Hot Spring Basho Tsukimachi-no-yu

Basho Tsukimachi-no-yu is a day-use bathhouse set inside a forest park east of central Tsuru, at the foot of Nijuroku-ya (二十六夜山), a mountain tied to an old moon-worship tradition. Bathing here covers a lot of ground: a slow, lukewarm source-fed bath meant for a long soak, hotter indoor pools with a reclining bath and jet baths, a cold plunge, and outdoor rock and stone baths that swap between the men's and women's sides every week. There's also a sauna, a restaurant, and a large free rest hall for lingering afterward. The name comes from a local legend: villagers once gathered by a pond here to watch the moon rise from behind the surrounding mountains, and the wandering poet Matsuo Basho is said to have stopped by and written a haiku about the scene. More recently the place has picked up a second life as a filming location for a TV drama, and some visitors now come looking for that too.