Yunokawa Onsen

People have bathed at Yunokawa since at least 1453, when a woodcutter is said to have healed his arm in the spring, and wounded soldiers from the Hakodate war recovered here in 1869. Today it's a tram-stop neighbourhood on the Tsugaru Strait at the east end of Hakodate, five minutes from the airport.

Eijuyu and Taiseiyu are small neighbourhood sento that run on their own wells, and both keep the tubs very hot. At Taiseiyu the three tubs step down from hottest to coolest, and the regulars often run the cold tap before they lower themselves in. Expect a row of taps along the wall and plenty of older locals.

The water is a salty sodium-calcium chloride spring. Most wells give the clear, gassy white water at around 65°C, and only a few give the reddish water. Before you leave, sit at the free foot bath near the Yunokawa Onsen tram stop.