Tsurunoyu Onsen in Winter

A snow-covered hot spring village

Justin Velgus Mar 02, 2015 - 1 min read

<p>Making some new friends. Tsurunoyu has an outdoor mixed bath to relax and socialize</p>

<p>The entrance to the small village. Some snow trekking is required to reach the end of the row of houses</p>

<p>Icicles hang from the eaves of snow-covered roofs</p>

<p>A rough map of the area available at the front desk</p>

<p>Drinks chilled by cold mineral water gushing from the earth</p>

<p>Support beams are brought out during winter to protect some of the more fragile buildings</p>

<p>Kuronoyu is the hottest of the hot springs at the village</p>

<p>Boiling water on a wood furnace in the rest lodge</p>

<p>Looking upstream from atop the footbridge</p>

<p>Gazing out from inside the soothing mixed bath</p>

<p>It is only three steps from the men's changing room to the water. But it is a very cold three steps!</p>

<p>A snowy lantern hangs near the cafe next to the parking lot</p>

<p>Soaking in my private bath inside the men's locker room next to the mixed bath</p>

Tsurunoyu (literally Crane's Bath) is the oldest and most famous hot spring resort in the hot spring resort villages of Nyuto Onsen. With its wooden buildings and mountain setting, it could be enjoyed any season. Still, the charm winter brings can not be beat. Those few moments your body is numbed by cold just make your soothing warm hot bath that much more pleasurable. There is even a konyoku mixed-gender bath outside. Socializing and relaxing under the gently falling snow with locals and travelers has been one of my best memories during my travels around the rugged North.

Justin Velgus @justin.velgus

Justin Velgus (ジャスティンベルガス) is the Miyagi Prefecture expert for Japan Travel and a long-term contributor since 2012 with a focus on the Tohoku region. Justin has written extensively for JT, and other publications such as VisitMiyagi and Sake Today, amassing over 350 published articles...