WHAT TO DO IN SHIBU ONSEN, ONE DAY BETWEEN THERMAL BATHS AND SNOW MONKEYS

The sun goes down behind the snow-capped mountains, it is January and there is spooky silence on the street. Suddenly a constant rattle approaches you: knock knock knock knock. You turn around and see a group of friends dressed in the traditional yukata who, step by step, with their wooden sandals, enter one of the 9 thermal baths of the town: welcome to Shibu Onsen.

To an hour of Nagano, this thermal town It seems anchored in another dimension. It is located on the banks of the cold Yokoyugawa River, and in reality it is just a handful of streets with the odd store, a good number of ryokan (do not miss the Ryokan Kanaguya, which inspired Miyazaki himself for the drawing of the Aburaya shibu from “The Journey of Chihiro”) and the great protagonists of the town: soto-yu, the public onsen.

It is an installation with natural hot spring baths that the Japanese use as a place of relaxation. Sounds great, huh? Well, wait for us to tell you something that is going to make you nervous @: the onsen are public, they are separated by sex and ... an onsen must enter naked! In this post, the boys of Japonismo, tell more about the subject.

You should not be confused with Rotenburo, which are outdoor bathrooms, usually in very beautiful places surrounded by nature, some of which are mixed.

Finally there is the Sat down, which are public baths that exist in practically all the cities of Japan, with hot tubs as in the onsen, but they are not hot springs.

The tradition in the popular town of Shibu Onsen is to cover the yukata, put on the traditional wooden sandals (geta) and make a curious procession that will take you to visit the 9 onsen. But do not expect great luxuries, these public bathrooms are tiny and without too much charm, but their function is not to be beautiful, but to offer a warm session of hot springs. On the facade of each of them you will find two tickets, one for each sex.

Once inside, onsen are usually divided into Two parts, the bathroom itself with hot water, and before a small room where to change and take a shower (there are showers and stools, with shampoo and soaps). The idea is to enter the water completely clean as you will share it with other people.

When leaving each one remember to wear the stamp in you tenugui, small towel, as I remember (the truth is that it is very good souvenir!).

Each of the 9 bathrooms has hot springs with specific properties, perfect to improve / cure various diseases:

1. Onsen Hatsu-yu, indicated for those who have intestinal problems
2. Onsen Sasa-no-yu, for skin problems
3. Onsen Wata-no-yu, to cure acne
4. Onsen Take-no-yu, beneficial for gout
5. Onsen Matsu-no-yu, for neuralgia problems
6. Onsen Mearai-no-yu, to cure sight problems
7. Onsen Nanakuri-no-yu, for those who have injuries and / or injuries
8. Onsen Shinmeidaki-no-yu, we understand that for menstrual cramps (although it is not very clear what he refers to as "women's health issues").
9. Onsen O-yu, perfect for rheumatisms

They say that whoever completes a tour of the 9 public baths of Shibu Onsen will enjoy good luck. It will be true ... but we, after reading Vero's blog, decided to be more practical than superstitious and take advantage of the private onsen offered by our accommodation (Ryokan Hakura) in the nearby Yudanaka. Normally the private onsen usually cost about ¥ 500-1000 per person, but we were lucky that he left it for free 🙂 So it's nice!

The experience was great: our bathroom was much larger than expected, and being able to enjoy privacy was a luxury. We know that the typical thing in Japan is to do it in their own way, naked and each one in their part, but every adaptation to new cultures needs some time, and we are still in the process!

By the way, don't be scared if the water is boiling: in all onsen there is a cold water tap that you can use to adjust the water temperature. It takes me half an hour to enter the Mediterranean, but I have the super power to dive into the hottest onsen in 2 seconds. If you're not like me, tap the cold water tap!

If you stay in a Shibu Onsen ryokan, they will give you a key that will help you access the 9 onsen of the town. Yes, the onsen, although they are public, are closed and you can only use them if you are one of the chosen bearers of the magic key. The key is normal, but the keychain has cloth, as if to lose it!

What if you don't stay at a hotel that has the key or visits Shibu Onsen on the day? That you will not be able to do the 9 onsen route… But there is one open to visitors: number 9 (O-Yu). In order to use it, they informed us that you have to pay the entrance of 500 ¥ in the Tourist Information Center.

As we told you, the town of Shibu Onsen is a couple of narrow streets just 1 km long, where the bathrooms are distributed, its main attraction. At the top is the Onsenji Temple, also check out the impressive building of the Ryokan Kanaguya and pay attention to the little details, like these bulbs that contain the characters most famous of Ghibli Studies.

Another of the great attractions of Shibu Onsen is its proximity to the Jigokudani Monkey Park, famous place for its curious macaques, also known as "snow monkeys", which stick the odd dip in a hot spring in the woods. Of course, let us anticipate that the thing is not as idyllic as you expect ... but we will talk about it here (soon).

→ Shibu Onsen Map

The train station you will have to reach is Yudanaka. It is normal to arrive from Nagano, with one of the two direct lines (Ltd. Exp. Snow Monkey and Ltd. Exp. Yukemuri) by 1.290¥, which takes about 45 minutes. At Nagano station you will have to go to the Dentetsu Line (It is outside the central station). There is also direct train to Nakano, To the East. We always recommend checking routes and schedules on the Hyperdia web / app.

There's a pass Interesting to visit Shibu Onsen and the Snow Monkey Park: it's about Snow monkey pass. Includes round-trip trains from Nagano to Yudanaka and buses running between Yudanaka - Shibu Onsen - Snow Monkey Park for two consecutive days, in addition to the entrance to the park (which costs ¥ 800). All for 3.800¥. It can be purchased at the ticket office of the Dentetsu line at Nagano station. If it matches your plan, with this pass you save a little money.

Before looking for accommodation you have to know that Shibu Onsen It is the upper part of this area, where the historic thermal baths and the most beautiful part are located. But the accommodations here are more expensive. About 2 km below is the town of Yudanaka (where the train arrives), with more accommodation and restaurant options (in addition to a fairly large Lawson). We stayed in this part and we walked to Shibu Onsen (it is not too much fatigue), although if you have the pass you can use the buses that leave from the train station.

Ideally, look for accommodation in a traditional ryokan have own onsen, to be able to relax quietly and more privately than in public onsen. If you travel in people of different sex and want to bathe together, you will have to make sure that the accommodation offers private onsen (which can be booked for a period of 1 hour) or mixed baths. It was difficult for us to find accommodation with mixed outdoor bathrooms (rotenburo) and the information is not very wide.

With all this, we decided on the Ryokan Hakura, which has traditional Japanese tatami rooms (although with a western bed) and a very large free private onsen that can be booked at the reception pointing your name. It has a building opposite with more basic rooms but with much cheaper prices. In addition the woman is very friendly and they offer free transportation to the entrance of the road to the Snow Monkey Park.

Two accommodations with more backpacking style are the ZEN Hostel (in Yudanaka) and the Koishiya (in Shibu Onsen).

Here you can see more accommodations in Shibu Onsen and Yudanaka.

We leave you a map with the most interesting points of Shibu Onsen:

So far our Recommendations to visit Shibu Onsen, a thermal village that we liked to know and that, a step away from Nagano, seems like an excellent one or two day excursion. You have been? What do you think about it?