn in a hot spring resort in Izu. During his stay in Izu for about 10 years, he developed his skills as a novelist as well as human interaction, recovered his health, and started a period of development as a novelist in Kamakura. Yasunari Kawabata's works during his prosperous period are "Snow Country" and "Ancient Capital". "Izu no Odoriko" is the best introduction to read as a translated work. It is a collection of works that were serialized twice in a monthly literary magazine, so it is not long. You guys are long enough to finish reading the English, Korean and Chinese translations while you're in the hot springs. I would like people to read the translation of "Koto" in Kyoto. The English version is "OLD CAPITAL" and the French version is "KYOTO". "Snow Country" is set in Echigo Yuzawa Onsen, Niigata Prefecture. This is the scene of snow falling gently from the cloudy sky of Niigata Prefecture after entering the tunnel from Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture. This writing is famous and most Japanese people know it. I would like you to stay at a hot spring in Minakami-machi and actually take a local train and check this scenery. Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen is also a famous hot spring, and we would like you to stay there. We recommend Ryokan Meiji in Yumura Onsen, Yamanashi Prefecture, as a venue for Osamu Dazai's works. In the days when Osamu Dazai stayed, the hot spring was lukewarm, but now it is warm enough to use a new hot spring.

�L Do not believe in chemical supremacy About 20 years ago, there was a "hot spring camouflage incident" in Japan. One was Shirahone Onsen in Nagano Prefecture. The media, which had installed hidden cameras, reported that the village chief had put something called "Yuhana" into the cloudy sulfur spring, which had become transparent, to make it cloudy. In fact, the incident happened because the village chief didn't understand the hot springs at all. The source of sulfur hot springs is transparent before being thrown into the bath. It causes a chemical reaction with various ingredients and becomes cloudy. However, when the melting is great, like Kusatsu Onsen, even sulfur hot springs can become transparent. If the village chief licked the source and smelled it, he would definitely know that it was a high-quality hot spring. The village head who judged by "appearance". The media exposed by installing a hidden camera. The media made a fuss, saying, "It's a fake hot spring." And even in a hot spring resort in Gunma Prefecture, a lodging facility was found that pretended to be a hot spring with heated ordinary water. The mass media began reporting on all hot springs, questioning whether they were real hot springs, and hot spring writers followed suit. If water is added, the whole nation will make a fuss, saying, "It's a diluted fake." I think everyone drinks whiskey at times, but whether you drink it on the rocks or with water, the whiskey will be diluted. There is a growing trend that hot spring water is a fake if you dilute it with ice when you drink soft drinks in the summer. In that case, if you take an open-air bath on a rainy day, you will enter a hot spring diluted with rainwater. It's logically bankrupt. In the first place, the component analysis table of hot springs does not indicate the state of the bath. For example, if there is a hot spring source on state-owned land, the state determines the value of the hot spring source, and the user pays the annual usage fee to the forest management office. If the hot spring pipes pass through national land, they pay the land usage fee for that part to the government. Without knowing the state of the source of the hot springs, the asset value cannot be determined, nor can the usage fee to the government. In order to register and preserve the right of the hot spring source, which is an ancient right even if it is a private land, the hot spring ingredients are analyzed at the hot spring source. While the hot spring is piped from the source to the baths of inns and facilities, the hot spring softens and the ㏗ value settles down. Dangerous toxic gases are also released into the air along the way. Components such as sulfur also precipitate in this process. Chemistry supremacists discuss the changes that occur in the process. It's stupid. For example, let's say you buy a 100% natural juice, drink half and put the rest in the fridge. Since half of the container becomes air, the remaining juice is oxidized. Redox potential indicates increasing acidity. Researchers who think of it as "aging" or aged are rampant. Then the remaining juice must be discarded. Records of hot springs appear in Japan during the Nara period. Japanese people may have been using hot springs since the Asuka period, or possibly the Jomon period. The history of hot springs itself is older than that, and after the Meiji Restoration, laws governing hot springs were enacted in accordance with Western legalism, and nothing more than detailed rules. I recommend many people to use the communal baths, but since the baths in the area are not large, the baths can get dirty when many people take a bath at once. After that many people have left the bathtub, the local elderly may enter the bathtub, force the source, force the water, and stir it with both hands to drive out the dirt. After 3 to 5 minutes, the dirt will be removed, the turbidity will disappear, and the freshness will be restored. It is a sight often seen in public baths that the freshness can be restored by