Shibu Onsen

Onsen

Prefecture

Nagano

Type

Onsen

N/A

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Restaurant

About This Destination

A narrow, stone-paved onsen street in the Yokoyu valley with nine public bathhouses that are locked to everyone but residents and people staying the night. Your inn lends you the key. Day visitors can use only the ninth, Oyu, for 800 yen. Jigokudani Monkey Park is further up the same valley.

Shibu Onsen is one lane, paved in stone and lined with wooden inns, a short way up the valley from Yudanaka. Along it are nine soto-yu, small public bathhouses the residents use every day. Their doors are locked. Stay the night at any inn in Shibu and you get a key that opens all nine, and bathing is free. The custom here is kyuto-meguri, the nine-bath round: buy a prayer towel, a tenugui, at your inn, stamp it at each bathhouse from Ichiban-yu (Hatsu-yu) to Kyuban-yu (Oyu), then climb to Shibu Takayakushi, the small temple above the street, for the last stamp. Nine, ku, sounds like the word for suffering, and the round is said to wash it away, along with bringing safe childbirth and a long life. Each bath has its own source and its own small tub, and you may share it with a resident or two. If you are not staying, only Oyu, the ninth bath, is open to you. It is also the only one with a steam bath, and there is a free footbath outside. Of the inns, Kanaguya is the one people photograph: its four-storey wooden Saigetsuro wing was built in 1936 and is a registered tangible cultural property, and the inn runs building tours for its guests. Jigokudani Monkey Park, the snow monkeys, is further up the valley and makes the obvious pairing.

Location

Prefecture: Nagano

Address: Yamanouchi, Nagano, Japan

Nearest Station: Yudanaka Station (Nagano Electric Railway)

Opening hours: Mon–Sun 10:00–17:00

Closed: Oyu has no fixed closing day but sometimes closes at short notice.

Hours note: Hours are for day bathing at Oyu, the only one of the nine baths open to people not staying in Shibu: adults 800 yen, children 500 yen, cash only. Overnight guests use all nine with the key from their inn.

Best time to visit: All year. Winter pairs a night here with the snow monkeys at Jigokudani; the lane is pleasant to walk in a yukata in any season

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Visitor Information

Credit Cards: Unknown

Food Options: Most visitors eat dinner and breakfast at their inn, since staying the night is what opens the baths.

Official Website

Frequently Asked Questions

Can day visitors use the nine baths?

Only the ninth, Oyu. Day bathing there runs 10:00 to 17:00 and costs 800 yen for adults and 500 yen for children, cash only. The other eight are for residents and for guests staying at Shibu's inns, who borrow a key.

How does the nine-bath round work?

Borrow the key at your inn and buy a prayer towel there. Stamp the towel at each of the nine bathhouses, then walk up to Shibu Takayakushi for the final stamp. You do not have to do all nine in one evening; the key works for your whole stay.

Can I combine Shibu with the snow monkeys?

Easily. Jigokudani Monkey Park is further up the same valley, and the Nagaden bus toward Snow Monkey Park passes through Shibu. From the bus stop it is a forest walk of about 35 minutes to the park, so a night in Shibu lets you be there early before the tour groups.