Tohoku · Onsen area
つたおんせん · 蔦温泉
Aomori · 十和田市
Official classification
Official spring-type name (as recorded)Sodium-calcium sulfate, bicarbonate and chloride spring
Appearance & feel
Colour and feel are listed only where a source states them. They vary by day and by bath.
What makes it special
The spring bubbles up between the floorboards of the bath itself: a thousand-year-old hot spring at a lone inn in a beech forest.
At Tsuta Onsen's two baths, Kyuan-no-yu and Senkyo-no-yu, the inn's own spring rises straight through the bath floor — what it calls 'source welling'. Records show a bathing hut here as early as 1147. The source is 45.4°C and the only adjustment is cold spring water from the surrounding forest.[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 | Separate | Own source rising through the floor | Unconfirmed | Yes[2] | Yes[2] | No[2] | No[2] | Unconfirmed[2] |
| Indoor bath | Mixed, with women-only hours | Own source rising through the floor | Unconfirmed | Yes[2] | Yes[2] | No[2] | No[2] | Unconfirmed[2] |
JR Bus Tohoku's Mizuumi service takes about 1 h 30 min from Aomori Station or 2 hours from Shin-Aomori to the Tsuta Onsen stop at the door. From Hachinohe, take the Towada-higashi line about 90 min to Yakeyama and change for a 20-min ride. Guests can book a free shuttle from Shichinohe-Towada Station three days ahead.
Tsuta's water is clear and nearly neutral, with a balance of sulfate, bicarbonate and chloride. What sets it apart is not the chemistry but the delivery: the spring rises naturally from directly beneath the tub, so you sit in water that has not yet touched the air. The inn calls this 'source welling'. The 45.4°C water is cooled with cold forest spring water rather than reheated or recirculated. Colour and smell are gentle; the bubbles rising between the floorboards and the hush of the timber hall are the point.
| Source | Source temperature | pH | Radon | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tsuta Onsen's own naturally rising source | 45.4 | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | no check date |
In the main building A small bath named after a Heian-era year. The spring rises beneath your feet and the room keeps its aged feel. Women 10:00–12:00 and 21:30–9:00, men 13:00–21:00.
The closest you can get to water being born.[2]
In the main building A tall timber bath hall rising 12 m to the beams, also fed from below. Open 10:00 to 9:00 next morning; day visitors (10:00–15:00, 1,000 yen) bathe here.
Timber scent and the sound of the spring — the name means 'echo of the spring'.[2]
Around the inn, on the 'marsh circuit' trail A chain of ponds scattered through the beech forest (Tsuta Bird Forest) around the inn; Tsuta-numa is about 10 minutes' walk. Two trails: the marsh circuit and the bird path.
A post-bath walk through the same forest water that feeds the spring.[1][4]
Documents record a bathing hut here in the third year of Kyuan, 1147. The name is thought to come from the ivy (tsuta) that grows all around, though no one is sure. Local people began running it commercially in the late 1890s, and in 1909 it became a proper inn. The main building of 1918 still serves as the entrance and guest rooms.[3]
The Meiji travel writer Omachi Keigetsu came in 1908 and his essays put Tsuta, Towada and Oirase on the national map. In old age he moved his official residence here from Tosa and died at the inn in 1925; a memorial museum opened in 2015. The printmaker Kawase Hasui also depicted 'Tsuta Onsen in Mutsu' in his 1919 series 'Souvenirs of Travel'.[3][1]
Most hot springs pipe water from a source into a tub; at Tsuta the source rises through the bottom of the tub itself. The inn calls this 'welling', not 'flowing'. The 45.4°C spring is neither reheated nor recirculated, only tempered with cold forest water. Both Kyuan-no-yu and Senkyo-no-yu are built this way, and the bubbles slipping up between the floorboards show you the moment the water is born.[2]
checked 2026-10-09
"Recommended" and "open" are recorded separately. Check the season for seasonal springs.
Oct — Autumn colour at Tsuta-numa; the beech forest at dawn is famous
May · Jun — Fresh beech leaves and birdsong
Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar — Deep snow and many road closures; no bus from the Aomori side
On the marsh circuit trail; crowded at dawn in autumn[4]
About 10 min walk from the innMuseum (opened 2015) on the travel writer who loved Tsuta, moved his registered home here and died at the inn in 1925[3]
On the inn's groundsA streamside walking trail flowing out of Lake Towada[4]
About 10–20 min by car from the innTake the Mizuumi bus from Aomori to the Tsuta Onsen stop (it does not run in winter, so go by autumn). Day visitors use Senkyo-no-yu 10:00–15:00. If you stay, check the Kyuan-no-yu rota and feel the bubbles underfoot in the early women's hour or the men's evening slot. Afterwards walk the marsh circuit 10 minutes to Tsuta-numa; in October the dawn crowds come for the colours, so rise early.
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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