Kyukamura Nyuto Onsenkyo

What to expect

Kyukamura Nyuto Onsenkyo is a lodge on the lower road into the Nyūtō Onsen area, east of Lake Tazawa in Semboku, Akita Prefecture. It is one of the Kyukamura group of lodges, and it sits inside Towada-Hachimantai National Park, surrounded by beech forest.

The Nyūtō Onsenkyō area is a cluster of seven separate inns, each with its own spring, scattered along the valley below Mt. Nyūtō. Tsuru-no-yu is the best known of them. Kyukamura is different in style: a modern lodge with standard rooms, a buffet dinner of Akita dishes and a 100-car car park. It is the most practical base in the area, and its baths are good. This page covers only Kyukamura. The area as a whole is covered in our Nyuto Onsenkyo listing, and Taenoyu (Nyuto Onsenkyo Taenoyu) has its own page.

The men’s and women’s baths are laid out the same way:

• Nyūtō-no-yu, the large indoor bath, uses a sodium bicarbonate spring.
• Tazawako Kōgen-no-yu, a small indoor bath, uses a simple sulfur spring.
• An open-air bath, also on the Tazawako Kōgen-no-yu spring, sits among the beech trees.

The lodge describes both springs as natural hot spring water flowing straight from the source (gensen kakenagashi). The two differ in temperature, though the lodge does not publish figures. Its stay plans describe the bicarbonate water as slightly cooler and brownish, good for a long soak, and the sulfur water as hotter and milky white. There is no private family bath.

Facilities in each bathroom include 10 washing stations with shampoo, conditioner and body soap, 40 free lockers for valuables, hair dryers and a baby bed.

Prices and booking

Prices below are from the lodge’s site in October 2026.

• Day bathing: ¥800 adults, ¥400 for children aged 4 to elementary school. Entry 11:00-15:00, out by 15:30. No booking needed. Cards accepted.
• Overnight guests: baths open from check-in (15:00) to 24:00 and again 5:00-9:00. Guests staying more than one night find them closed 9:00-11:00 for cleaning. Rooms include face and bath towels, a yukata (a children’s size is available) and a basket for carrying your things between inns.
• Room rates: stay plans in 2026-2027 start at ¥16,500 per person including dinner, with most between about ¥19,900 and ¥30,500. Check-out is 10:00.

The lodge’s page does not say whether day visitors get towels, so bring your own or ask at the desk.

The Nyūtō Yumeguri-chō

The seven inns of Nyūtō Onsenkyō share a bath-hopping pass:

• Yumeguri-chō: ¥2,500 (¥1,000 for elementary school children), valid for one year. One bath at each of the seven inns, plus unlimited rides on the Yumeguri-gō shuttle bus between them. Sold, cash only, at the front desk of the participating inns, and only to people staying at one of them.
• Yumeguri map: ¥1,000 (¥500 for children). Covers the shuttle bus on the day of purchase only. You pay each inn’s bath fee separately.

The seven inns are Tsuru-no-yu, Taenoyu, Kuroyu, Ganiba, Ōgama, Magoroku and Kyukamura. The shuttle runs daily on a seasonal timetable, so pick up the current one when you check in. Each inn sets its own day-bath hours, and many close to day visitors by mid-afternoon, so start early.

Bath works in November 2026

From November 4 to December 3, 2026, the lodge is renovating its bathrooms. During that period only one tub is in use, and men and women take turns:

• 11:00-11:50 women
• 12:00-13:20 men
• 13:30-14:50 women
• 15:00-16:20 men (Yumeguri-chō holders)
• 16:30-17:00 women (Yumeguri-chō holders)

The lodge had also announced that from November 13, 2023 the Tazawako Kōgen-no-yu baths would switch to a new simple spring from the beech forest. That change was postponed, and the two existing springs remain in use.

Getting there

The lodge’s address is 2-1 Komagatake, Tazawako Obonai, Semboku, Akita (0187-46-2244).

• By train and bus: take the Akita Shinkansen to JR Tazawako Station. From there the Ugo Kōtsū Nyūtō line bus towards Nyūtō Onsenkyō takes about 45 minutes to the Kyukamura-mae stop, right outside. The fare is ¥820 and buses run roughly once an hour. Confirm times with Ugo Kōtsū on 0187-43-1511.
• From Akita Airport: the Akita Airport Liner Nyūtō-gō shared taxi takes about 2 hours 40 minutes and costs ¥6,700. Book by 17:00 the day before through King Taxi (018-867-7444).
• By car from Morioka: from Morioka IC on the Tōhoku Expressway, follow Route 46 about 40 km towards Akita, turn onto Route 341 at the Nonaka junction, then turn right at the Kosendatsu junction and continue about 12 km past Tazawako Kōgen Onsen. Semboku City puts the drive at about 80 minutes.
• By car from Akita city: Route 13 for about 27 km, then Route 46 through Kakunodate for about 45 km to the Nonaka junction, and on as above.

There is free outdoor parking for 100 cars. There is no shuttle from the station.

When to go

The baths are open all year. Late September and October bring autumn colour in the beech forest. Winter is the season people picture at Nyūtō, with deep snow around the open-air baths, but it takes planning. The lodge advises snow tyres from about mid-November to late April, warns that the Sengan pass from Morioka and the road up from Tazawako Kōgen are snowy, and suggests arriving by car between 15:00 and 16:00, after the day’s snow clearing. Buses normally keep running unless snow is very heavy.

If you are also heading up Akita-Komagatake, private cars are barred from the 8th station on restricted days. Park at Alpa Komakusa and take the bus.

Onsen etiquette

• Wash at the showers before getting in.
• Bathe naked in the gender-split baths. Towels stay out of the water.
• Sulfur water tarnishes silver, so leave jewellery in the locker.
• Tattoos: the lodge publishes no policy. Ask the front desk before you bathe.
• On a Yumeguri-chō circuit, follow each inn’s own rules. Some Nyūtō inns have mixed baths with their own rules on bathing wraps.

Where to stay nearby

You can stay at the lodge itself or at its campground in the forest, which is set up for beginners and rents the gear, so you can arrive with nothing. The other six Nyūtō inns are all within reach on the Yumeguri-gō shuttle, and several are small, old-fashioned places that book up early. Tazawako Kōgen Onsen and the lakeside hotels around Lake Tazawa are on the road back to Tazawako Station. Kakunodate, with its samurai district, is further down Route 46.

Safety notes

• Heat and sulfur: soak in short spells, drink water and get out if you feel light-headed. Do not bathe after drinking alcohol.
• Snow and ice: paths between the inns and the car park get icy in winter. Wear boots with grip.
• Remote location: the valley is far from the nearest town. Fill up with fuel and cash in Tazawako, since the Yumeguri-chō is cash only.
• Wildlife: this is beech forest in a national park. Stay on paths when walking between inns.