Yunomine Onsen

Yunomine Onsen

Yunomine Onsen is one of Japan’s most historically important hot-spring villages. Tucked into a narrow valley in the Kumano region of Wakayama Prefecture, it has been associated with geothermal bathing and the Kumano pilgrimage tradition for centuries.

The village is especially famous for Tsuboyu, a tiny stone-lined private bath beside the creek. Tsuboyu is closely connected with the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range. Official Wakayama tourism describes it as the only World Heritage site where visitors can enjoy full-body hot-spring bathing.