[Yuda Onsen Travel Guide] Enjoy Hot Springs Casually with Footbaths and Drinking Spring Spots

Yuda Onsen has many footbaths that you can use for free.
Many footbaths do not require you to change clothes, making it even easier to experience the hot springs casually.
One distinctive feature of Yuda Onsen is its drinking spring spots, and there are two of them.
As the name suggests, drinking spring water means drinking hot spring water, and Yuda Onsen's alkaline simple hot spring water is easy to drink.
Not only can you enjoy the hot spring's benefits, but drinking the spring water at Yuda Onsen, which is also known as a power spot, is said to bring blessings such as good fortune.
One place we especially recommend is the footbath at Kitsune no Ashiato, the Yuda Onsen Tourist Strolling Hub Facility.
There is a fee, but the facility is well equipped with kimono-inspired footbath wear, changing rooms, lockers, and more.
Another attraction is that you can also enjoy Yamaguchi's local specialty foods inside the facility, not just the footbath.

At Yuda Onsen, you can enjoy gourmet food unique to Yamaguchi Prefecture. It will likely taste even better thanks to the relaxing effects of the hot springs.
When it comes to Yuda Onsen's signature gourmet food, kawara soba is the best known. Kawara soba is green tea soba served on a heated roof tile, topped with ingredients such as shredded egg.
One of the highlights is enjoying the difference in texture between the noodles on the tile and the ones not directly touching it.
It is often served on a large tile, and it is not uncommon for one serving to be more than enough for one person, so keep that in mind.
If you want to enjoy local specialties, fugu sashimi is another must-try. The many fugu dishes you can enjoy in Yamaguchi, where it is a local specialty, are exquisite.
When you visit, be sure to enjoy not only the hot springs but also Yamaguchi Prefecture's signature gourmet food.

Yuda Onsen has many shops where you can buy souvenirs, including a wide variety of local specialties from Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Among them, one item we especially recommend is uiro.
Although Nagoya is famous for it, uiro is also a traditional confection from Yamaguchi Prefecture.
It is a Japanese sweet made by steaming a mixture of rice flour or wheat flour with sugar and water, but Yamaguchi's uiro is characterized by the use of bracken starch. Its smooth texture and pleasant mouthfeel are part of its appeal.
Another Yamaguchi specialty is ceramic tea ware used in the tea ceremony, known as Hagi ware.
One of its charms is that the unique character of Hagi ware becomes more pronounced the more you use it, and today it is made not only as tea ceremony utensils but also as rice bowls, plates, and many other items.
Both uiro and Hagi ware make great souvenirs from a trip to Yamaguchi.

This inn is known as a place where the patriots who achieved the Meiji Restoration once gathered.
On the first floor, the Meiji Restoration Materials Room displays valuable documents from the late Edo to Meiji period, allowing guests to immerse themselves in a sense of history throughout the building.
The large public bath, Kura no Yu, overlooks the garden of the former Kawaraya, where many patriots once gathered.
Inside a building created by relocating an 85-year-old storehouse, there are two bath areas: Ryoma no Yu and Oryo no Yu.

An entertainment ryokan in Yuda Onsen that is often featured on TV and has a reputation for being enjoyable for guests of all ages.
Its biggest highlight is the Okami Theater, held daily except during the year-end and New Year holidays, and said to have continued for Approx. 60 years.
The proprietress herself appears on stage and performs a wide variety of acts one after another, including magic shows, water performances, taiko drumming, and koto music.
You can also enjoy five distinctive bath areas, including a rustic open-air bath surrounded by stonework and a stone bath imported from China inspired by Yang Guifei.

A hot spring inn where you can enjoy Yuda Onsen, one of the Sanyodo area's most famous hot springs, said to have been discovered by a white fox and to have a history of Approx. 800 years.
You can relax in the large public bath and enjoy the mildly alkaline simple spring water of Yuda Onsen, also known as a hot spring for beautiful skin that leaves your skin feeling smooth.

Choshuya Yuda Branch is an izakaya located along Prefectural Route 204, the main street of Yuda Onsen.
With the motto of sharing the appeal of Yamaguchi Prefecture both inside and outside the prefecture, it serves dishes made with locally produced ingredients.
One of its most popular menu items is kawara soba, a Yamaguchi specialty of green tea soba topped with shredded egg, beef, and other ingredients, served on a heated roof tile instead of a plate.
Ordering 2 to 4 servings together and sharing the dish served on a single tile is a bold dining style that's well worth experiencing.

One of the few specialty horse meat restaurants in Yamaguchi Prefecture, located in the heart of the Yuda Onsen hot spring district along the street known as Onsen Street.
Its specialty is horse meat dishes made with safe, fresh raw meat delivered directly from a factory in Kumamoto certified under the international hygiene standards SQF2000/HACCP.
If you want to experience the true flavor of horse meat, start with basashi.

A restaurant serving local cuisine and regional sake in the hot spring town of Yuda Onsen, one of the Sanyodo area's leading hot spring destinations.
You can enjoy dishes made with seasonal ingredients sourced from around Yamaguchi Prefecture, either à la carte or in a wide variety of course meals.

This five-storied pagoda is said to have been completed in 1442 after construction was planned by Morimi, the younger brother of Ouchi Yoshihiro, to mourn his death in the Oei Rebellion of 1399.
It stands 31.2 m tall, and while the architecture is mainly in the Japanese style, it also incorporates some Chinese-style elements.
With a cypress bark roof and a tower body that tapers toward the upper levels, it gives a clean and elegant impression.
It is not only one of the finest examples of architecture from the mid-Muromachi period, but also considered the greatest masterpiece of Ouchi culture, and is counted among Japan's three most famous pagodas alongside those of Horyuji and Daigoji.

Akiyoshidai, one of Japan's largest karst plateaus, spreads across the central part of Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the central and eastern areas of Mine City. Coral reefs from a warm sea Approx. 300 million years ago turned into limestone over a long period while moving on tectonic plates, were pushed up above ground, and became today's Akiyoshidai. The white limestone emerging through the vast grasslands is a spectacular sight.
Beneath Akiyoshidai lies a network of limestone caves stretching like a web. These include the Special Natural Monument Akiyoshido Cave, Kagekiyodo Cave, said to have been a hiding place for defeated Heike warriors, and the three-dimensional, maze-like Taishodo Cave, for a total of more than 450 caves.

Opened in 2000, Tsunoshima Bridge connects the mainland side of Shimonoseki City in Yamaguchi Prefecture with the remote island of Tsunoshima. With a total length of 1,780 m, it is one of Japan's longest bridges to a remote island that can be crossed free of charge.
Located within Kita-Nagato Kaigan Quasi-National Park, the bridge was designed with consideration for the surrounding scenery, with its piers kept to a height of 18 m.
The road runs close to the sea, allowing you to enjoy a drive while feeling the ocean nearby. Rather than connecting the mainland and Tsunoshima in a straight line, the bridge curves gently to detour around Hatoshima, an island at the midpoint, creating a particularly beautiful form.