Furofushi Onsen, a Thrilling Open-air Hot Spring

Soak in the Koganezaki Furofushi Onsen, a thrilling open-air hot spring with the Japan Sea inches away from you.Feel the waves splashing on your face and dream that you are "furo (young forever)" and "fushi (immortal).

Koganezaki Furofushi Onsen in Fukaura, Aomori

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In a small quiet town named Fukaura in southwestern Aomori prefecture, there is a popular open-air hot spring that is just inches away from the sea. Surrounded by sea rocks, the sea, and the sky, Furofushi Onsen is an open-air hot spring on Koganezaki cape that protrudes into the Japan Sea. The hot spring is brown and contains a lot of sodium and iron, so it warms up the body quickly. It’s a perfect spot if you want to take a bath in a natural setting with the ocean right in front of you.

While the view from the hot spring is beautiful, nature is unpredictable. Depending on the weather, you might find yourself getting splashed all over with salt water. It might make you feel like you’re standing strong against the waves, or like you’re invincible, just like the name of this hot spring.

Koganezaki “furofushi onsen” literally translates to “young forever (furo)” “immortal (fushi)” onsen (hot spring).” Apparently the name itself doesn’t have much meaning though, other than the fact that the owner liked the saying, “If I take care of myself here, I would never age or grow weaker.”

Steps to Follow Before Dipping In

The hot spring is open to all visitors- ones who want to stay a night and to those who just want to dip in and go home. For drop-in visitors, the open-air hot spring is open from 8AM to 4PM. The facility is so popular that sometimes you’ll see people lining up in front of the hotel at 8AM. Entrance fee is 600 yen for adults and 300 yen for children. You can borrow towels, shampoos, and body wash inside.

Once inside, the first thing you would want to do is to run off to the open-air hot spring and jump inside, but there are some rules to follow.

They ask you to go into the uchiburo (indoor hot spring) first—you have to take the step of going into the hot spring inside the hotel first to warm yourself up before going outside. At the uchiburo, the first thing you do is to bend down outside the bath, pour water on yourself, lightly wash your body with the water, then take a quick dip in the bath. After that, get out of the bath and wash your body properly, and soak yourself in the bath again. Only after doing this, you are ready to go outside. Since the open-air bath is a short walk from the uchiburo, you are expected to wear your clothes again when walking towards the open-air bath (if it’s winter, it’s freezing cold and you wouldn’t want to walk outside naked anyways).

There are two open-air baths outside: one is for women only and the other is for all genders. Swimsuits, sandals, or going in with a towel wrapped around your body are all not allowed inside the bath. You take your clothes off again and go in.

If you are worried about exposure, many people use towels to cover themselves up until they can dip into the water and place the towel on their heads or leave it on the side (never put the towel inside the bath because that’s considered bad manners). The hot spring water here is brown so once you’re in, your body will not be visible. At the counter, you can also purchase a simple dress that you can wear inside the bath if you’re worried. If you are a woman and not comfortable with the mixed-gender bath, choose to go in the women only open-air bath instead. When the baths are crowded, a lot of women decide to go in that one anyway, because the mixed gender bath becomes full with men. There are a few other points to remember before entering any kind of hot spring. Don’t swim inside (the objective is to relax inside the bath, not to have fun). Don’t go after drinking alcohol (combination of hot spring and alcohol is bad for your heart). Don’t wear your hair down (if your hair is long enough to touch the water when you’re inside, make a pony tail). Lastly, even if you’re tempted, don’t take pictures in the bath (staff will ask you not to, and it’s rude even if strangers are not in the picture).

After experiencing the open-air bath with the Japan Sea in front of you, make sure you look up at the night sky. In the year 2000, Fukaura was chosen as the town with the most beautiful stars in Japan. At the hot spring, they have an observation deck where you can borrow mats (only for guests spending the night). Roll them out, just lay there and watch the stars shining in the sky.

Other Near by Places to Visit

Ride the JR Gono local line or rapid train, “resort Shirakami” while you are in Fukaura. It’s a local train that is 147 kilometers (91 miles) long. Although the number of trains per hour is limited, if you can catch one, you’ll be able to enjoy a great view of the Japan Sea. The tracks in Fukaura are along the Japan Sea and it has been a popular line among locals and visitors.

Also, don't miss Lake Juniko. In Fukaura, there is an entrance to the Shirakami Sanchi forests. The Shirakami Sanchi is a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, with the largest beech forest in East Asia. Go to Lake Juniko (twelve lakes) inside the beech forest. Although Lake Juniko contains 33 lakes and ponds, it’s called Juniko because only twelve can be spotted from the top of Mount Okuzure. The most noteworthy pond in Juniko is the Aoike pond. It is a mystical blue- the kind of blue you see in fairy tales- and is so clear that you can see the beech branches at the bottom of the lake, which is about 9 meters (about 30 feet) deep.

How to Visit

<By train>
Take the bullet train from Tokyo station to JR Aomori station (approximately 3.5 to 4 hours.)

From JR Aomori station, go on the resort Shirakami to JR Wespa Tsubakiyama Station (approximately 3 hours). From JR Wespa Tsubakiyama Station, there is a free shuttle bus from the station to the Furofushi Hot spring (approximately 5 min).

Koganezaki Furofushi Onsen
Address: 15 Shimokiyotaki Henashi Fukaura-machi Aomori-ken 038-2327
Tel: 81-(0)173-74-3500

Reference List

http://www.furofushi.com/
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/663