Day-use bath · Open
Takimien Kenko-mura Goriyaku-no-yu
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- ¥1,200checked 2026-10-09
- Hours
- 10:00–18:00checked 2026-10-09
Photo information
Save to passport
Official classification
Spring type (therapeutic classes)
Official spring-type name (as recorded)Chloride spring (sodium chloride cold mineral spring, analysed 2000) and bicarbonate spring (analysed 1971); the prefecture calls it a 'chloride mineral spring'
- Source temperature
- 19–25°C
- pH
- Unconfirmed
- Flow rate
- Unconfirmed
- Radon
- Unconfirmed
Appearance & feel
Water colour · Feel
BrownBlack (moor water etc.)Silky / slippery
Colour and feel are listed only where a source states them. They vary by day and by bath.
What makes it special
Dark-brown water in a Boso gorge where there are no volcanoes: the spring comes up cold, around 20°C, and is heated for the bath.
Why?
Wikipedia gives the source temperature as 19–25°C and the colour as dark brown 'black water', and relates that the spa began in 1914 when mineral water from a well was heated with natural gas. The Chiba prefecture tourism site likewise describes a 'dark-brown black water (chloride mineral spring)'.[2][3]
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.
Foot bath · Status unconfirmed
Yoro-keikoku Station footbath
- Day-use bathing
- Yes
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Ryokan (inn) · Status unconfirmed
Kawa-no-ie
- Day-use bathing
- Unconfirmed
- Fee
- Unconfirmedno check date
- Hours
- Unconfirmedchecked 2026-10-09
Getting there
Reachable by public transport
Take the Kominato Railway to Yoro-keikoku Station (about an hour from Goi, itself about an hour from Tokyo on the JR Uchibo line). From the station, Kominato bus route 01 runs to Onsenkyo-iriguchi and on to Awamata Falls and Goriyaku-no-yu (about 15 minutes). Inns collect guests from the station in about 5 minutes. By car it is about 20 minutes from the Ichihara-Tsurumai exit of the Ken-O Expressway to the inns, 35 minutes to Goriyaku-no-yu.
- Getting there
- Yoro-keikoku Station · 15
- Through the year
- Roads and car parks are crowded in the autumn-colour season, late November to early December
- Checked
- 2026-10-09
About the water
Yoro-keikoku's water is the dark-brown kuroyu or 'black water'. It rises cold, 19–25°C, and each inn heats it. The springs are chloride and bicarbonate types, with a slightly slippery feel. Chiba's black water is attributed to ancient marine strata, the same family as the black baths of Tokyo's Ota ward, but here it rises in a wooded gorge. Each inn owns its source, and you can touch the water at the station footbath and at spots along the river. In 2004 it received Chiba's first licence for drinking spring water, available at a drinking fountain and some inns. The iodine classification mentioned in our selection could not be confirmed from an official analysis, so we treat it here as a chloride and bicarbonate spring. We make no medical claims.
| Source | Source temperature | pH | Radon | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoro-keikoku chloride sources | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | 2000-07-31 |
| Yoro-keikoku bicarbonate source | 17 | Unconfirmed | Unconfirmed | 1971-01-07 |
Three things not to miss
Photo information
Black water warmed by gas
Inns along the Yoro river, from Tomen in Ichihara to Kuzufuji in Otaki Natural gas was struck on a private plot in 1912, and in 1914 mineral water rose from a well. Heating that water with the gas was the beginning of the spa. The sources are 19–25°C, dark brown and slightly viscous, and each inn and footbath has its own.
A spring heated not by a volcano but by gas from the same strata. It unpicks the assumption that onsen means hot volcanic water.[2]
Goriyaku-no-yu and Awamata Falls
Awamata, Otaki, 800 m upstream of the falls A riverside day spa with a big open-air bath, a wooden indoor bath and a restaurant: 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00), closed Wednesdays, 1,200 yen. Nearby Awamata Falls, 30 m high and 100 m long, is the finest in Boso.
You can take in the gorge and the black water in one day without staying over; see the falls, then bathe, in that natural order.[4][2]
Photo information
The station footbath and Tsuge Yoshiharu's inn
Yoro-keikoku Station on the Kominato Railway, and Kawa-no-ie inn The station building has a footbath inside. Kawa-no-ie, a riverside inn reached only through a narrow tunnel, is where the manga artist Tsuge Yoshiharu stayed in 1988 and wrote about in his travel essays.
