Ichinoseki’s Finest Spot for Onsen and Mountaineering

A singular factor at Sukawa Kōgen is a huge rock known as Dainichi-iwa (大日岩) behind Sukawa Kōgen Onsen ryokan. The rock that could be a small hill was created by the lava circulate ages in the past. From a few of the rooms within the ryokan and the feminine open-air onsen pool, Dainichi-iwa is simply in your face! At evening, the rock can be illuminated.

There’s a small Onsen Jinja Shrine (温泉神社) on the foot of the rock. It’s the guardian shrine of Sukawa Onsen. The shrine additionally marks the place to begin of Sukawa Kōgen’s mountain trails.

• From JR Ichinoseki Station (一ノ関駅), take Iwateken Kōtsū’s Sugawa Onsen Line (須川温泉線) and get off at Sukawa Onsen (須川温泉).
  • Consult with HERE and scroll all the way down to “須川温泉線” for the timetable in Japanese. “平日” means weekdays, and “土日祝日” means weekends and public holidays.

Necessary: The Sukawa Onsen Line normally solely operates from the top of Could to early November.

As a result of Sukawa Kōgen’s sizzling spring accommodates sulfur, it has a pH worth of two.2. The temperature is normally between 47 and 49 levels. Though the spring sauce is in excessive mountains, 6,000 liters of onsen is gushing out per minute!

Sukawa Kōgen Onsen is the consultant sizzling spring facility in Sukawa Kōgen and has been a ryokan for medical spa remedies because it was opened. Even these days, part of it’s nonetheless devoted to long-term friends, the place virtually every part is self-served. Whereas the buildings present indicators of getting old, the employees does a fantastic job protecting every part clear and tidy.

Sukawa Kōgen Onsen doesn’t have any non-public sizzling spring tubs. As a substitute, its outside onsen swimming pools are so spacious that they’ll match greater than 50 individuals!

• Oiran Bathtub could be utilized throughout the daytime earlier than sundown.
• The outside public tub is open from 6 am to 9 pm.
• The indoor public tub is open from 9 am to eight am.

You may take pleasure in Sukawa Kōgen Onsen’s sizzling spring amenities as a day customer.

• The fee is 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for kids.
  • Word admission to indoor and outside swimming pools is charged individually.

Necessary:
☛ Sukawa Kōgen Onsen is closed from early November to early Could.
☛ Some visitor rooms don’t have a window. If that is important to you, reserve those with a window.
☛ The ryokan isn’t for you if you’re after one thing fancy. It’s a place for somebody who desires some calmness and tranquility and enjoys Japan’s rural space.

Kurikoma Sansō is one other ryokan in Sukawa Kōgen. Though it was named Sansō, the power high quality is much like that of a correct lodge.

The store within the foyer has all kinds of things, together with snacks and native specialties within the Tōhoku Area. Within the morning, there is perhaps a small contemporary produce nook on the store, too. In comparison with Sukawa Kōgen Onsen, it presents a greater view from its open-air onsen tubs. Word that the recent spring sauce is nearer to Sukawa Kōgen Onsen, so the recent spring there’s more energizing.

The new spring facility at Kurikoma Sansō is named Sennin no Yu. Opening the door subsequent to the indoor onsen tub, you can find an oblong open-air tub constructed alongside the constructing’s exterior wall. Finding on excessive floor, the pure surroundings from Senin no Yu is spectacular. Like Sukawa Kōgen Onsen, a pure sizzling spring with out recirculation, disinfection, heating, and dilution is used right here.

Sennin no Yu can be open to day guests. The fee is 750 yen for adults and 400 yen for elementary college college students.

The ability is open aside from the under time slots.

• 9 am to 10 am for cleansing.
• 12 am to 4 am to refresh the recent spring within the tub.

Necessary:
☛ Kurikoma Sansō is closed from early November to late April.
☛ As a result of it makes use of non-public energy mills, there isn’t any air conditioner or fridge in Kurikoma Sansō’s guestrooms. The massive home windows can’t be open so the contemporary cool air received’t have the ability to circulate in.
☛ WiFi just isn’t obtainable at Kurikoma Sansō.

Mt. Kurikoma is a volcano with a peak of 1,626m that spans throughout Miyagi, Iwate, and Akita Prefectures. The mountain that is part of the Ou Mountains (奥羽山脈) is thought for the quantity of alpine crops blooming in spring and summer time. Two of the 9 Mt. Kurikoma mountain climbing trails have their start line at Sukawa Kōgen.

Tip: The alpine crops sprout from early Could. The remaining snow normally absolutely disappears within the second half of June.

• Sukawa Route (須川ルート) is the tougher path passing Shōwa Lake and is for extra skilled hikers.
  • It’s a route filled with quite a lot of terrain that may preserve climbers from losing interest.
  • Consult with Iwate Prefecture’s official web site HERE for details about whether or not this route is accessible. You may translate it utilizing Google Chrome’s translation perform on the proper of the handle bar.
• The Ubunuma Route (産沼ルート) passing Ubunuma swamp is appropriate for a household journey.

The summit space is spacious. It presents a 360-degree panoramic view of Mt. Zaō (蔵王), Mt. Akita-Komagatake (秋田駒ケ岳), and different surrounding mountains. That is why Mt. Kurikoma is a well-liked mountain climbing vacation spot. Word the mountain trails are congested throughout the autumn foliage season. It’s best to permit loads of time in case you plan to climb Mt. Kurikoma from late September to mid-October.

Roads and mountain trails are stated to be extraordinarily congested throughout the peak autumn foliage season, so it’s finest to permit loads of time.

• Sukawa Customer Heart is open from 9 am to 4 pm from late Could to early November.
• From JR Ichinoseki Station, take Iwate Bus’s Sukawa Onsen Line and get off at Sukawa Onsen.
  • The bus journey will take round 90 minutes.

Though in Japanese, confer with HERE for Mt. Kurikoma’s mountain climbing map for the 2 trails from Sukawa Kōgen. The numbers marked between the intersections are the journey time required. In case you learn Japanese, you additionally confer with HERE or HERE for Mt. Kurikoma’s mountain climbing map containing all 9 trails.

Roadsides are positioned at every intersection. Whereas a few of them have English notation beneath, it’s best to obtain the map in case you need to examine the place you might be. To the summit, it should take round 2.5 hours for a one-way journey.

After you get again to Sukawa Kōgen Onsen, how about following swimsuit and soaking your foot on this pure foot spa maintained by the ryokan?

Word the path from Shōwa Lake (昭和湖) to the summit consists of a steep slope. It normally takes round half-hour to finish this leg of the hike. This course could also be inaccessible because of the excessive volcanic gasoline focus surrounding the path.

Having fun with Sukawa Kōgen’s nature doesn’t imply it’s important to climb to the summit. The Nagorigahara Wetland course could be achieved in simply 60 minutes. The wetland is dotted with small ponds, and in the summertime, it turns into a treasure trove of alpine crops.

Late September to mid-October is the very best time to go to Nagorigahara. When the alpine crops flip yellow and orange, the colour is so enchanting that the locals name it The God’s Carpet (神の絨毯)!

Shōwa Lake is a crater lake created by a small phreatic eruption in 1944. It’s crammed with emerald inexperienced, extremely acidic water. Because of the eruption of volcanic gasoline (bubbles), please steer clear of the lake’s floor. In truth, the mountain path to the lake is commonly inaccessible due to the gasoline.