Hot Springs by Train: Yamaguchi — A Hot Spring that Legends Say was Found by a White Fox. A Healing Journey of Historic Inns and Prayers for Good Fortune

Getting to Yuda Onsen, Yamaguchi

How to Enjoy Yuda Onsen, Yamaguchi

Stay  |  Matsudaya Hotel

Yamaguchi has deep ties to the reformers who brought Japan’s feudal era to a close, and Yuda Onsen is said to have been visited again and again by figures such as Shinsaku Takasugi, Hirobumi Ito, and Ryoma Sakamoto.

The historic inn where those men are said to have gathered night after night for their secret councils is Matsudaya Hotel.

Inside, the Ishin Shiryoshitsu (Restoration Archive Room) displays materials from the period, while the bath known as Ishin no Yu, installed in 1860, is a precious historical relic in its own right, said to be where the reformers themselves washed off the day’s labors. Between the rooms and the relics tied to the end of the feudal era and the Meiji Restoration, that turbulent history feels remarkably close at hand.

The soft, gentle alkaline simple spring water can be enjoyed at leisure in the large communal bath as well as in the historic Ishin no Yu.

Meals are kaiseki courses built around seasonal ingredients, with the character of each item brought out simply and the tableware and presentation given equal care, for dishes that delight the eye as much as the palate.

Matsudaya Hotel

Address: 3-6-7 Yudaonsen, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi
Inquiries: 083-922-0125
Access: 10 min. on foot from JR Yudaonsen Station
Price: From ¥25,300 per person (1 night, 2 meals)
URL: https://www.matsudayahotel.co.jp/

Experience  |  A Tour of the Footbaths

Yuda Onsen has no fewer than six footbaths free for anyone to use.

They are the easiest way to try the alkaline simple spring water, so gentle and smooth on the skin that it has long been known as a beauty bath.

Step off the train at Yudaonsen Station and a large white fox greets you with a smile. Fittingly for a hot spring a white fox is said to have discovered, you will spot these foxes everywhere you go in Yuda Onsen.

There is a footbath in front of the station, too, where you can soak your feet while watching the trains on the Yamaguchi Line roll past. On days when the SL Yamaguchi is running, you can even admire that magnificent locomotive up close.

Start with the footbath at Kitsune no Ashiato, the town’s tourist hub. Inside, you will find a generous selection of brochures and area maps, making it easy to gather everything from the latest event news to recommended spots for a stroll.

There are three footbaths here, each with its own character, from an indoor bath to one styled after a rock pool, and you can even borrow a Japanese-modern “footbath outfit” free of charge. They really do think of everything.

June 2025 brought the opening of Kon Kon Park. Soaking your feet while looking out over the lawn, with its large white fox–themed playground equipment and the fountain plaza beyond, helps you feel nature all around you and time pleasantly slowing down.

Footbath Tour

Address: Around JR Yudaonsen Station
Inquiries: 083-934-2810 (Yamaguchi City Tourism Exchange Division)
URL: https://www.yamaguchi-city.jp/details/af_ashiyu.html

Experience  |  Kumano Shrine

Kumano Shrine stands on Mount Gongen, the very hill at the heart of the white fox legend. During the Eisho era (1504–1521), a white fox is said to have come each night to a small pond in the grounds of a temple at the foot of the mountain to dip its injured paw into the water. Puzzled, the head priest scooped up some of the water and found it warm, and when he dug down, hot water gushed forth, along with the golden image of Yakushi, the Buddha of healing.

A hall was built to enshrine the image as a guardian of the spring, and word spread of the “white fox bath,” where praying before the statue and then bathing was said to cure even the most stubborn illnesses. So, the legend goes, the hot spring town came to flourish.

Kumano Shrine is known for both binding and severing ties, and many visitors come for its votive ema and its amulet pouches holding a piece of cut stone.

If you are hoping to recover your health or to meet the right person, why not pay a visit?

Kumano Shrine

Address: 2-2 Kumano-cho, Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi
Inquiries: 083-922-0506 (Yamaguchi Prefecture Shrine Agency)
Hours: Open to worshippers at any time
Access: 28 min. on foot from JR Yudaonsen Station
URL       https://yamaguchi-city.jp/details/af_kumano.html

Eat  |  Konkon Yama

This countryside café opened in April 2023 in a converted barn some 50 years old. It sits close to Kumano Shrine, making it the perfect place to pause on the way back from a visit.

The pandemic gave owner Ms. Morishige the push to finally open the shop she had always wanted, and she decided to run it together with her brother and his wife and other relatives, each taking different days.

Four little shops take turns using the calm interior through the week: crepes, sweet potato desserts, old-fashioned penny sweets, and coffee.

Konoka Crepe, open Wednesday through Sunday, is known for generously sized crepes piled with walnuts and other nuts, whose crunch gives every bite a lift.

Mondays and Tuesdays are for sweet potatoes and coffee, when MORIC COFFEE sets up shop, while Watto Imo trades on Mondays, Tuesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Its sweet potato desserts use carefully aged roasted sweet potatoes from farms in Mine (the source varies by season), served with rock salt and Hokkaido vanilla ice cream so you can mix up the flavor as you go. The coffee beans are grown without agricultural chemicals or synthetic fertilizers.

From Thursday to Sunday, Dagashiya Nonta takes over the engawa veranda, lining it with more than 60 kinds of traditional Japanese penny sweets.

And available every day is the runaway favorite: Yuda Onsen Pudding, a milk pudding made with ramune-flavored syrup and cream cheese. Shaped like a white fox, it is as charming to look at as it is to eat, and every bit as photogenic.

Konkon Yama

Address: 1-8 Hagi-cho, YaHaguchi City, Yamaguchi
Inquiries: 090-5698-7321
Hours: 11:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m. *Dagashiya Nonta: weekdays only, 2:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Closed: Konoka Crepe: Wed–Sun / Watto Imo: Sat–Tue / Dagashiya Nonta: irregular / MORIC COFFEE: Mon, Tue
Access: 28 min. on foot from JR Yudaonsen Station
URL https://konkonyama.my.canva.site/ec

Let Yuda Onsen and a Countryside Café Soothe Your Soul

Yuda Onsen takes pride in a supply of hot water so plentiful that it gave the town its name. Simply soaking your feet at one of the footbaths scattered through this spring town, discovered as though led there by a white fox, is enough to warm you from the inside out. Offer a prayer for a good match at Kumano Shrine, take a breather at a countryside café, and the warmth that fills the whole town will quietly settle your mind.

About the Author
Maki Maeda

Photos courtesy of: Matsudaya Hotel, the Yamaguchi Tourism & Convention Association, and Konkon Yama