Right Onsen › Gunma › Minakami
Hoshi-no-Yu (Mixed Bathing)
4.1★ · 37 Google ratings · Minakami, Gunma · 法師乃湯(混浴) 立寄入浴
✓ Natural hot-spring water✓ Free-flowing source water
Before you go
Can you bathe here?
Day visitors
Limited hoursDay-use bathing is offered, though several reviewers say it's crowded and recommend staying overnight instead.stated on the facility's website · read 2026-09
visitors report Yes · 3 visitors · Jul 2022 – Aug 2025
visitors report Yes · 3 visitors · Jul 2022 – Aug 2025
Price
¥1,500Day-bath admission is 1500 yen.stated by 2 visitors · Dec 2022 – Aug 2025
Bathing arrangement
Mixed bathingThe signature bath is true mixed-gender (konyoku); separate women-only baths ('Chouju-no-yu', 'Tamaki-no-yu') and women-only hours for the main bath exist as alternatives, but many reviewers — especially women — describe men lingering and staring, and one family reports being unable to comfortably use the mixed bath at all.stated by 11 visitors · Sep 2022 – Aug 2025
Tattoos
Not known · call aheadno policy stated in the 28 recent reviews we read or on the facility's website
Watch out
Bathing arrangement
The signature bath is true mixed-gender (konyoku); separate women-only baths ('Chouju-no-yu', 'Tamaki-no-yu') and women-only hours for the main bath exist as alternatives, but many reviewers — especially women — describe men lingering and staring, and one family reports being unable to comfortably use the mixed bath at all.
stated by 11 visitors · Sep 2022 – Aug 2025The bath
What you’ll find
A famous, historic Edo-era ryokan (Hoshi Onsen Chojukan) whose signature bath is a true kakenagashi mixed-gender (konyoku) bathing hall bubbling straight from the floor, with separate women-only baths also on site; many reviewers, especially women, describe lingering men watching for female bathers, and day-use guests report it can feel rushed and crowded compared to staying overnight.
Restaurant
✓ YesMeal sets (soba, udon, a formal course) are available for day guests.stated by 2 visitors · Dec 2022 – Dec 2024
Lodging
✓ YesThis is an overnight ryokan; multiple reviewers strongly recommend staying rather than just visiting for the day.stated by 3 visitors · Nov 2020 – Jan 2025
The water
Free-flowing (kakenagashi)
✓ YesWater bubbles directly up from the floor of the bath, true source-fed kakenagashi with no piping.stated by 5 visitors · Nov 2022 – Aug 2025
Spring type
Calcium-sodium sulfateOfficially classified as a calcium-sodium sulfate spring.stated by 1 visitor · Nov 2022
Guide
What visitors add
The water
The spring wells up directly through the gravel floor of the tub (ashimoto-yushutsu): four reviewers describe bubbles rising from the bath bottom, one identifying the source as Hoshi Onsen (Asahi-no-yu), a calcium-sodium sulfate spring. The tubs vary in temperature (front hotter, back much cooler per one reviewer). Note: the water runs cool — three reviewers complain it is lukewarm or fails to warm you (especially in winter), and two others found the water itself unremarkable apart from the setting.
stated by 8 visitors · Nov 2022 – Feb 2026Price
Day-use bathing costs 1,500 yen per person (two reviewers, 2022 and 2025). A reservable day plan with a meal (Hoshi gozen), table seating, towel and bathing was 6,000 yen per one 2022 reviewer; a soba set meal alone was 2,500 yen per a 2024 reviewer who found it poor value. One reviewer calls the admission exceptionally expensive for the area given the time limit.
stated by 5 visitors · Dec 2022 – Aug 2025Day-use visits
Day-use exists but is time-restricted: one reviewer (2022) was told day bathing runs until 13:30, one arrived after the reception window and was turned away, and one queued at the day-use start time. Daytime visits are crowded — one compares it to a packed 'imo-arai' bath and multiple reviewers advise that staying overnight is the only way to enjoy it quietly.
stated by 4 visitors · Jul 2022 – Aug 2025Bathing arrangement
The famous Hoshi-no-yu bath is mixed-gender (konyoku), but during daytime/day-use it is effectively men-only: three reviewers report finding it entirely or almost entirely men, and one French-language reviewer confirms the men's side is open to women with no partition. Day-use women bathe in a separate women-only bath; per one reviewer, overnight guests get women-only hours in the main bath, which another reviewer states as 20:00-22:00.
stated by 4 visitors · Aug 2022 – Aug 2025Towels, soap & lockers
At day-use reception you remove shoes and carry them in a bag, and valuables are deposited with staff under your name (one 2025 reviewer); one 2022 reviewer's meal plan included a loaner towel (returned) and a tenugui to keep. In-bath changing shelves exist inside the historic bathhouse per one reviewer.
stated by 3 visitors · Nov 2022 – Aug 2025Water handling
Fully kakenagashi with the source under the bath itself: one reviewer states it is completely gensen kakenagashi with water welling through the floor, and another (bilingual review) emphasizes the spring bubbles up directly with no pipes and no mixing.
stated by 2 visitors · Nov 2022 – Aug 2025Practical
Plan your visit
📍 650 Nagai, Minakami, Tone District, Gunma 379-1401
🚃 Minakami station, 12.9 km
📋 Show at the counter: 法師乃湯(混浴) 立寄入浴
Nearby
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