Zao Onsen Iwashimizu Ryori no Yado Kinosato

蔵王温泉岩清水料理の宿季の里ざおうおんせんいわしみずりょうりのやどきのさと

A detached milky-sulfur bathhouse at a quiet Zao Onsen ryokan

Mark it and it goes on your passport, with 20 drops. What's the passport?

Can I go?

Day visit ·

Yes

11:00–14:30

Opening hours may change depending on the number of guests.

¥1,000

Adults ¥1,000, children ¥500.

About

Zao Kinosato keeps two very different baths apart from each other. Only one is a real onsen: Daikichi-no-yu (代吉の湯), a semi-open-air bathhouse in its own small building about 30 meters from the main lodge. The water runs straight from the spring with nothing added, milky white, sulfurous, and strongly acidic, so acidic that soap and shampoo won't lather in it. A foot bath sits right alongside it, open into the evening for a soak in the night air. The large bath back in the main building, Tsukimisou (月見草) for men and Hanamisou (花見草) for women, is different: heated groundwater, alkaline and clear rather than onsen water, but open around the clock, and it leaves skin feeling smooth afterward. The ryokan itself is a quiet, 20-room place beside Shiginoyachi marsh (鴫の谷地沼) on the edge of the Zao Onsen town, with rooms looking out over forest or the surrounding mountains. Dinner is a kaiseki spread built around Yamagata ingredients, including Yamagata beef, and the whole building is non-smoking.

The baths

Special here

Foot Bath. Sit on the edge and soak your feet.
MountainsMountains and ridges around you as you soak.
ForestTrees all around the bath.

Baths and water

Yes
OnsenUses natural hot spring waterThe outdoor bath "Daikichi-no-yu" is genuine onsen (source: 上の川源泉); the indoor large bath is heated natural groundwater, not onsen (site states 天然温泉ではございません for it).
Yes
Outdoor Bath. Open-air outdoor bathDetached semi-open-air bath "Daikichi-no-yu", about 30m walk from the main building.
Yes
Indoor Bath. Enclosed indoor bathing area
No
Mixed BathingShared bathing area for all gendersBaths are gender-separated (men's/women's for both the outdoor and indoor baths); no mixed bathing is offered.

Also here

Washing· ✓ YesShampoo/conditioner/body soap are provided at the indoor large bath. The outdoor acidic bath "Daikichi-no-yu" does not allow soap/shampoo since the strong acidity neutralizes them.
Parking✓ Yes

Not known yet: Sauna, Cold Bath, Private bath to book, Room Onsen, Tattoo, Kids, Dining, Towels, and Day-Use Private Bath. Been there? Tell us.

Documents1

The water analysis certificate () and other papers, as photographed.

Programs1

Yamagata Onsen-do
A prefecture-wide onsen stamp rally across 86 baths in Yamagata, launched in 2026. Collect stamps in all four areas, Murayama, Mogami, Shonai and Okitama, and climb the ranks toward Onsen Master.
Area
Murayama
No.
15
View program