Official classification
Official spring-type name (as recorded)Simple acidic sulfur spring (hydrogen-sulfide type), acidic, hypotonic, high temperature (as posted at Shika-no-yu)
Appearance & feel
Colour and feel are listed only where a source states them. They vary by day and by bath.
What makes it special
Six tubs from 41 to 48 °C, and before you get in you pour 200 ladles of hot water over your head. The rules of Shika-no-yu in Nasu-Yumoto, a bath in use since 630.
Shika-no-yu's official site lists six tubs at 41, 42, 43, 44, 46 and 48 °C (no 48 °C tub on the women's side) and asks bathers to ladle water over their heads about 200 times (children 100) before entering; it dates the spring's discovery to the reign of Emperor Jomei in the early seventh century.[2][3]
Facilities come from the register (Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, official sites). Those marked "natural spring unconfirmed" are listed on the basis of their name only.
| Type | Gender | Source | Bath temperature | Free-flowing | Added water | Heated | Recirculated | Disinfected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor bath | Men only | Shika-no-yu source | 48°C | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] |
| Indoor bath | Women only | Shika-no-yu source | 46°C | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] | Unconfirmed[4] |
From Nasushiobara Station (about 75 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen) or Kuroiso Station, take a Kanto Jidosha bus toward Nasu-Yumoto; about 35 minutes from Kuroiso to the 'Nasu Yumoto Onsen' stop, then a 2-minute walk. The 'Nasu Resort Express' coach from Shinjuku/Oji takes about 3 h 20 min (3,300 yen one way).
Shika-no-yu's water is an acidic sulfur spring with a pH below 3: milky white and sulfurous. The official site lists tub temperatures of 41, 42, 43, 44, 46 and 48 °C (no 48 on the women's side); we could not read a source-temperature notice. Soap does not lather in sulfur water and makes the floor slippery, so soap and shampoo are banned. Elsewhere in the Nasu resort area the waters differ, Omaru (simple spring), Kita Onsen, Takao (sulfate hydrogen-sulfide) and others, making a bath-hopping circuit possible. The site posts general and type-specific indications; we make no medical claims.
Posted at Shika-no-yu: general indications (neuralgia, muscle and joint pain etc.) and type-specific ones (skin and gynaecological complaints etc.)
Indications are an official statement based on the water analysis, not a guarantee of treatment. They are kept separate from opinions.
| Source | Source temperature | pH | Radon | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shika-no-yu source | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | no check date |
Nasu-Yumoto, beside the Yukawa River The original spring of the Nasu resort area. A wooden bathhouse rebuilt in 1941 holds tubs at 41, 42, 43, 44, 46 and 48 °C (women's side up to 46). 500 yen, 8:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30), open year-round except for maintenance. No soap or shampoo allowed.
The row of tubs graded by temperature and the fixed sequence of bathing, starting with the head-pouring, preserve the etiquette of Japanese therapeutic bathing intact.[2][3][4][6]
Inside Shika-no-yu Before bathing, ladle water over your head about 200 times. Then one minute to the waist, one to the chest, one to the neck, repeated; a session is about 15 minutes.
An old routine for acclimatising to very hot water and avoiding sudden changes in blood pressure. It is rare for a bathhouse to spell out its method in numbers on its website.[3]
A few minutes upstream of Shika-no-yu Beyond a barren, gas-venting field lies Sessho-seki, the 'killing stone' of the nine-tailed-fox legend and a national Place of Scenic Beauty, which split in two in March 2022. Below it, Nasu Onsen Shrine is where the archer Nasu no Yoichi is said to have prayed.
Matsuo Basho came here on his 'Narrow Road' journey. The volcano that feeds the baths and the shrine that worships them are within a short walk of each other.[5][3]
The Nasu resort area is a scatter of springs on the southern slopes of Mt Nasu (Chausu), and Shika-no-yu in Nasu-Yumoto is the original. In legend, in the reign of Emperor Jomei in the early seventh century, a hunter named Kano Saburo Yukihiro followed a deer he had wounded and found it healing itself in the hot water, hence the name 'deer bath'. A document in the Shosoin archive of 738 records the Nasu springs, and in 'The Tale of the Heike' the archer Nasu no Yoichi prays to the 'great deity of the Nasu springs' before his legendary shot. Feudal lords came to bathe in the Edo period; in 1645 the lord of Morioka petitioned the shogunate for leave to take the cure here.[3][6]
The bathhouse was rebuilt in 1941 and has been used unchanged since. Inside, six tubs stand at 41, 42, 43, 44, 46 and 48 °C (the women's side lacks the 48), and you choose the one your body can take. The water is a simple acidic sulfur spring, pH under 3, milky white. Soap and shampoo are banned because they will not lather and make the floor slippery. 500 yen, 8:00–18:00.[3][4][2]
How to bathe is set out in numbers on the official site. First the kaburi-yu: about 200 ladles of hot water over the head for adults, 100 for children. Then 'short hot immersions', one minute to the waist, one to the chest, one to the neck, repeated, for a session of about 15 minutes. It is an old routine for acclimatising the body and keeping blood from rushing to the head, and sand timers are provided inside.[3][2]
A few minutes up the Yukawa River from Shika-no-yu is Nasu Onsen Shrine, and beyond it a stony, lifeless field and the Sessho-seki. Volcanic gas here killed birds and animals, hence the name 'killing stone', and legend says a nine-tailed fox was turned to stone on the spot. Basho visited in 1689 and a verse stone marks it. Designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 2014, the rock split clean in two in March 2022. Buses from Kuroiso take about 35 minutes; Nasushiobara is about 75 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen.[5][3][7]
checked 2026-10-09
"Recommended" and "open" are recorded separately. Check the season for seasonal springs.
Oct · Nov — Autumn colour on Mt Nasu; buses and roads get crowded
May · Jun — Fresh green and azaleas; the Yahata azalea fields
Dec · Jan · Feb — Snow bathing; roads toward the mountain closed
The lava 'killing stone' of the nine-tailed-fox legend, a national Place of Scenic Beauty since 2014; it split in March 2022. A Basho verse stone stands nearby[5][3]
About 5 minutes' walk from Shika-no-yuA shrine to the hot spring; in 'The Tale of the Heike' the archer Nasu no Yoichi prays to 'the great deity of the Nasu springs' before his famous shot[6]
About 3 minutes from Shika-no-yuOmaru, Benten, Kita, Yahata, Takao, Santogoya and others, each with different water, scattered on the mountain's southern slopes (some closed or reachable only on foot)[6][1]
10–30 minutes by car or bus; Santogoya on foot onlyBuses from Nasushiobara continue to the ropeway; the shrine's inner sanctuary is on the summit of Mt Chausu[7]
About 20 minutes by bus from YumotoArrive for the 8 a.m. opening and work up from the 41 °C tub. Do not skip the head-pouring. Afterwards walk up to the shrine and Sessho-seki, and have lunch in Yumoto. You cannot wash with soap here, so do that at your lodging. Bring cash.
The "editors' guide" above is written by the editors from sources; it is not a visitor's opinion.
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Updated 2026-10-09
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