【秘湯】 3つの共同浴場と200人は入れる露天風呂　1900年の歴史を持つ古湯、蔵王温泉へ

【秘湯】 3つの共同浴場と200人は入れる露天風呂　1900年の歴史を持つ古湯、蔵王温泉へ

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hello. This is Minifu Channel. Zao is famous, isn’t it? I’ve seen it on car trips and visited Tsukiba, but it doesn’t seem to be popular with young people, and it doesn’t seem to have much going for it these days. I’ve never been to Zao Onsen, so I thought I’d give it a try. I arrived at Zao Onsen. There’s a tourist information center at the entrance, but there’s no parking nearby. is on the right. Good work. There’s a bus stop, but vehicles are generally prohibited from entering. What should I do? What should I do? This is a detour. I can’t go any further. What should I do? I went to the terminal tourist information center at the exit, but I had no choice but to go into the hot springs. I wonder if the information center is open? Is there a parking lot at the tourist information center ? I wanted to go to the public bath, so I headed straight up Takayu Street. Takayu Street is lined with many inns and souvenir shops, and it feels like a hot spring town, but the roads are narrow, so I had to drive carefully. There’s no parking. [Music] I’m in the Shin area, and there’s a public bath at the end of Takadori Street, but I can’t find a parking space and I’m wandering around. There’s no parking lot. The parking lot is diagonally behind me to the right, as seen on this screen. It’s surprisingly hard to find. Let’s park our car and head to the public bath. What’s autumn? Zao Onsen gushes out 5,700 liters of hot spring water every year. It’s a representative hot spring resort in Tohoku. This is where you put your money. There are three public baths there, and tourists can enjoy the hot springs. Zao Onsen has a history of over 1,900 years and is rich in medical treatment, but before the Meiji period, there were no baths in each home. Therefore, public baths were built for residents in the Meiji period. This bath, originally called Oyu, is the oldest public bath. There’s a bird behind the building, and it has the most inviting atmosphere of the three public baths. It probably won’t work, so I’ll ask around inside just in case. It looks cool. Behind Kami no Yu is Sugawa Onsen Shrine. Apparently, the shrine is at the end of a long flight of stairs. These stairs look a bit steep. Omiya Ryokan. This hot spring inn sits on a hill behind Kami, with a wonderful atmosphere. Amazing. Amazing. Ah, what a nice smell. [Applause] [Applause] Oh, sorry. Are they open for day trips yet ? No, they’re not. Oh, Kasu. Congratulations. [Applause] I see. Apparently they’re not accepting day trips for New Yorkers. That’s unfortunate. A lot of places don’t do day trips these days. Is it the impact of the Kona disaster? That’s unfortunate. It looked like a nice place. [Music] I’m not going to the Evia Inn across the road from Kami , though. I’m not going. [Applause] I’ll ask about their hunting policy there, too. They’re not open. Sorry. [Applause] Sorry. They’re not open for day trips. Sorry. Oh, yes. Thank you for your apology. Sorry. Are they not open for day trips around here? Well, in Toyo, overnight guests take priority, so yeah. [Music] They’re not open much. Yeah. They’re open quite a bit on weekends, but only on Saturdays. [Music] Yeah. Or, that’s right. I asked Kawaraya-san over there in Japan, and he kindly gave me lots of advice. Thank you. I’ve been to Zao several times. I’ve taken a tour to see the mountains on the Kiba-no-Yoko and hiked around the famous Oka, but I’ve never been to Zao Onsen. I wonder what Zao Onsen is like. First of all, it’s hard to find. [Music] When people say Zao, they usually mean Zao Town. Zao Onsen is located in Yamagata, further west than Zao Town. Searching for Zao often doesn’t yield any results . Zao Onsen is located less than 30 minutes on the Echo Line from Zao Oka. While Zao is blessed with abundant medical care, a mystical baseball field, and other tourist attractions , the number of tourists has been declining since peaking at 2.67 million in 1990. This is due to the fact that the ski boom of the 1990s brought in a surge of visitors, but the number of tourists subsequently declined as the boom subsided. Zao Onsen is characterized by its high concentration of aluminum-rich pyrochlore. There are 47 gensen (high-rise baths), each with slightly different temperatures and waves. The northern waves are usually around 1.6, but this is the second-strongest and most popular. The hot spring itself is transparent, but its colors change depending on the temperature. So, we’re almost there, aren’t we? A few minutes’ walk from the upper bath is another public bath. It’s a wooden building standing alongside the hot spring facilities, across