Takasagoya

I had never heard of Onogawa Onsen before, as four of its inns were listed in the book Ultimate Hot Spring Inns 73. The hot springs certainly looked good when I looked at the ingredients list and how the water was used, and the fact that it also contained radium made it a rare hot spring. After looking at a few potential inns, I decided on this one after reading an article that said I could eat Yonezawa beef and that the owner (the previous owner?) was taking a leading role in the hot spring area. The room was on the second floor, but the hot springs were on the second floor, which was nice. It's not a big inn, so you don't have to walk long distances to get to the hot springs, and the only baths available to the public are the large public bath, the open-air bath adjacent to it, and the private bath. According to the explanation, the large public bath is a mixture of springs No. 4 and No. 5, and has a large amount of water. It seems that No. 4 has the most ingredients, but the open-air bath only has No. 4. This spring seems to be the hottest, so the amount of water is small. The private bath seems to be No. 5, and although the amount of water is large, the temperature is low and the amount of ingredients is small. From a physical point of view, the mixed spring in the large bath with a large amount of water was the best. The water was very good, transparent and slightly thick with white floating deposits, with a slight hydrogen sulfide smell (it's hard to tell from the water, but you can tell by the smell that remains on your clothes). The food was generally mostly local with a gentle flavor, and the Yonezawa beef sukiyaki was amazingly delicious. The only drawback was that the parking lot, which is a few dozen meters away and is on a gentle uphill slope, might be difficult to find in extreme cold or heavy snow. The service was also good, and when we checked out, the couple sat upright to see us off. There were some negative reviews, but it's hard to believe that it was the same place. This has become one of the hot springs I want to visit again, and if I do come again, I would like to stay here.