Kawayu-Onsen Fujiya

607. Fujiya, Kawayu Onsen, Wakayama (pt.2 - digging your own onsen) ★ Onsen experience: 5. Digging your own onsen (this activity is available to everyone, not just hotel guests). Across from the hotel there's a sandy-rocky area by the river where warm onsen water starts seeping out when you dig at the edge of the bank. This way you can dig your own rotenburo with a view of the river and forest, and line it with stones. The hotel tells you about this activity and provides slippers and a shovel. You leave the hotel, cross the road, go down to the riverbank and head slightly to the right, where you'll find already-dug rotenburo or remnants of dismantled ones. That's where the fun begins. From start to finish, it took me about 40 minutes. What I ended up with: A wild onsen. Stone-lined bath, konyoku, with the closest possible view of the river and forest. Clear water, 25-27 degrees (varies in different parts of the bath due to its size). Tips for digging: - Choose your starting spot: scrape the ground at the edge of the bank with the shovel and wherever you find more warm streams, that's where you set up; - If you don't have much energy or motivation, you can start building on the ruins of someone else's rotenburo (plenty of those around); - Build the walls from lots of large stones, layer by layer filling them with sand from the center of the bath. This makes the walls sturdier, lets less cold water through, makes the bath deeper, and can trigger more warm water streams from the ground; - At first it may seem like a tedious task, but once the frame is in place, it goes much faster and smoother. 13.06.2025 14.06.2025

607. Fujiya, Kawayu Onsen, Wakayama (pt.1) ★ Stayed overnight. No higaeri. Booked dinner and breakfast, kaiseki served in a private room. Food was decent - they served a double kaiseki, which I liked, but portions were small. They sell the 12 Onsen of Wakayama stamp. Listed among the "secret" Hitou onsen. Available baths include a semi-open-air bath, two indoor baths that swap between M/F, a private bath, and the option to dig your own onsen on the riverbank. On service - the front desk and food service are handled by foreign staff, who rarely ask Japanese staff for help. The foreign staff's service level is quite weak and that's a major drawback of this place. Onsen experience: 1. Outdoor semi-open-air stone bath. There's a fence, but it's still cozy. Also a nice summer breeze from outside. Clear water, 42 degrees. 2. Private semi-open-air bath. Must be reserved for 3300 yen per time slot. Very cozy inside in the evening, the air felt great. The bath has a lying-down zone. Clear water, 43 degrees. 3. Indoor bath Marble. M/F swap at 00:00. Clear water, 41.5 degrees. Breathable inside. 4. Indoor bath Wooden. M/F swap at 00:00. Impressive mineral formation at the bath entrance. Clear water, 42 degrees. Breathable inside. Overall verdict: An interesting place for the onsen experience. Probably the best accommodation option in Kawayu Onsen, but hard to recommend due to weak service. It makes more sense to pick a stronger place in Yunomine, unless you're specifically aiming to collect the two achievements only available by staying at Fujiya. Also, I find its inclusion in the Hitou secret onsen list questionable - transport access is convenient, the hotel is large, and authentic Japanese service has been lost. But despite the drawbacks, I enjoyed my stay. 13.06.2025 14.06.2025