The Akinomiya Hot Springs also known as Aki no Miya Onsenkyo is a thermal spring system and hot springs village in the Akinomiya Geothermal Area located along the western base of Mount Kurikoma in Akita Prefecture, Japan, (formerly

Dewa Province was a province of Japan comprising modern-day Yamagata Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, except for the city of Kazuno and the town of Kosaka. Dewa bordered on Mutsu and Echigō Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . History Early per ...

, and after the Meiji era,

Ugo Province is an old province of Japan in the area of Akita Prefecture and some parts of Yamagata Prefecture (specifically Akumi District).Newland, Amy Reigle. (2005). ''The Hotei Encyclopedia of Japanese Woodblock Prints,'' p. 428. It was sometimes calle ...

). There are more than 50 hot springs and fumaroles in the area. According to legend, the hot springs are the oldest in the prefecture. They were established 1,200 years ago.Akinomiya Hot Springs Resort: Discovery of Akinomiya Hot Springs
/ref> The onsen at Akinomiya were officially recognized in the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

(1603-1868) by the Akita Clan. Some of the well known springs within the system include Inazumi, Takanoyu, Yunodai, Yunomata, among others found along the Yakunai River. Takanoyu Onsen is one of the better known hot springs of the Akinomiya Hot Springs region; the water emerges from the source at 162°F / 72°C. The footbaths, ''Kawara-no-Yukko'' (Riverbed Onsen), are accessed by digging among the river stones with a shovel to form shallow soaking pools. There have been geothermal energy developments such as power plants within the area. Approximately 70% of the residential households draw their hot water from the springs. The springs were written about by the Japanese novelist, poet and philosopher Saneatsu Mushanokoji among others.

Location and transportation

The Akinomiya Onsen area is located on highway route 108. By car from Yokobori, Akita, it is a 30 minute drive south. Akinomiya is served by the Yokobori Station via the JR East Ōu Main Line serving Akita prefecture. High speed rail service from Tokyo serves the southern Akita area via the

Yamagata Shinkansen The is a Mini-shinkansen route in Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It provides service between Tokyo and Shinjō in Yamagata Prefecture over the tracks of the Tohoku Shinkansen and the Ōu Main Line. The term Yamag ...

Shinjo Station or the Tohoku Shinkansen Furukawa Station.

Climate

References

{{Reflist Hot springs of Akita Prefecture Geothermal energy in Japan Balneotherapy

Location and transportation

Climate

See also

References