Public bathhouse · Seasonal
Shirahone public open-air bath
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- 平日10:00–16:00 / 土日祝9:00–17:00checked 2026-10-09
Photo information
Save to passport
Official classification
Spring type (therapeutic classes)
Official spring-type name (as recorded)Simple hydrogen-sulfide spring and sulfur-bearing calcium–magnesium bicarbonate spring (Wikipedia); the tourist office describes it as weakly acidic and free-flowing
- Source temperature
- Unconfirmed
- pH
- Unconfirmed
- Flow rate
- Unconfirmed
- Radon
- Unconfirmed
Appearance & feel
Water colour · Feel
Milky white
Colour and feel are listed only where a source states them. They vary by day and by bath.
What makes it special
Clear as it emerges, white once it meets the air. Shirahone's milkiness comes not just from sulfur but from calcium carbonate that solidifies, even building the 'funto-kyu' spring mounds.
Why?
The Shirahone tourist office explains that the water is clear when it surfaces and turns milky as hydrogen sulfide forms sulfur particles on contact with air, that calcium carbonate has hardened into spring mounds, and that the water is only weakly acidic, close to neutral. The mounds and spherical limestone became a Special National Natural Monument in 1952 (Wikipedia).[2][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
Awanoyu Ryokan
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- 本館 10:30–14:00(日帰り)checked 2026-10-09
Ryokan (inn) · Open
Katsura-no-yu Maruei Ryokan
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- 11:00–15:00(日帰り)checked 2026-10-09
Ryokan (inn) · Open
Shirafuneso Shintaku Ryokan
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- 12:00–14:00(日帰り)checked 2026-10-09
Getting there
Reachable by public transport
From Matsumoto take the Alpico Kamikochi Line to Shin-Shimashima, then an Alpico bus about 60 minutes to Shirahone Onsen (Wikipedia); some services change at Sawando. By car about an hour from the Matsumoto exit, open year round from both the Nagano and Gifu sides (tourist office).
- Getting there
- Shin-Shimashima Station · 60
- Through the year
- About 1,400 m up (Wikipedia); snow and ice in winter. Check bus seasons and frequency
- Checked
- 2026-10-09
About the water
Shirahone is famous for milky water, yet the tourist office stresses that it is clear when it surfaces. On contact with air the hydrogen sulfide forms fine sulfur particles while calcium bicarbonate converts to calcium carbonate, and the water turns white (Wikipedia). That calcium carbonate, hardened around the vents, forms the spring mounds, and the name 'white bone' is said to come from the white limestone deposits. Most milky springs are strongly acidic; Shirahone, the office notes, is only weakly acidic and close to neutral. There are a dozen or so sources. Because the water carries sulfur and carbonate it can be drunk at two fountains, and rice porridge cooked in it is the local dish. The old saying is 'three days in the bath, three years without a cold'; no medical claim is made here. The recommended routine is 15 minutes in a cooler bath or 5 in a hot one, up to three times a day.
| Source | Source temperature | pH | Radon | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shirahone Onsen (a dozen or so sources) | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | no check date |
Three things not to miss
Photo information
The public open-air bath
By the Yugawa stream near the tourist office Gender-separated open-air baths of free-flowing source water beside the rushing stream. Weekdays 10:00–16:00, weekends and holidays 9:00–17:00. Fee and season not posted officially (closed in winter).
The one public place to bathe in Shirahone's white water without staying at an inn.[3]
Spring mounds and spherical limestone
About 8 minutes' walk from the tourist office Mounds built up where calcium carbonate dissolved in the water hardened around the vents, with round limestone 'pearls'. A natural monument from 1922, upgraded to Special status in 1952 (Wikipedia).
The reason the water turns white, made visible as stone.[4][5]
Photo information
The great outdoor bath at Awanoyu
At the top of the village One of Shirahone's best-known inns. Day bathing at the main building 10:30–14:00 (tourist office listing); fee and whether the bath is mixed not confirmed officially.
