Ryokan (inn) · Open
Koyubo Gensenkan
- Day-use bathing
- Unconfirmed
- 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)Alkaline simple hot spring / simple spring (cool sources) and alkaline simple sulfur spring (the hot source and others); eight sources in use (Ministry plan)
- Source temperature
- 20.9–49.4°C
- pH
- 8.4–9.9
- Flow rate
- Unconfirmed
- Radon
- Unconfirmed
Appearance & feel
Water colour · Feel
Clear
Colour and feel are listed only where a source states them. They vary by day and by bath.
What makes it special
Water at 30 °C rises from the rock beneath your feet in 'Shingen's hidden spring'. An hour in the cool bath, then a warm-up in the new hot source: a toji village with two kinds of water.
Why?
The Ministry of the Environment's resort plan for Shimobe lists seven cool sources of 25.7–31.7 °C, including Gensenkan's Shinsen at 30.1 °C (natural flow, pH 8.4), plus the town-owned 'Shimobe Oku-no-yu' hot source at 49.4 °C, 200 litres a minute, pH 9.4. Wikipedia and the prefectural tourism site relate the tradition of Shingen's hidden spring.[2][3][4]
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
Hashimotoya
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- ¥500checked 2026-10-09
- Hours
- 10:00–16:00checked 2026-10-09
Day-use bath · Open
Healthy Spa Sunroad Shimobe-no-yu
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Getting there
Reachable by public transport
Get off at Shimobe-Onsen Station on the JR Minobu Line; Shimobe-no-yu is right outside. The old spa street is about 2.5 km from the station (Wikipedia); Hashimotoya is a 15-minute walk (tourism organization). By car, 5–8 minutes from the Shimobe-Onsen-Hayakawa exit of the Chubu-Odan Expressway.
- Getting there
- Shimobe-Onsen Station · 15
- Checked
- 2026-10-09
About the water
Shimobe has two kinds of water. The first is the old cool water: Gensenkan's Shinsen at 30.1 °C, the Yumoto Hotel rock bath at 29.0 °C, the communal source shared by five inns at 31.7 °C, all weakly alkaline (pH 8.4–8.8) simple springs, clear and colourless. Being below body temperature, they are bathed in for long spells alternated with a heated indoor tub. The second is the 'Shimobe Oku-no-yu' hot source the town drilled in 2006, an alkaline simple sulfur spring at 49.4 °C and pH 9.4, now piped to 13 inns and two public facilities. The Ministry plan lists eight sources and names the dominant type as alkaline simple spring. The story that Takeda Shingen healed his wounds here comes from the inns and the prefectural tourism site; no medical claim is made.
| Source | Source temperature | pH | Radon | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shimobe Oku-no-yu hot source (town-owned) | 49.4 | 9.4 | Unconfirmed | 2016-06-02 |
| Gensenkan Shinsen | 30.1 | 8.4 | Unconfirmed | 2024-05-14 |
| Yumoto Hotel source No. 1 (rock bath) | 29 | 8.7 | Unconfirmed | 2025-04-14 |
| Communal source (cooperative; five inns) | 31.7 | 8.8 | Unconfirmed | 2018-04-19 |
| Amagouchi spring (town-owned; Shimobe-no-yu) | 20.9 | 9.9 | Unconfirmed | 2019-03-22 |
Three things not to miss
The Oiwa rock bath at Gensenkan
At the far end of the old spa street An inn founded in the mid-Edo period (Wikipedia). In its mixed-gender 'Kakushi-yu Oiwa' bath the water rises straight through the rock floor beneath the bathers. The Shinsen source is 30.1 °C, pH 8.4, naturally flowing and drinkable (Ministry plan).
Water that wells up through the bath floor cannot be diluted or heated. Nowhere makes clearer what it means to sit in the source itself.[2][3][4]
The Shimobe Oku-no-yu hot source
Town-owned; piped to 13 inns and 2 public facilities A new source struck in 2006 (Wikipedia): 49.4 °C, 200 litres a minute, pH 9.4, an alkaline simple sulfur spring. The town checks its temperature and level monthly and keeps the supply above 60 °C (Ministry plan).
The source that gave a cool-water town a hot bath; most inns' indoor tubs use it.[2][3]
Photo information
Shimobe-no-yu by the station
In front of Shimobe-Onsen Station on the JR Minobu Line 'Healthy Spa Sunroad Shimobe-no-yu', a day spa opened in April 2023, using the Oku-no-yu hot source (49.4 °C) and the cool Amagouchi spring (20.9 °C). Fees and hours not confirmed officially.
