Japan Onsen Atlas温泉アトラス
A wooden gate with a long thatched-roof building beyond
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Tohoku · Onsen area

Tsurunoyu Onsen

つるのゆおんせん · 鶴の湯温泉

Akita · 仙北市

OpenNational Health Resort Onsen100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 14
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Official classification

Spring type (therapeutic classes)

Sulfur springChloride springBicarbonate spring

Official spring-type name (as recorded)Shiro-yu: sulfur-bearing sodium-calcium chloride/bicarbonate spring (hydrogen-sulfide type); Kuro-yu: sodium chloride/bicarbonate spring; Naka-no-yu: bicarbonate and salt-bearing hydrogen-sulfide spring; Taki-no-yu: sulfur-bearing sodium chloride/bicarbonate spring

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

Below a thatched guardhouse, a milky-white pool bubbles up from the ground beneath your feet. This is the oldest inn in the Nyuto hot-spring valley.
Why?

The inn's own account says the lord of Akita took the cure here in 1638 and his guards lodged in the thatched building now called the Honjin; the mixed open-air pool is fed by the Shiro-yu source rising through its floor.[1][2]

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

Tsurunoyu Onsen (main inn)

Day-use bathing
Yes
Fee
¥700checked 2026-10-09
Hours
10:00–15:00checked 2026-10-09
Official site
Baths3
TypeGenderSourceBath temperatureFree-flowingAdded waterHeatedRecirculatedDisinfected
Open-air bathMixedShiro-yuUnconfirmedUnconfirmed[2][3]Unconfirmed[2][3]Unconfirmed[2][3]Unconfirmed[2][3]Unconfirmed[2][3]
Open-air bathWomen onlyShiro-yuUnconfirmedUnconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]
Indoor bathSeparateAll four sourcesUnconfirmedUnconfirmed[1]Unconfirmed[1]Unconfirmed[1]Unconfirmed[1]Unconfirmed[1]
Ryokan (inn) · Open

Yamanoyado, the annex

Day-use bathing
No
Fee
Unconfirmedno check date
Hours
Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Official site
Baths1
TypeGenderSourceBath temperatureFree-flowingAdded waterHeatedRecirculatedDisinfected
Indoor bathSeparatePiped from TsurunoyuUnconfirmedUnconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]Unconfirmed[3]

Getting there

Reachable by public transport

From Tazawako Station on the Akita Shinkansen, the hourly Ugo Kotsu bus for Nyuto Onsen takes about 40 minutes to the Alpa Komakusa stop, where the inn's car collects you if you have phoned ahead (Alpa Komakusa is the only pick-up point). Getting off at Tsurunoyu Onsen Iriguchi instead means a 1.5 km walk up the forest road. By car it is about an hour from the Morioka interchange, and you can drive right up to the inn.

Getting there
Tazawako Station (Akita Shinkansen) · 40
Getting there
One bus an hour on the Nyuto line
Through the year
A heating charge of about 1,320 yen per room applies roughly October to May. After a 2006 avalanche the Honjin rooms were closed in winter for a time
Checked
2026-10-09
Show on mapOpen in Google MapsOfficial site

About the water

Four springs rise on the property, named Shiro-yu (white), Kuro-yu (black), Naka-no-yu (middle) and Taki-no-yu (waterfall). All carry sulfur, bicarbonate and salt in varying mixes, and the Shiro-yu that feeds the open-air pool turns milky white. The inn says the waters look alike but feel different on the skin. Sulfur springs usually cloud white with yunohana flakes, and bicarbonate springs are the type traditionally said to leave skin smooth. Temperatures and pH for each source are not posted on the inn's site.

SourceSource temperaturepHRadonChecked
Shiro-yuUnconfirmedUnconfirmedUnconfirmedno check date
Kuro-yuUnconfirmedUnconfirmedUnconfirmedno check date
Naka-no-yuUnconfirmedUnconfirmedUnconfirmedno check date
Taki-no-yuUnconfirmedUnconfirmedUnconfirmedno check date

Three things not to miss

A milky-white outdoor pool beside wooden bathhouses
Photo information
津島修三 CC BY 2.1 jp View original page
01

The mixed open-air bath

The bath block across the wooden bridge from the office A milky outdoor pool where the Shiro-yu source rises through the floor of the bath. A women-only outdoor pool sits beside it. Towels may not be worn in the water.

This is the image that defines Nyuto and, for many Japanese, the word hito (hidden spring) itself.[1][2][3]

A wooden gate with a long thatched-roof building beyond
Photo information
lumoplank CC0 View original page
02

The thatched Honjin

Centre of the inn A long thatched building said to have housed the guards of the Akita lord when he came for the cure in 1638. Its rooms have sunken hearths; the thatch is renewed every few decades. A registered cultural property.