Famed as one of Japan's largest outdoor baths of milky water.[3]
The story
From Shirafune to Shirahone
The tourist office says hot water was already rising here when the Kamakura highway was opened in the 13th century, and that Saito Magozaemon founded a proper inn in the Genroku era around 1700 (Wikipedia). The name was first written Shirafune, 'white boat'; in the Taisho era the novelist Nakazato Kaizan called it 'Shirahone', 'white bone', in his epic 'Daibosatsu Toge' and praised its 'dazzling five-coloured scenery', and that spelling stuck. Some say the bleached limestone deposits looked like bone. On 30 March 1974 it became a National Health Resort. A dozen or so inns sit in a valley about 1,400 m up.[7][4]
What the whiteness is
Shirahone's water emerges colourless, faintly sour and smelling of hydrogen sulfide (Wikipedia). In the air the sulfide becomes fine sulfur particles and calcium bicarbonate turns into calcium carbonate, clouding the water white. The carbonate hardens around the vents into 'funto-kyu' mounds and round limestone 'pearls', declared a natural monument in 1922 and a Special one in 1952. The tourist office points out that while most milky springs are strongly acidic, Shirahone is only weakly acidic, 'as close to neutral as can be', and gentle on the skin. From around 1996 the whiteness faded, and in 2004 several inns were found to have been tinting their baths with additives, a scandal that showed just how much the colour had become the town's trademark.[2][4]
Three days for three years
Since the Edo period people have said 'bathe three days and you won't catch cold for three years', and cure-seekers came in numbers. The tourist office suggests about 15 minutes in a cooler bath or 5 in a hot one, no more than three times a day, with half an hour's rest afterwards. The sulfur- and carbonate-bearing water can also be drunk at two fountains, and porridge cooked in it is the local dish. The public open-air bath opens 10:00–16:00 on weekdays and 9:00–17:00 at weekends and holidays, closing for winter. Among the inns, Awanoyu (main building 10:30–14:00), Maruei (11:00–15:00) and Shintaku (12:00–14:00) accept day bathers.[2][3][7]
Going solo
Solo stay unconfirmedUnconfirmed
Weekend / peak restrictionsUnconfirmed
Where to eat dinnerTwo eateries, Baikoan (10:00–18:00) and Kyudo (9:00–22:00); otherwise dine 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.
May · Jun — Fresh green; the public open-air bath is open
Oct — Autumn colour; the public bath stays open into autumn
Aug — Shirahone fireworks (8 Aug 2026, 20:00)
Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar — Snow bathing at the inns; the public bath is closed. Icicles in January and February
Food, culture & experiences
Spring mounds and spherical limestone
A Special National Natural Monument[5]
About 8 minutes' walk from the tourist officeRyujin Falls and the Zuidoshi rock passage
The falls are about 2 minutes from the office; the rock passage and gorge about 10[5]
2–10 minutes on footOnsen porridge
Rice porridge cooked in the spring water, the local speciality (tourist office)[2]
At the inns and BaikoanLiterary monuments to Nakazato Kaizan and Wakayama Bokusui
The stone for Kaizan, whose novel made 'Shirahone' famous, is 1 minute from the office; the Bokusui stones about 15[5][7]
1–15 minutes on footNorikura Highlands and Kamikochi
Mountain resorts linked by the same Alpico bus network[6]
30 minutes to an hour by bus or car (approximate, unconfirmed)Editors' guide
Off the bus from Shin-Shimashima, head to the public open-air bath by the tourist office (closed in winter). Walk 8 minutes to the spring mounds to see what the whiteness really is. Staying over, choose Awanoyu or Yumoto Saito and compare the colour at night and in the morning. Try the porridge and the drinking fountains. Follow the office's advice: 15 minutes in the cooler water, three times a day at most.
The "editors' guide" above is written by the editors from sources; it is not a visitor's opinion.
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Onsen areas nearby
Unconfirmed & notes
- The public bath's fee and season are not on the official site and are left blank (third-party sites give 520 yen and late April to late November, not adopted)
- Source temperatures, pH, analysis sheets, inns' day-bathing fees, mixed-bathing status and solo-stay terms were not confirmed
- The 60-minute bus time is from Wikipedia; fares, frequency and season could not be read on Alpico's pages
- Formal spring names come from Wikipedia; the tourist office says only 'weakly acidic'
Sources
- 白骨温泉観光案内所 公式サイト白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 湯について白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 宿・施設について(公共野天風呂・日帰り入浴)白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 - WikipediaWikipedia · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 周辺散策・近隣観光白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 交通アクセス白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 白骨物語(歴史)白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
- 白骨温泉 お知らせ(花火大会ほか)白骨温泉観光案内所 · 2026-10-09
Register sources
- 白骨温泉 - Wikipedia(日本語版)Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-10-09
- Wikidata Q10430635Wikidata · CC0 · 2026-10-09
Data status
Name & locationPublishedCoordinatesPublishedSpring typePublishedPhotosPublishedFacilitiesPublishedVisiting info (dated)PublishedEditorial articlePublished
Updated 2026-10-09
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