Public bathhouse · Open
Iwai Yukamuri Onsen public bath
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Photo information
Save to passport
Official classification
Spring type (therapeutic classes)
Official spring-type name (as recorded)Calcium–sodium sulfate spring
- Source temperature
- 50°C
- pH
- Unconfirmed
- Flow rate
- Unconfirmed
- Radon
- Unconfirmed
Appearance & feel
Water colour · Feel
Unconfirmed
Colour and feel are listed only where a source states them. They vary by day and by bath.
What makes it special
A towel on your head, a ladle in hand, a song on your lips as you pour water over yourself: Inaba's oldest spring keeps a strange ritual for staying in the bath longer.
Why?
The Ministry of the Environment's spa plan records that in the late Edo period the odd custom of 'yukamuri' arose, 'placing a towel on the head and ladling hot water over oneself so as to stay in the bath longer and gain its benefits', and that it survives today; it dates the spa to the founding of Miyu shrine in 811, making it Inaba's oldest.[1]
Facilities in this area
Facilities come from the register (Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, official sites). Those marked "natural spring unconfirmed" are listed on the basis of their name only.
Ryokan (inn) · Open
Iwaiya inn
- Day-use bathing
- Unconfirmed
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Ryokan (inn) · Open
Akashiya inn
- Day-use bathing
- Unconfirmed
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Getting there
Reachable by public transport
About 10 minutes by Nikko bus from JR Iwami Station on the San'in main line to the 'Iwai Onsen' stop. From Tottori Station, about 25 minutes by local train to Iwami, or about 60 minutes by bus. By car about 30 minutes east of central Tottori on Route 9, or 20 minutes from the Tottori sand dunes.
- Getting there
- Iwami Station · 10
- Through the year
- Many snowy days in winter (ministry plan); the San'in line is prone to delays
- Checked
- 2026-10-09
About the water
Iwai's water is a calcium–sodium sulfate spring, a family long nicknamed 'the wound bath' in Japan and usually clear (we could not confirm Iwai's colour or smell from sources). Its character lies in heat and volume: source no. 1 gives 49.8 °C water at 630 litres a minute, feeding two inns and the public bathhouse. The ministry plan notes that all three sources are pumped, that the tubs are drained and washed daily, and that pipes and storage tanks are chlorinated. Yukamuri is explained as a way of bathing in this hot, undiluted water, so the water and the ritual are inseparable. Posted indications could not be read.
| Source | Source temperature | pH | Radon | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source no. 1 | 49.8 | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | no check date |
| Source no. 2 | 40.7 | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | no check date |
| Source no. 3 | 37.3 | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | no check date |
Three things not to miss
Yukamuri
Yukamuri Onsen public bath and the inns You place a towel on your head, scoop hot water with a ladle and pour it over yourself, singing the 'yukamuri song' to the beat of the ladle slapping the water. The custom arose in the late Edo period and the writer Shimazaki Toson described it in a travel essay.
A folk technique for soaking long without overheating. A preservation society teaches the song and dance to children, and the public bath built in fiscal 2002 took its name.[1][2]
Photo information
A 49.8 °C source and a 'free-flowing' declaration
The whole spa The main source runs at 49.8 °C and 630 litres a minute, with two more at 40.7 °C / 384 L and 37.3 °C / 210 L. The water is a calcium–sodium sulfate spring. In 2014 Iwai became the first spa in the San'in region to make a 'genuine free-flowing spring' declaration.
Yukamuri exists precisely because this hot water is not diluted. The heat and the ritual belong together.[1]
Photo information
A tiny street of three-storey wooden inns
The hamlet of Iwai on the left bank of the Gamo river About 5 km inland from the coast, three-storey wooden inns line a hamlet beside the Gamo river. Two inns (the ministry plan) or three (Wikipedia) plus one day-use bathhouse. The writer Osaki Midori was born here and a small museum holds her papers.
