Hyotan Onsen (ひょうたん温泉) is a large ''

onsen In Japan, are hot springs and the bathing facilities and Ryokan (inn), traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 ''onsen'' establishments use naturally hot water ...

'' bathing facility located in Kannawa,

Beppu 270px, Beppu City Hall is a city in Ōita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. As of November 30, 2023, the city had a population of 113,045 in 62,702 households, and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The total area of the ci ...

Ōita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Ōita Prefecture has a population of 1,081,646 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 6,340 km2 (2,448 sq mi). Ōita Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the northwest, K ...

. Opened in 1922, Hyotan Onsen is notable for being the only ''onsen'' facility in Japan to have received three

Michelin Stars The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

from Michelin Green Guides Japan.

History

It is said that Hyotan Onsen's founder, Junsaku, dug out the ''onsen'' in the geothermally active ''Beppu Hatto'' area so that the spring could help heal his wife's

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...

. The first bath was created with stones in the shape of a

gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds ha ...

(''hyōtan'' in Japanese), giving the ''onsen'' its name. The original gourd-shaped stone bath still exists in the women's bathing area. Junsaku chose the shape because

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, the 16th century

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

daimyo were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominally to ...

'' whom he admired, used the shape of a gourd on his flags. In 1927, an 18-meter-high, seven-story

observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...

was constructed in the shape of a gourd. It remained until 1945 at which time it was destroyed due to fears that it would be used as a target for air raids.

Facilities

Hyotan Onsen has two large bathing areas separated by gender. Both areas feature a variety of baths including a large outdoor bath (露天風呂, ''roten-buro''), several indoor baths (including the original stone ''hyōtan'' bath in the women's bathing area), and waterfall baths called ''utase-yu'' (打たせ湯). The naturally heated water is first cooled by a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

cooling system to a temperature comfortable for bathing. There are also steam

saunas A sauna (, ) is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is used to meas ...

in each bathing area. Separate from the nude bathing areas is the sand bath (砂湯, ''suna-yu'') area. In the sand baths, visitors can lie down on and cover themselves in heated sand. As visitors wear ''

yukata A is an unlined cotton summer kimono, worn in casual settings such as summer festivals and to nearby bathhouses. The name is translated literally as "bathing cloth" and originally were worn as bathrobes; their modern use is much broader, and ar ...

'' in the sand baths, the area is mixed gender. There are 14 "family baths" (家族風呂, ''kazoku-buro'') that can be reserved and used for private bathing.

External links

Hyotan Onsen Official English Website

References

{{coord, 33.31443, 131.47932, format=dms, type:landmark_region:JP, display=title Beppu, Ōita Hot springs of Ōita Prefecture Tourist attractions in Ōita Prefecture