Okawa Onsen Kihada Bijin "Midori no yu"
With the owner Misao Sato, in the lounge
We visited Okawa Onsen Kihada Bijin “Midori no yu” in Nakahachiin, Ōkawa, Fukuoka. It is located at the middle of the field in a rural district. You can find a big signboard at the roadside, follow the guide to get to Midori no yu.
When we arrived, Reina welcomed us with a smile at the reception.
The dressing room is well maintained and clean. You can use a locker to keep your valuables safe.
This is the bathroom. There is a big bathtub filled with coffee-coloured moor hot spring where you can enjoy the plant-originated fragrance. The bath temperature is moderate, and this hot spring contains fulvic acid which is quite unusual and said to be good for anti-aging. Misao said a researcher from a university once came to Midori no yu for investigating fulvic acid.
The hot spring rises up from 1000 meters below the ground and flows into the bath. Frequent bathers say bathing at Midori no yu can actually make the skin silky smooth. Especially, it is highly reputed by women.
Midori no yu has an open-air bath as well. This bath was hand-made by the owner, he piled up the stones by himself. Soaking in this bath can soothe the body and mind.
These are a hot bath and a cool bath designed to take each bath one after the other. When you soak in the bath, your body will be surrounded by fine bubbles of carbon dioxide.
Satoshi came to Midori no yu for the therapeutic bathing. He has been staying at a small ryokan nearby for 2 months to come to this bath every day. He said, at the beginning, he got tired to come to this bath form the ryokan, but recently he has been recovering thanks to the medicinal benefits of bathing.
He is the owner Misao. He used to run a housing business, and drilled a hot spring to sell a house with a hot spring bath; however, he changed his plan and opened Midori no yu instead in 2009 because the quality of the hot spring was beyond his expectation and good enough to run a hot spring spa. He has also made a moisturizer using the hot spring water and designed its package by himself.
MAP
INFORMATION
Name: Midori no yu (Okawa Onsen)
Address: 241-1 Nakahachiin, Ōkawa, Fukuoka
Tel: 0944-88-0026
Access (Car): 1 hour 9 min from the centre of Fukuoka City. 1 hour 6 min from the Fukuoka airport
Parking Lot: 45
Opening Hours: 10:00 – 23:00
Closing Days: Every second and fourth Tuesday
Price: JPY 600