One of very few places where you can sleep in an Edo-period cure-spa building, with dinner cooked over the hearth in your room.[1][4]

A wooden tub filled with cloudy white water
Photo information
Bjckashiwa CC BY-SA 4.0 View original page
03

Four springs within 50 metres

Within the grounds Four sources with different chemistry, Shiro-yu, Kuro-yu, Naka-no-yu and Taki-no-yu, rise within a 50-metre radius. Shiro-yu is a sulfur-bearing sodium-calcium chloride/bicarbonate spring; Kuro-yu a sodium chloride/bicarbonate spring.

The inn says the waters look alike but feel quite different; you can do a four-spring tour without leaving the grounds.[1][2]

The story

The crane's spring

The spring was first called Tazawa-no-yu. Its present name comes from a hunter named Kansuke who found a wounded crane (tsuru) bathing here. The second lord of Akita took the cure in 1638 and the lord of Kameda in 1661; records of paying guests begin in the Genroku era, 1688–1704.[1][3]

The Honjin and its thatch

The thatched Honjin is said to be where the lord's guards were quartered; today it is the building everyone photographs. Its thatch is renewed every few decades: reed grass is cut in the Obonai district, left over a winter, then laid by thatchers from Jindai-Umezawa using the old techniques.[1]

The hidden-spring boom, and an avalanche

Designated part of a national recuperation spa area in 1967, the inn became famous nationwide in the 1980s boom in hito, remote hot springs, and belongs to the Japan Association of Secluded Hot Springs, whose vice-chair is the inn's owner. In February 2006 an avalanche killed one employee and injured sixteen people, and for some time afterwards the Honjin was closed to overnight guests in winter.[2]

Going solo

Solo stay unconfirmedYes
Weekend / peak restrictionsUnconfirmed
Where to eat dinnerOnly the inn's meals: mountain-yam hotpot, char grilled on the hearth, wild vegetables. There is nothing else nearby
Private bathNo

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.

Oct — Autumn colour in the beech forest

Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar — Snow bathing; heating charge applies and the forest road is snowbound

May · Jun — Fresh green leaves and wild mountain vegetables

Food, culture & experiences

Available / bookable

Bath-hopping around Nyuto Onsen

Seven inns scattered below Mt Nyuto (1,478 m), designated a national recuperation spa area in 1967[1][2]

Tsurunoyu is at the valley's entrance; the other inns are reached by the local bus or car
Available / bookable

Lake Tazawa and Kakunodate

The lake near Tazawako Station and the samurai-house town of Kakunodate, both listed by the inn as nearby sights[3]

Back toward Tazawako Station, 40 minutes by bus

Editors' guide

Day bathing runs 10:00–15:00, closed Mondays, 700 yen. Try the mixed outdoor pool on Shiro-yu, then compare the other three sources indoors. To stay, the Honjin with its hearth and in-room dinner is the classic choice; solo travellers take Building 2. Get off the bus at Alpa Komakusa and have the inn collect you. There are no shops, so buy what you need at Tazawako Station.

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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Review posting is in preparation, with visit date, facility, comments on water, scenery and access, photos, language and reporting.

Overview

鶴の湯温泉（つるのゆおんせん）は、秋田県仙北市の乳頭温泉郷内にある温泉である。旅館「鶴の湯温泉」と、その別館である「山の宿」がある。

This overview is based on the lead section of the Japanese Wikipedia article "鶴の湯温泉 (秋田県)" (CC BY-SA 4.0). View original page

Onsen areas nearby

Unconfirmed & notes

  • The four source names and chemistry, the floor-fed pool, the 2006 avalanche and the 1967 designation are from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA); temperatures and pH are unconfirmed
  • The inn's Japanese rate table still says it includes 5% consumption tax and may be out of date, though the English page lists the same figures as rates from November 2026
  • Free-flow/dilution notices and the tattoo policy are unconfirmed
  • Last entry time for day bathing is unconfirmed

Sources

  1. 鶴の湯温泉 公式サイト(ご案内・温泉)鶴の湯温泉 · 2026-10-09
  2. 鶴の湯温泉 (秋田県) - Wikipedia(日本語版)Wikipedia · 2026-10-09
  3. TSURUNOYU ONSEN (English page)鶴の湯温泉 · 2026-10-09
  4. 部屋・予約 | 鶴の湯温泉鶴の湯温泉 · 2026-10-09

Register sources

Data status

Name & locationPublishedCoordinatesPublishedSpring typePublishedPhotosPublishedFacilitiesPublishedVisiting info (dated)PublishedEditorial articlePublished

Updated 2026-10-09

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