Hakuba Happo-one is a cozy village with dozens of onsen (hot spring) facilities. Visitors can enjoy indoor baths in the lodging facilities or in the four public natural hot spring baths.
In the spring of 1875, Hakuba Happo-one’s villagers began working on an ambitious engineering project to draw hot spring water from the source of Hakuba Yari Onsen, the highest hot spring in the country at an elevation of 2,475 meters. One day in late autumn, when 2 km of bamboo pipes had already been laid, the construction site was buried under a heavy avalanche—and 21 workers lost their lives. Due to that tragic accident, the project was suspended for more than one hundred years.
In 1982, a new project was launched. This time the excavation of the hot spring source directly under Hakuba Yari Onsen, with a 4 km–long pipe, was successful, and the century-long wish of the villagers was granted.
The hot spring’s strong alkaline water is considered among the best in Japan, with claims that it moisturizes and revitalizes the skin. Nagomi no Izumi, the foot bath right in the heart of Hakuba Happo-one, was built to provide an open space where people can come together and enjoy the miraculous effects of Happo-one’s hot spring.
Yakushi-sama’s Onsen Mist
Yakushi-sama is worshipped as the Healing Buddha, and a statue of him watches over the Nagomi no Izumi. Make an offering and you can take home a bottle of Hakuba Happo-one’s onsen water, which makes your skin silky and smooth.
> Take a bottle off the shelf and put ¥200 into the stone box.
> Step over to the statue of the Healing Buddha and show your gratitude.
> Take your bottle and hold it under the tap at the right side of the foot bath.
> Now you can spray the water onto your skin in the comfort of your own home.
> For best results, use within five days. Do not drink the onsen water.
