Motoyu Honda or Yasumaru no Yu? Choosing a Bath in Mikawa
Choose Motoyu Honda for its coffee-coloured spring and later hours, or Yasumaru no Yu for a dry sauna; check Friday’s closure and train access.
Checked: September 27, 2026 Both baths are an easy walk from Mikawa Station, and both have dark, coffee-coloured water. They do not use the same documented spring, and their weekly closing days are different. Check the calendar first: Motoyu Honda generally closes Wednesday, while Yasumaru no Yu closes Friday.
| Motoyu Honda | Yasumaru no Yu | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult admission | ¥490 | ¥500 for high-school students and adults |
| Published hours | 10 a.m.–10:30 p.m. | The operator lists 10 a.m.–10 p.m.; the bath association directory lists 9:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. |
| Regular closing day | Wednesday; opens on a public holiday and closes the following day | Friday |
| Walk from Mikawa Station | About 10 minutes | About 13 minutes |
| Spring | The inn’s own spring; described locally as a moor spring | Mikawa Onsen No. 1 spring; sodium chloride spring |
| Sauna | Listed in the city tourism booking plan | Dry sauna; the operator lists it at no extra charge |
| Family bath | Temporarily closed | Not a day-use option listed for this comparison |
Pick around your arrival day
On Wednesday, Yasumaru no Yu is usually the straightforward option; on Friday, Motoyu Honda is the one to check. If you are arriving late, Honda’s listed closing time gives you an extra half hour, though neither page sets out a last-admission time. Leave time to wash and change instead of planning to walk in just before closing.
From Kanazawa, the adult fare to Mikawa is ¥370 on IR Ishikawa Railway. The walk from the station is manageable at either end, so paying ¥10 more or less should not drive the decision. If you want to keep the walk as short as possible, Honda has the slight edge.
Similar colour, different water
Motoyu Honda uses its own underground spring. Hakusan City tourism describes the coffee-coloured water as a moor spring containing organic matter from plants; the Japan Spa Association’s listing classifies it as a chloride spring and shows a source-temperature figure of 31.9°C. The listing does not give a recent analysis date, so treat that temperature as a catalogue reference, not as a 2026 reading or the temperature of the bath.
Yasumaru no Yu identifies its source as Mikawa Onsen No. 1 and lists the spring as sodium chloride, weakly alkaline and high-temperature. Its published page does not provide a current source-temperature figure. The shared colour is not evidence that these are the same water source.
Neither bath explains the heating, circulation and disinfection setup for every tub. Honda uses its own spring, but that does not establish that every pool is untreated or entirely flow-through. Yasumaru’s website calls the water “free-flowing” without describing the supply to each tub. If a strict flow-through bath is essential, ask the facility before you go.
Both have a sauna; neither is a large spa
Hakusan City’s day-use booking plan includes a public-bath visit with sauna at Honda. Yasumaru’s operator lists its sauna at no extra charge, and the bath association identifies it as a dry sauna. Neither publishes reliable current figures for sauna temperature, capacity or cold-plunge temperature. These are local baths with a sauna, not large super-sento with a long menu of heated rooms and outdoor bathing areas.
One practical difference: Honda’s family bath is temporarily closed, despite generic wording still visible on some property pages. Do not travel there expecting a private family session. The Motoyu Honda guide and Yasumaru no Yu guide cover each bath’s admission and access separately. For another day-use option in Hakusan, see Kobo no Yu at Bird Humming Torigoe.
Sources and image credits
- [Motoyu Honda: Hakusan City tourism listing](https://www.urara-hakusanbito.com/spot/detail_1264.html), [official site](https://r.goope.jp/mikawaonsen/) and [Hakusan City booking plan](https://www.urara-hakusanbito.com/program/plan.html). - [Japan Spa Association: Motoyu Honda](https://www.spa.or.jp/search_f/detail_f/?F_ID=602). - [Yasumaru no Yu: operator’s hours and facilities](https://www.yasumaru-onsen.jp/sub1.html), [spring composition](https://www.yasumaru-onsen.jp/sub8.html) and [Ishikawa bath association listing](https://ishikawa1010.com/bath/32/). - [Ishikawa Prefecture: public-bath admission ceiling update](https://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/yakuji/nyuuyokuryoukin26.html), [current association admission rates](https://ishikawa1010.com/) and [IR Ishikawa Railway fares](https://www.ishikawa-railway.jp/station/kanazawa/). - Image: [Motoyu Honda official site](https://cdn.goope.jp/157365/200207204334hafh_l.jpg), retained from the original guide.Tags: Mikawa Onsen, Hakusan, Ishikawa, Motoyu Honda, Yasumaru no Yu, day-use onsen