Overnight guests fell from about 120,000 a year in the 1980s–90s to the low ten-thousands (Wikipedia); it is now a spa almost too quiet. For those who want to stay slowly.[1][2]
The story
Inaba's oldest spring
Iwai lies along the Gamo river in Iwami town, north-east Tottori. Because Miyu shrine, dedicated to the spring's guardian deity, was founded in 811, the spa claims 1,200 years and the title of Inaba's oldest; it was designated a National Recuperation Spa in 1973. Wikipedia records a legend from 859 in which Fujiwara no Fuyuhisa, suffering from a skin disease, was led to the water by a shrine maiden and carved a Yakushi Buddha that became the principal image of Togen-ji. Ruined in medieval wars, it was revived in the Edo period by the Tottori lord Ikeda Mitsunaka, and by mid-Edo had sixteen inns and eight baths.[1][2]
The wisdom of yukamuri
In the late Edo period people began placing a towel on their heads and ladling hot water over themselves so as to stay in the bath longer: yukamuri. Warming the head staves off faintness, and the ladle slapping the water sets the beat for the yukamuri song; the writer Shimazaki Toson described it. Today a residents' society teaches children the song and a dance set to it, performing around the country. With a 49.8 °C source, Iwai in 2014 became the first San'in spa to declare its baths genuinely free-flowing. A place that bathes in undiluted hot water needed exactly such a custom.[1][2]
A spa that fell quiet
A light railway linked the spa with Iwami Station from 1922 to 1943, and in the 1980s and early 1990s some 120,000 guests a year stayed here, falling to about 15,000 by 2017 (Wikipedia). The ministry plan gives 8,021 overnight guests and 249,830 day-bath visits in fiscal 2020. Today Iwai is a small hamlet of two or three inns, the public bath Yukamuri Onsen built in fiscal 2002 and a few welfare facilities using the spring; it is also known as the birthplace of the writer Osaki Midori. Twenty minutes by car from the Tottori dunes and the Uradome coast, it suits a quiet night combined with the seaside.[2][1]
Going solo
Easy for solo travellersUnconfirmed
Weekend / peak restrictionsUnconfirmed
Where to eat dinnerVery few places to eat (a sake shop offers standing drinks and snacks); plan on dining at your inn
Private bathUnconfirmed
checked 2026-10-09
Through the year
Recommended months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Months open
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
"Recommended" and "open" are recorded separately. Check the season for seasonal springs.
Nov · Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar — Snow-crab season; like the Uradome coast inns, winter is the main season
Mar — Hatsu-uma, when children's lion dancers parade through the hamlet
Jun — Yukamuri Onsen closes twice a year for cleaning (June and November), to be confirmed
Food, culture & experiences
Uradome coast (San'in Kaigan Geopark)
Iwai lies within the UNESCO Global Geopark; boat cruises and beaches on the coast[1][4]
About 10 minutes by car from Iwami StationMiyu shrine and the Osaki Midori museum
Miyu shrine, founded 811 and counted among Japan's eight oldest hot-spring shrines; the museum of the writer Osaki Midori is in the spa[1][3]
A few minutes' walkLocal sake 'Zuisen' and a sweet shop
The Nakashima sake shop in the spa sells the local brew and serves standing drinks; a rustic sweet shop too (prefectural leaflet)[3]
Within the spaEditors' guide
See the Tottori dunes or the Uradome coast, then take the bus from Iwami Station to Iwai. Get used to the hot water at the public bath Yukamuri Onsen first, then at your inn ask the staff or read the notice and try yukamuri yourself; the song is optional. Stroll along the Gamo river after dinner, and visit Miyu shrine and the Osaki Midori museum next morning. In winter it is crab season; check prices with the inn.
The "editors' guide" above is written by the editors from sources; it is not a visitor's opinion.
Photo gallery
Visitor reviews
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Onsen areas nearby
Unconfirmed & notes
- Yukamuri Onsen's fee, hours and closures could not be read on an official site and are left blank (travel sites give 380 yen and 6:00–22:00, unconfirmed)
- Source pH, mineral table, posted indications and the water's colour and smell are unconfirmed
- Inn count differs between the ministry plan (two) and Wikipedia (three); inn websites and solo-stay terms unconfirmed
Sources
- 岩井温泉国民保養温泉地計画書(令和5年3月)環境省 · 2026-10-09
- 岩井温泉 - WikipediaWikipedia · 2026-10-09
- 岩美町観光パンフレット(岩井温泉マップ・アクセス)鳥取県(岩美町観光協会作成) · 2026-10-09
- 岩美町観光協会岩美町観光協会 · 2026-10-09
Register sources
- 岩井温泉 - Wikipedia(日本語版)Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-10-09
- Wikidata Q11474068Wikidata · CC0 · 2026-10-09
Data status
Name & locationPublishedCoordinatesPublishedSpring typePublishedPhotosPublishedFacilitiesPublishedVisiting info (dated)PublishedEditorial articlePublished
Updated 2026-10-09
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