adding water. There are many such as Sawatari Onsen Public Bath, Shinshu Shibu Onsen Matsunoyu, and Nozawa Onsen Oyu. Also, in volcanic hot springs, the temperature of the source can change drastically. There are even hot springs where the temperature changes by as much as 20 degrees Celsius in a single day. If the source spring is good, even if it is so hot that you can't even put your hands in it, or if the temperature is so low that your body doesn't warm up at all and you catch a cold, you should leave it as it is. However, it is unacceptable for a lodging facility operating as a hot spring lodging facility to leave the risk of users getting burned or catching a cold. If the source temperature goes wild, the only countermeasure is to add 3% or 5% of cold mountain water to adjust the temperature, and turn off the water when the source temperature drops. The bitter water system of Manza Onsen corresponds to this. 　When you visit the public bath, if it is in a dangerous state of 50 degrees Celsius or higher, there is no choice but to scoop out 100 or 200 cups of hot water from the bathtub with a basin and turn on the tap water for adjustment. This kind of situation often happens in the public bath first thing in the morning. There are many such as Nozawa Onsen Mayu and Shinshu Shibu Onsen Takenoyu. Local people don't often go to hot springs first thing in the morning when they're wild. I often take a bath after several people have taken a bath and the hot spring in the bathtub has softened. This is why locals often bathe in the evening. Risking one's life to bathe in hot springs with dangerous temperatures is not the act of a "hot spring fan." If you learn what I wrote on this website as knowledge and gain experience, you will be able to respond flexibly to hot spring resorts anywhere in the world. There will be no more foolishness such as throwing a little dissatisfaction with the temperature at the hotel. If the temperature of the bathtub is lukewarm, you should approach the place where the hot spring is coming out and take a bath. If you think you are hot, you can practice the short-term whole-body repetitive bathing method.

　 "Let's introduce a little advanced version." Kusatsu Onsen, where I live, has a strong sulfur source called Bandaiko Onsen. It is a new source that suddenly erupted from a sulfur mine around 1970. ㏗ is 1.74. The source temperature is 94.6℃. Of course, such a strong source can't be put in as it is, so it is temporarily stored in a huge tank, heat exchanged to make tap water into hot water, and it is supplied to each home and facility for a fee. Snow melting equipment for roads in winter was realized by burying this heat-exchanged hot water under the road. Among the popular hotels I introduced, the Ohruri Group's Hotel New Koyo is close to the source tank, so the hot springs are strong. The Bandaiko source of Gozanoyu, which is located behind the Yubatake, is considerably softer. Both the hotel village in the hotel village area where my resort apartment is located and the Itoen Hotel Kusatsu are quite far from the source tank, so the hot springs are very soft. At Hotel New Koyo, the cleaning bathtub hot springs are completely replaced from 9:00 am, but if you take a bath just before 9:00, you will find cotton-like garbage at the bottom of the bathtub. But it's not garbage. The hot springs are strong enough to remove shin and armpit hair. Even though it's the same Bandaiko source, at Itoen Hotel Kusatsu, body hair doesn't fall off and accumulate at the bottom. The middle strength is Gozanoyu, a fee-based day trip bathing facility operated by the Kusatsu Tourism Public Corporation. Kusatsu Onsen has more than 200 sources, including the 6 major sources, which are abundant in hot water and are used by multiple facilities. I would like you to experience all six, but the state of the bathtub is different in this way even with one hot spring source. I would like you to stay at the Ooruri Group Hotel New Koyo and the Itoen Hotel Kusatsu, a hotel for the common people, and experience what these hot springs actually look like. Hotel New Koyo has a free shuttle bus to Takasaki Station, but if you stay for several nights in the order of New Koyo and Itoen Hotel Kusatsu, you will lose the right to ride the Hotel New Koyo's free shuttle bus. In other words, on the outbound route, first check in at Hotel New Koyo, stay for two nights because the hot springs are strong, and then stay at Itoen Hotel Kusatsu for three or four nights on a weekday thanksgiving week plan. The dinner buffet is all-you-can-drink alcohol, and local sake is also available. After checking out of Itoen Hotel Kusatsu, you can check in to Hotel New Koyo and spend the night there, then take the free shuttle bus to Takasaki Station. The Itoen Hotel shuttle bus does not have the right to enter the Yubatake area and will go to the Kusatsu Onsen bus terminal, but from there you can take the 100 yen bus to Hotel New Koyo. It would be my pleasure if you posted on SNS, "Well, Kusatsu Onsen's Bandaiko hot spring is so different from an accommodation facility. I was surprised." I would appreciate it if you could understand that the title of my website is "Let's learn more about hot springs." I am just one of the "Disciples of the Hot Spring God". I think that being a disciple of the god of hot springs means loving the countryside, loving the natural environment, loving fresh water, and loving interaction with people. I hope that your visit to Japan will provide such an opportunity.