Yumen Fureai Center or Usagi no Yu? Two Very Different Baths in Nagato
Fureai Center costs ¥500 and adds an outdoor bath and sauna; Usagi no Yu is ¥350. The nearby baths do not share the same documented spring.
Checked: September 27, 2026 These two day-use baths are close to each other, but they are built around different plans. Fureai Center is the stop for a longer visit with several bathing options. Usagi no Yu, inside Yumen Kanko Hotel, is for a straightforward soak in a small public bath. An adult ticket is ¥500 at Fureai and ¥350 at Usagi.
| Yumen Fureai Center | Usagi no Yu | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult admission | ¥500 | ¥350 |
| Children | ¥200 for elementary-school age and younger; ¥100 infants | ¥150 elementary-school age; ¥80 age six and under |
| Typical hours | 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; last entry 8:30 p.m. | Weekdays 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; weekends and holidays 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; last entry 7:30 p.m. |
| Bath setup | Indoor and outdoor baths, waterfall shower, bubble bath and sauna | One indoor bath each for men and women |
| Towels | Bring your own | Towel rental ¥50; bath towel ¥100 |
| Private bathing | No family bath listed | Hotel’s reserved bath is for overnight guests only |
| Spring information | 2020 analysis for Misumi No. 5 spring | Hotel lists an alkaline simple spring at 38°C and says it is free-flowing |
When the extra ¥150 is useful
Choose Fureai Center if you want to use the sauna, soak outdoors or take a break between baths. It is the more flexible place for a family or group whose members do not all want the same thing. The current visitor listing also includes a cafeteria and rest areas. There is no family bath, though, so the extra facilities do not solve a need for privacy.
Usagi no Yu makes more sense when you are passing through and want a lower-cost soak without turning it into a long stop. Its public bathing offer is deliberately simple: one indoor pool for each gender, with no public sauna or outdoor bath listed. The hotel rents towels and bath towels, and sells single-use shampoo products; shampoo and similar amenities are not stocked in the bathing area.
For a minimal wash kit, allow ¥50 for a small towel and ¥100 for a bath towel; toiletries are sold in ¥100 packets. Fureai asks visitors to bring their own towel. Neither ticket includes a listed private bath: Fureai has no family bath, while Usagi’s reserved Yuura bath is for overnight guests.
Usagi’s ¥350 public-bath ticket is not normally increased by the ¥150 bathing-tax line shown in the hotel’s general accommodation information. Nagato City exempts public baths and qualifying day-use facilities costing less than ¥1,000; the city tourism listing gives Usagi’s public rate as ¥350. Confirm if the facility changes its ticket or use category.
Do not treat the two spring records as interchangeable
Fureai Center’s 2020 analysis identifies its spring as Nagato City Misumi No. 5: 36.1°C at the source, pH 8.9 on site and 53 litres per minute. Usagi no Yu’s current hotel page lists an alkaline simple spring at 38°C and describes the bath as free-flowing. The hotel does not publish a matching pH or flow figure for Usagi no Yu, so the data from Fureai should not be carried across just because both facilities are in Yumen.
The 36.1°C and 38°C figures are source temperatures, not guaranteed temperatures in the pools. Fureai’s visitor information does not identify every pool’s water treatment in detail; Usagi’s page expressly describes its public bath as free-flowing. If that distinction matters more than the facility layout, Usagi has the clearer statement about how its bath is supplied.
Check the calendar before you set out
Fureai Center closes on Tuesdays, shifting to Wednesday when Tuesday is a national holiday. Usagi no Yu’s hotel bath information lists the third Wednesday of the month as a closure day for the public bath and private bath. The hotel’s listed last admission is 7:30 p.m., an hour earlier than Fureai’s. If your visit falls near a closure date, confirm directly before travelling.
For a car trip, either bath can fit between Nagato and Hagi. Without a car, check the bus timetable for the day rather than assuming frequent service. Fureai’s tourism listing gives an eight-minute taxi ride from Nagato-Misumi Station; the hotel lists the Yumen Onsen bus stop for Usagi no Yu.
The two facilities are not a strict upgrade ladder. Fureai is a small day spa where the sauna and outdoor pool justify the slightly higher ticket. Usagi is a public bath with a spring-fed indoor pool and a shorter checklist. For the individual facilities, read the Fureai Center guide and the Usagi no Yu guide. If your route continues toward Nagato Yumoto, Onto is a separate kind of bath again.
Sources and image credits
- [Nanavi: Yumen Fureai Center](https://nanavi.jp/stay/yumen/) and [Yamaguchi Prefecture Hot Spring Association: facility and spring analysis](https://onsenkyokai.jp/spa/yumen). - [Yumen Kanko Hotel: Usagi no Yu bath information](https://hpdsp.jp/yumenkankouhotelyumenosato/hot_spring), [facility guide](https://hpdsp.jp/yumenkankouhotelyumenosato/facility) and [access](https://hpdsp.jp/yumenkankouhotelyumenosato/access). - [Nagato City: bathing-tax exemptions](https://www.city.nagato.yamaguchi.jp/soshiki/6/29174.html) and [Nanavi: Yumen Onsen day-use admission](https://nanavi.jp/stay/yumen/). - Image: [Nanavi](https://nanavi.jp/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/s-IMG_7115-1200x630-600x352.jpg), retained from the source article.Tags: Yumen Onsen, Nagato, Yamaguchi, day-use bath comparison, Usagi no Yu