A 'hidden valley' about 90 minutes from central Tokyo: arrive by train, soak your feet, walk the gorge, and sleep beyond the tunnel. The whole little spa district links up on foot.[2][3]
The story
First the gas, then the water
Yoro-keikoku Onsen lies near the centre of the Boso peninsula, on the upper Yoro river where Ichihara city meets Otaki town. There are no volcanoes. In 1912 natural gas bubbled up on a private plot; two years later, in 1914, mineral water rose from a well. Heating that water with the gas, so the story goes, was how the black spring began. The sources are cool, 19–25°C, dark brown and slightly viscous, classed as chloride and bicarbonate springs. A 1970 national guide listed it among Chiba's fifteen hot springs as one with both a tourist and a therapeutic side, and in 2004 it won the prefecture's first licence for drinking spring water.[2]
Black water from marine strata
Chiba's black water is attributed to strata laid down on an ancient seabed, the same family as the black baths of Ota ward in Tokyo. Unlike mountain springs warmed by volcanic heat, it emerges cool and must be heated. The prefecture's tourism site calls Yoro-keikoku's water a 'dark-brown black water (chloride mineral spring)' available at nine inns and guesthouses. Each inn and footbath has its own source, and you can touch the water at spots along the riverside walk. Springs of a volcanic land, and springs that remember the sea: thinking about that difference in a Boso gorge is what makes this place interesting.[3][2]
See the falls, then bathe
Deep in the gorge, 800 m upstream of Awamata Falls, stands the day spa Takimien Kenko-mura Goriyaku-no-yu: a big open-air bath, a wooden indoor bath, a restaurant and rest space. It opens 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00), closes Wednesdays, and costs 1,200 yen for adults, 800 for children and 600 for ages three and up; towel sets rent for 200 yen. It is about 15 minutes by bus from the station, with 60 free parking spaces. Awamata Falls, 30 m high and 100 m long, is Boso's finest and one of the 'eight views of Yoro'; the path beside it leads naturally to the bath afterwards. The beaches of Kamogawa and Katsuura are about an hour away, so a swim in the sea can end with a soak in the gorge.[4][2]
The inn beyond the tunnel
Yoro-keikoku Station on the Kominato Railway has a footbath inside the building, so you can dip your feet in black water the moment you step off the train. From the station a riverside path leads past Kobundo, a collapsed river tunnel now a sheer cliff, to the inns. One of them, Kawa-no-ie, can be reached only through a narrow tunnel; in 1988 the manga artist Tsuge Yoshiharu stayed here while searching for a place to move to, and described it in his travel essays, drawn to a spot where the only sounds were the river and his own footsteps on earth. About 90 minutes from central Tokyo, with nine inns and nothing you could call a spa street, and that quietness is the whole point.[2][3]
Going solo
Easy for solo travellersUnconfirmed
Weekend / peak restrictionsUnconfirmed
Where to eat dinnerFew restaurants; plan on dinner at your inn (local dishes such as mountain vegetables, river fish and wild-boar hot pot). Goriyaku-no-yu's restaurant serves lunch only
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.
Nov · Dec — One of the latest autumn-colour spots in Kanto; the gorge fills with visitors
Apr · May — Fresh green, azaleas and wisteria; good hiking weather
Jul · Aug — River play and camping season
Food, culture & experiences
Awamata Falls
Boso's finest waterfall, 30 m high and 100 m long, one of the 'eight views of Yoro'; a path runs along the cascade[2][4]
800 m downstream of Goriyaku-no-yu, about 10 minutes on footKobundo cave ruin
A river tunnel that collapsed into a sheer cliff; a mineral spring seeps nearby[2]
Walking distance from the station toward the innsLocal produce dinners at the inns
At the centre of the Boso peninsula, sea, mountain and river produce all arrive: mountain vegetables, bamboo shoots, sweetfish, eel, mushrooms and wild-boar hot pot[2]
At the innsDrinking the spring water (Chiba's first licence)
Licensed for drinking in 2004, the first in Chiba; available at a fountain and some inns[2]
In the spa districtEditors' guide
Ride the slow Kominato Railway from Goi to Yoro-keikoku Station and start with the footbath inside. Take the bus to Awamata Falls, walk the path beside the cascade, then bathe in black water at Goriyaku-no-yu (closed Wednesdays). To stay, book a riverside inn and ask for the station pick-up. In autumn-colour season come on a weekday or early.
The "editors' guide" above is written by the editors from sources; it is not a visitor's opinion.
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Overview
養老渓谷温泉（ようろうけいこくおんせん）は、千葉県市原市と夷隅郡大多喜町にかかる温泉郷。旅館、民宿が養老川沿いに十数軒点在する。付近は千葉県立養老渓谷奥清澄自然公園に指定され、房総の魅力500選に選定されている。
This overview is based on the lead section of the Japanese Wikipedia article "養老渓谷温泉" (CC BY-SA 4.0). View original page
Onsen areas nearby
Unconfirmed & notes
- The 'iodine spring' in the selection reason could not be confirmed from an official analysis; the water is recorded as chloride and bicarbonate springs (Wikipedia)
- Fee, hours and current status of the station footbath, and Kawa-no-ie's status, day-bathing availability and prices unconfirmed
- The inn association site (yorokeikoku.com) could not be read for this article; inns' solo-stay terms and bus frequency unconfirmed
Sources
- 養老渓谷旅館組合 公式サイト養老渓谷旅館組合 · 2026-10-09
- 養老渓谷温泉 - WikipediaWikipedia · 2026-10-09
- 養老渓谷温泉郷(ちば観光ナビ 観光素材集)千葉県公式観光サイト ちば観光ナビ · 2026-10-09
- 滝見苑けんこう村 ごりやくの湯(ちば観光ナビ)千葉県公式観光サイト ちば観光ナビ · 2026-10-09
Register sources
- 養老渓谷温泉 - Wikipedia(日本語版)Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-10-09
- Wikidata Q11666885Wikidata · CC0 · 2026-10-09
Data status
Name & locationPublishedCoordinatesPublishedSpring typePublishedPhotosPublishedFacilitiesPublishedVisiting info (dated)PublishedEditorial articlePublished
Updated 2026-10-09
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