Niigata (Part 4) Matsunoyama Onsen!

 Today we are going to visit Matsunoyam Onsen. One might ask "what's so special about Matsunoyama Onsen?". 

Per the internet: Matsunoyama Onsen is a hot spring located in Matsunoyama, Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture. There are 11 ryokans including Toji inns, which is said to be a secret hot spring of Kenshin Uesugi. It is a hot spring of fossil salt water about 10 million years ago, with salt at high concentrations in the mountains. In the past, it used to be a place for a collection of salt. It is known as one of the three major medicated baths in Japan along with Kusatsu Onsen in Gumma prefecture, and Arima Onsen in Hyogo prefecture.

This is the center of the town. The center of the picture is a public bath.

Behind the public bath is a pump for filling water bottles.

And, to the left of the pump is a foot bath.

This is the nicest foot bath I have ever visited.

Soaking in this bath was one of the best things I did on this trip.

A man at the pump filling a bottle.

Yamato-kun looks like he's really  enjoying himself at the foot bath.

Everyone in our group also used this public bath. 

We also visited this fancy hotel and spent an hour soaking in their luxurious Onsen bath.

Matsunoyama is a peaceful place for just walking around and enjoying the nature.

We also visited the local farmers market near the entrance to the town.

The next morning I took a little walk around Chinseikan Onsen Ryokan (where we stayed for 2 nights). BTW, I found their website: http://chinseikan.com/

Across the street from the Chinseikan Inn is the Gozu Imaita-onsen Yumotokan.

There is also a public bath here.

I didn't take a bath here but I wish I had.

Next to the public bath is a Temple. I think it's named Kyunanjizoson.

And, that's about all there is here. Time to check out and hit the road.

First stop is the Tokamachi City Station. This place is a Gift shop, Family Mart Convenience Store, Restaurant and a train station. 

Next we visited the famous Terraced Rice Fields of Hoshi-toge.

More info at the Website

A group of motorcyclists waved to us as they left the Hoshi-toge parking lot.

There is no limit to how many places we can visit in a day. After lunch we visited the Tunnel of Light (Kiyotsu Gorge Tunnel)

Tunnel of Light website

They built this 750 meter long tunnel in the Kiyotsu Gorge. 

Every so often there's a side tunnel with a view.

Some of the side tunnels are quite unique. 

This is actually a public toilet.

Another side tunnel.

And, at the end of the 750 meter long tunnel is this!

It's hard to tell but that's Hiroko, Yuko and Yamato-kun on the left side of the picture. 

Last stop of the day. Ishiuchi Yungparunas Onsen Resort Inn

Of course they have a website: http://www.yungparunas.com/

This is where we will spend our last night in Niigata before going home.

Not too crowded at the front desk.

Our room had its own private outdoor bath. 

Next morning, it's time for breakfast before we hit the road.

Excellent service, great food and the coffee was outstanding too!

Well this is it. Time to get in Hiroko's mini van and head home.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mike

Bonus shots!