Spa Resort Hawaiians

What to expect

Spa Resort Hawaiians is a large hot spring theme park in the Yumoto area of Iwaki, in the southeast corner of Fukushima Prefecture. It is closer to a water park than a quiet onsen. Under one roof (and a few outdoor sections) you get a heated indoor beach with pools and slides, swimsuit spa zones, two big naked onsen baths, food courts, shops and Polynesian dance shows, all on the hot water of the Iwaki Yumoto spring area.

The story is part of the appeal. The site opened on January 15, 1966 as the Joban Hawaiian Center, built by the Joban coal company as the local mines wound down. The hot water that had been a nuisance underground became the resort’s selling point, and the daughters of mining families were trained as its first hula dancers. It took its current name in 1990. The 2011 earthquake closed it for months, and it reopened on February 8, 2012.

The resort calls its areas “theme parks”. The ones a day ticket covers are:

• Water Park: the main indoor hall with the big pool, a lazy river, children’s pools and the stage. Pool water is kept at 84-88°F29-31°C.
• Spring Park: Spring Town, an indoor swimsuit spa for everyone, and the Palace bath.
• Edo Jowa Yoichi: the giant open-air bath.
• Spa Garden Paleo: an outdoor swimsuit spa garden in four colour-coded zones.

Hotel guests also get the hotels’ own facilities. There is a golf course next door.

The baths

Palace (Onsen Daiyokujo Palace). The indoor gender-split bath, about 960 m² across both sides, with 12 kinds of bath and 24 tubs in all: a large granite tub, jacuzzi, lie-down baths, a cypress tub, an outdoor section, a sauna and a cold plunge. It is the only bath in the park with washing stations. The operator says some tubs run straight from the source with no added water, and classes the water as a sulphur spring.

Edo Jowa Yoichi. A huge open-air bath styled as an Edo-period public bathhouse, with about 1,000 m² of tubs across the men’s and women’s sides. It opened in 1997 and Guinness World Records certified it as the world’s largest open-air bath in 1998. The name honours Ise no Yoichi, said to have opened Edo’s first public bathhouse in 1591. Projection-mapping shows play on the walls at 19:30 and 20:30.

Spring Town. A mixed swimsuit spa under a three-storey atrium, with indoor hot spring pools kept at about 93°F34°C so you can stay in for a long time, a warm-floor ondol area, jacuzzis, a waterfall shower at about 93°F34°C and a mist sauna at about 122°F50°C. Water depth is 105-110 cm.

Closures and renovations in 2026-2027

The resort is in the middle of a long refit, so check the operator’s suspension list before you go:

• Yoichi women’s side: closed September 24 to December 21, 2026. Men and women take turns in the open side. Women’s slots are 7:00-8:00, 9:00-10:00, 11:00-12:00, 13:00-14:30, 16:00-17:30, 19:00-20:00 and 21:00-22:00 (the early and late slots are for hotel guests); men get the slots in between. The renovated bath is due in December 2026.
• Whole resort and hotels: closed January 25-28, 2027.
• Spa Garden Paleo: fully closed January 12 to March 19, 2027, then its yellow and green zones stay closed until June 30, 2027. Paleo is being replaced by a new splash park planned for summer 2027.
• Hula Museum: closed since November 10, 2025 until further notice.
• Aquarium pool: closed November 30 and December 1-11, 2026.

Prices and booking

Day admission covers the pools, swimsuit spas and onsen baths. Prices change by date; the figures below are the operator’s October 2026 standard rates. Adults are junior high age and up.

Ticket	Adult	Child	Infant
Standard	¥3,570	¥2,250	¥1,640
Afternoon (from 15:00)	¥3,060	¥1,940	¥1,430
Night (from 18:00)	¥2,860	¥1,840	¥1,330
Disability certificate holder	¥1,785	¥1,125	¥820

Weekend dates in late October 2026 showed ¥4,120 for adults. Weekday visitors aged 50 or over pay ¥1,785 with ID. Hotel guests pay from ¥2,960, valid for two days, and the official room plans include it.

Extras: water slide day passes ¥2,800 for three slides or ¥3,500 with the Big Aloha (¥200 more from July to September); swimsuit rental set ¥3,000 (men), ¥5,000 (women), ¥2,000 (children); towel set ¥700; women’s bathing wrap ¥700. Coin lockers cost ¥200-400 and take cash coins only. The night show has paid seats only.

You cannot bring in outside food or drink, glass, tents, fins or snorkels. Floats are allowed.

Rules and etiquette

• Tattoos: banned, including stickers and paint, across the resort. This is stricter than at many Japanese onsen and is enforced.
• Swimsuit zones: proper swimwear only, no thongs or very revealing suits, no T-shirts or underwear. Rash guards and aqua shoes are fine.
• Naked baths: the Palace and Yoichi follow normal onsen rules. Wash first, keep towels out of the water.
• Children: a parent must stay with small children. Opposite-sex children may enter the baths and changing rooms with a parent only up to age 6. Diapered children may use only the baby pool.
• Photos: no filming in the water, and no live streaming or selfie sticks.
• Smoking: only in designated areas, e-cigarettes included.

Getting there

The resort is at 50 Warabidaira, Joban Fujiwara-machi, Iwaki.

• By train: take the JR Joban Line to Yumoto Station, then the free shuttle bus to the resort, about 15 minutes. Buses leave Yumoto from 8:30 until late afternoon, with extra runs at weekends.
• Hotel coaches: guests of the resort hotels can book free coaches from Tokyo, Shinjuku, Yokohama, Saitama and other cities.
• By car: day parking is free for the first two hours, then ¥1,000 until midnight. Iwaki gets little snow, so winter driving is rarely a problem.

When to go

Weekends, school holidays and summer are busiest, and weekend tickets cost more. A weekday is calmer and cheaper, and the afternoon and night tickets are good value if you only want the baths. The indoor halls make it a reasonable rain or winter day out, but the outdoor Yoichi and Paleo areas can feel cold in January. The operator says outdoor baths may pause in winter.

Where to stay nearby

The resort runs four places to stay: Hotel Hawaiians (connected to the park), the Monolith Tower, Virport and Mauna Village, a glamping site by the golf course. Their guests get two-day admission. Iwaki Yumoto town around the station has ryokan of its own. For a more traditional Fukushima spa, Iizaka Onsen near Fukushima city is a few hours north. If you like this style of swimsuit spa park, compare Hakone Kowakien Yunessun.

Safety notes

• Heat: the onsen tubs are hotter than the pools. Drink water and take breaks.
• Slides: riders must be 120 cm or taller and able to swim. People with heart conditions, high or low blood pressure, back or neck problems, pregnant women and anyone who has been drinking cannot ride.
• Pools: no diving and no swimming after drinking. Watch children closely; the main pool is 120 cm deep.
• Floors: go barefoot on wet pool decks and walk, do not run.