[Takeo Onsen Travel Guide] A Hot Spring Town Where You Can Experience Japanese History and Relaxation

Located about a 15-minute walk from JR Takeo-Onsen Station, the Takeo Onsen Romon Gate is a striking building with a vermilion exterior reminiscent of the Dragon Palace.
It is a valuable structure designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.
Another distinctive feature is that not a single nail was used in its construction, giving it both grandeur and elegance.
It was designed by Kingo Tatsuno, an architect from Saga Prefecture who is also known for designing Tokyo Station.
Construction was planned as a base for Takeo Onsen as it developed as a hot spring town and tourist destination, and it was completed in 1915.

Takeo Onsen Shinkan stands just beyond the Takeo Onsen Romon Gate.
Like the gate, it was completed in 1915 and designed by Kingo Tatsuno, and it is also designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.
This Japanese-style building is notable for its vivid color scheme of vermilion, white, and deep green.
It was originally used as a public bathhouse, but after closing due to aging and other issues, it underwent restoration work.
Today, it serves as a museum for Takeo Onsen, where visitors can view valuable materials and exhibits, including a bath built for Emperor Taisho.

Motoyu is located on the grounds beyond the Takeo Onsen Romon Gate.
It offers two baths at different temperatures, with waters said to help with nerve pain, muscle pain, and joint pain.
Built in 1876, it is the oldest hot spring building in Japan that is still in use today.
Its greatest appeal is surely the chance to soak in the hot springs amid a retro atmosphere full of history.
You can enjoy the warmth unique to wooden architecture as well as the sense of openness created by the high ceiling.
It is fair to say that this is one of the places in Takeo Onsen that I especially recommend.

Saginoyu, like Motoyu, is also located on the grounds beyond the Takeo Onsen Romon Gate.
Its appeal lies in its stylish space and refined atmosphere.
It has a completely different feel from the retro Motoyu, so trying both makes the experience even more enjoyable.
It also serves as the bathhouse for the ryokan Romontei, which gives it a welcome lack of the typical public bathhouse feel.
It is equipped with an open-air bath and a sauna, and the spring water is said to help with sensitivity to cold and fatigue recovery.

Tonosama-yu is another public bathhouse, a sotoyu, located on the grounds inside the Takeo Onsen Romon Gate.
It was built in the middle of the Edo period (1603–1868) as the private bath of the Nabeshima clan, the lords of Takeo at the time.
Its most distinctive feature is its all-marble bath, with an elegant design highlighted by a beautiful black-and-white checkered pattern.
Incidentally, Siebold's travel journal, Edo Sanpu Kikou, describes what it was like when he bathed in Tonosama-yu.
The waters are said to be effective for nerve pain and sprains.

This garden was created in 1845 by Shigeyoshi Nabeshima, the 28th lord of Takeo of the Nabeshima domain, over the course of three years, using the cliffs of Mt. Mifune, a symbol of Takeo, as borrowed scenery.
It is a strolling garden centered around a large pond and boasts a vast site of Approx. 10 Tokyo Domes, or Approx. 150,000 tsubo.
Hundreds of thousands of plants grow in the garden, and it is always bustling with visitors as a famous spot where seasonal flowers bloom throughout the year.

A new-style library that also houses a Tsutaya bookstore, where you can buy books, magazines, and miscellaneous goods, as well as a café.
The spacious interior, filled with the warmth of wood, is especially impressive for its striking layout of bookshelves stretching all the way to the second-floor ceiling.
Now an essential sightseeing spot in Takeo, Takeo City Library is a place where not only locals but also tourists can spend time as they like, whether picking up sightseeing information from guidebooks or taking a coffee break.

A historic shrine with 1,200 years of history, located at the eastern foot of Mt. Mifune.
Its main enshrined deity, Takeuchi no Sukune, is known as Japan's longest-living deity and is said to grant blessings for success in battle, good fortune, and protection from misfortune.
It is also one of the venues for the event "Takeo no Akari Meguri," when famous sites around the city are illuminated on weekends from July to November from sunset to 10pm each year, and limited-time amulets are also available at Takeo Shrine during the event.
Be sure to also look for the Meoto Hinoki, a pair of cypress trees joined together at the base, said to reflect the divine power of the enshrined Emperor Chuai and Empress Jingu.