from the souvenir shop. It’s called Barayu. [Music] It’s amazing. [Music] This bath has a unique feature that sets it apart from the other two . The wooden structure has a base and four sides that are raised, and the hot springs gush forth from there. That’s why it’s called Sonoko no Yu. [Music] The hot water is poured directly into the bath without coming into contact with air, making it the freshest. Since it doesn’t come into contact with air, the water is transparent and unaffected. [Music] But if you touch the lower bath , it might actually be a little cooler. The wind is cool. If you use the wind, the wind won’t work on your sweat. [Music] Okay, let’s go down Takayu Street and head to Shimoyu. It’s open now. What’s going on? Zao Onsen is one of the Osa Takayu hot springs , and in ancient times it was called Takayu or Kamitakayu. Kamitakayu was renamed Zao Onsen after Zao was selected as one of Japan’s 100 Great Tourist Destinations. Even today, Takayu Street, the birthplace of Zao Onsen, still retains the name of Takayu. [Music] I’m still stabbed, but that’s it. Oh, well, there are shops lined up along the street, but there aren’t many restaurants open during the day. While walking with some sake and wine, we found a nice mochi shop. [Music] I love mochi. We can go home. [Music] It’s a popular shop where you can taste handmade mochi. Apparently, they sometimes close early because they sell out. We bought a lot of mochi and headed to the car. Moko was waiting, so we couldn’t eat at the store. [Music] [Music] The service was kind and efficient, and the mochi was delicious and amazing. Hurry up. While the selection of rooms at Zao Onsen is generally pretty much the same across all the selected hot springs, those who frequent the facility daily say this one is more exciting than the others. [Music] [Music] All the public baths were excellent. It was so good that I decided to check it out at night as well. [Music] [Music] [Music] I plan to visit Zao Onsen’s day-use facility again at night, but I first check into the campsite. This is a campsite where reservations are not required and early bird rates tend to be high. The fee is a bargain at 500 yen. Registration closes at 5:00 PM. While leaving the night camp is free, it’s a quiet, residential campsite, so I felt like I needed to be careful driving around. You can generally pitch a tent anywhere, but the cross-country running course is off-limits. You can spend your time freely in a fairly large area. Nighttime streetlights are limited to the restroom area. The Yasukawa at the Yamaguchi branch was delicious. You’ll need decent lighting to be active at night. At an altitude of 1,000 meters, the temperature is significantly lower than in the lower reaches. While this is great in the summer, caution is advised in early autumn. This place is so spacious. Apparently, at night, you can sometimes see a starry sky and the Amano River. [Music] Let’s go back in time a bit. Just before 6 p.m., I sneaked out of the campground and headed to Zao Oroten Brotho. I heard they were open late that night, so I decided to check it out. [Music] The old slope is narrower than I thought, and it would be a little scary to walk there without any signs. Zao Oroten Brotho was completed in 1987 as a summer highlight for Zao Onsen . It uses a carefully selected river called the Shintonosawa Gensen, which was once used to source hot spring water. Thank you for your hard work. They were open late today, and the illuminated open-air brotho was a sight to behold, but… [Music] I guess I came a little too early. So, with that out of the way, let’s head down a little further and take a look at another facility on the left. Yes. This is a day-use hot spring facility located a little downhill from Oroten Brotho. [Music] That’s right. [Music] You can easily enjoy Zao Onsen’s unique, communistic hot springs. It’s okay to bring a car, right? The bath here was so good it almost made me shiver. The universe is Jupiter. [Music] It’s about the size of six people. The angle is 42° to 43°. The view of the large open-air bath from this indoor bath is amazing. While the selection isn’t significantly different from other Zao Onsen facilities, the sense of freedom is incredible . Some people said that it’s less crowded than the famous Daitenburo, so they can relax . My wife seemed to prefer this to Ojitenburo. [Music] Zao’s 5th Tenburo, which was created as a response to the growing number of visitors over the past three years . [Music] The hot springs have become a tourist resource without damaging the natural scenery, and have become a symbol of Zao Onsen. What’s amazing is its size, which can accommodate 200 people, and its design, which allows you to enjoy the natural scenery as it