You can try both of Shimobe's waters straight off the train, without the 2.5 km walk to the old street.[3][2]
The story
The hidden spring
Tradition holds that the deity Kumano Gongen appeared in 836 and the spring burst forth; the water has been called a 'hidden spring' of the monk Nichiren and of the warlord Takeda Shingen (Wikipedia). The prefectural tourism site repeats that Shingen is said to have cured his battle wounds here. Old inns survive, Gensenkan from the mid-Edo period and the Shimobe Hotel from 1929, and on 15 June 1956 the area became a National Health Resort. The Minobu Line has a Shimobe-Onsen Station; the old street of Yumachi lies about 2.5 km upriver.[3][5][6]
Eight sources
The Ministry of the Environment's resort plan lists the eight sources in use at Shimobe: Gensenkan Shinsen 30.1 °C, Yumoto Hotel No. 1 at 29.0 °C and No. 3 at 31.1 °C, the communal source 31.7 °C, Shimobe Hotel's sulfur source 29.2 °C, Omote-Shimobe 25.7 °C, the cold Amagouchi spring 20.9 °C, and the town's 'Shimobe Oku-no-yu' hot source drilled in 2006 at 49.4 °C and 200 litres a minute. All are alkaline, pH 8.4–9.9, classed as simple or alkaline simple sulfur springs. The town logs the hot source's temperature and level monthly and re-analyses every source once a decade.[2][3]
An hour in cool water
The Shimobe routine is a long soak in water around 30 °C, a warm-up in the hot-source indoor tub when you cool down, then back to the cool bath. Gensenkan's Oiwa bath is 'foot-welling': the water rises through the rock floor and is neither diluted, heated nor recirculated (prefectural tourism site). Mixed bathing survives there. According to the Ministry plan, one certified onsen-therapy adviser and five bathing instructors, working with doctors from Shimobe Hospital, teach guests at the inns how to bathe, making Shimobe a place that formally passes on the toji method.[5][4][2]
Going solo
Solo stay unconfirmedUnconfirmed
Weekend / peak restrictionsUnconfirmed
Where to eat dinnerShimobe-no-yu has a restaurant (Wikipedia); few eateries in Yumachi
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.
Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep — The 30 °C baths are most comfortable; the season for long soaks
Nov — Autumn colour along the Shimobe River
Dec · Jan · Feb — In winter alternate the cool and hot baths
Food, culture & experiences
Kumano Shrine, Yumachi
Tradition says the deity Kumano Gongen appeared here in 836 and the spring gushed forth (Wikipedia)[3]
In the spa streetKuonji temple on Mt Minobu
Head temple of Nichiren Buddhism; Shimobe is also linked to Nichiren by tradition (Wikipedia)[3]
By Minobu Line to Minobu Station then bus (times unconfirmed)Shimobe Hospital partnership
One certified onsen-therapy adviser and five bathing instructors work with the hospital's doctors to guide bathing (Ministry plan)[2]
—Editors' guide
Take the Minobu Line to Shimobe-Onsen. Short on time, try the hot source and the cold spring at Shimobe-no-yu by the station. The real thing is the rock bath at Gensenkan or the Yumoto Hotel in Yumachi: at least 30 minutes in the cool water. Better still, stay a night and bathe again at dusk and dawn. For the mixed Oiwa bath, ask the inn beforehand about bathing wear.
The "editors' guide" above is written by the editors from sources; it is not a visitor's opinion.
Photo gallery
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Onsen areas nearby
Unconfirmed & notes
- Gensenkan's official site could not be found; its day-use terms, fees, hours and solo-stay policy are unconfirmed (foot-welling and mixed bathing come from the prefecture and the Ministry plan)
- Shimobe-no-yu's fees and hours could not be read on an official page
- Hashimotoya's fee and hours follow the tourism organization's June 2024 listing
- Whether a bus runs from the station to Yumachi was not confirmed
Sources
- 身延町 公式サイト身延町 · 2026-10-09
- 国民保養温泉地計画書 下部温泉(環境省)環境省 · 2026-10-09
- 下部温泉 - WikipediaWikipedia · 2026-10-09
- 下部温泉「古湯坊 源泉舘」(富士の国やまなし観光ネット)やまなし観光推進機構 · 2026-10-09
- 下部温泉 橋本屋(富士の国やまなし観光ネット)やまなし観光推進機構 · 2026-10-09
- 国民保養温泉地一覧(環境省・下部温泉 S31.6.15 指定)環境省 · 2026-10-09
Register sources
- 下部温泉 - Wikipedia(日本語版)Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-10-09
- Wikidata Q11361358Wikidata · CC0 · 2026-10-09
Data status
Name & locationPublishedCoordinatesPublishedSpring typePublishedPhotosPublishedFacilitiesPublishedVisiting info (dated)PublishedEditorial articlePublished
Updated 2026-10-09
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