is . It seems that it was very popular with tourists at the time, as a ski resort where you could bathe at dew point. [Music] I was the first to enter, so I was able to bathe alone in this huge open-air bath. I felt like a member of Dubai’s royal family or a lord. You can’t really understand the realism of this place unless you’re there, but it was really good . [Music] If you’re going to Zao, I highly recommend this place. All that’s left is to go back to the campsite and relax. I need to get dinner somewhere. Where should I go? Oh, there’s a restaurant here. Genghis Khan. It said something like “Divine Genghis Khan and soba noodles” [Music]. It’s Zao’s soul food. It originated in the past, when sheep were hunted as livestock for their wool. Genghis Khan cuisine first spread to the town of Zao in the 1950s. A new Sanpu restaurant opened in 2022. You can eat genghis Khan with your dog on the terrace. That’s a no-no. That’s a long way off. I accidentally discovered a restaurant that’s great for pets. It looks like they have vegetables on the side. The yakitori on top is enough for about four people, so if you add two pieces, it tastes better steamed like vegetables and meat. But I think it’s best if you like it. Yes . Thank you. Thank you. They also carefully explained how to eat it. Wow, it’s amazing. [Music] And this meat is so delicious ! It’s so good. It’s so good. Yeah . It’s like a cooking show. Wow, it was a lot for us, but we finished it all. We wanted to eat some tsukune, but we were full and gave up. It might not be good. It seemed like a lot of local families were visiting. It’s probably best to make a reservation before visiting. [Music] There are many more hot spring inns in The Onsen that I couldn’t introduce. They all look great , but day-trip bathing might be difficult. It’s a bit difficult for pets. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] That person just marked the places they wanted to visit, and now there are so many more. I’d like to visit another inn next time . [Music] We left the campsite and headed to Iwate via The King. I left early because I wanted to arrive before the restaurant I wanted to go to had finished its shift. It was 6:00 this morning. [Music] We descended from The King to the sphere. The famous Ojo is located in Sendai’s inner sanctum. [Music] It was my first time there, and it was a truly magnificent waterfall. Scary. [Music ] You can actually go down close to the waterfall, but it seemed a bit too hot for a dog, so we canceled. It’s near Yumoto in Aki Onsen. This is the place I was looking for. It’s a popular shop famous for its underground ohagi (rice balls). It looks like a regular supermarket, but it’s been featured on TV and is extremely popular. Apparently, there were long lines at one point, and the ohagi (rice balls) were hard to come by. Yes. Amazing. I bought three packs. Even if I were to eat it at home, that’s probably a bit much, right? It was a fun shop with many unique items besides the ohagi. There’s a public bathhouse nearby called Kyu Onsen, but the parking lot is hard to find, and the local residents are quite noisy. Apparently there are quite a few unspoken rules among the residents, and since it was too much of a hassle, I decided to skip this one. [Music] Finally, on my way home, I passed by Aone Onsen. It seems that the hot spring inn, which has a long history of 21 generations , inherited the Yubetsu Island from Date-I, and for generations, it served as both the homoriyaku (guardian of the island) and the sekimori (sekimori) of the half-class. Apparently, there are about three stores full of Date-related items . [Music] I’m a member of the Society for Protecting the Japanese. The current Aone Onsen was restored to its original form in 1932, preserving the elegance of the time. I happened to pass by this magnificent building and fell in love with it at first sight. [Music] Naturally, there was no damage in New York , so it seemed difficult to see inside with a group of dogs . [Music] I could only see photos on the website, but I was impressed to learn that there was a hot spring in such a place I hadn’t seen before. [Music] I’d like to find the machine and stay there someday . [Music] Tohoku’s hot springs are fascinating. There seem to be many more great places to visit.

山形県の名湯「蔵王温泉」へ――
約1900年の歴史を誇る古湯で、強酸性の硫黄泉に癒される旅。
地元の人々に愛され続ける「3つの共同浴場」を巡り、圧巻のスケールを誇る“200人は入れる”大露天風呂へ！
白濁の湯に身をゆだね、四季折々の自然とともに楽しむ温泉の魅力をたっぷりお届けします。
秋保や青根などの地域も巡り東北の温泉の奥深さを知る旅です。
秘湯好き、温泉巡り好き、東北旅行を計画中の方におすすめの内容です。

#蔵王温泉
#温泉旅行
#秘湯
#絶景温泉
#共同浴場
#露天風呂
#夫婦旅行
#山形観光
#東北旅行

00:00　スタート
00:44　蔵王温泉
02:08　上湯
03:29　おおみや旅館
04:25　えびや旅館
05:18　蔵王観光
07:15　川原湯
09:36　山口餅屋(やまぐちもちや)
10:31　下湯
11:34　蔵王坊平国設野営場
14:14　源七露天の湯
16:35　かしぇる
19:28　蔵王の朝
19:50　秋保大滝
20:20　さいち
21:17　不忘閣