Okuhida Yukemuri Tatsujin

奥飛騨湯けむり達人 (Okuhida Yukemuri Tatsujin) is the bath-hopping tegata of Okuhida Onsengo (奥飛騨温泉郷), a cluster of hot-spring villages strung up a deep valley in northern Gifu, right under the peaks of the Northern Alps. One card, 1,200 yen, lets you into the baths of two or three member inns at a member's rate. Each bath uncovers a hidden Okuhida mark on the card, and if they come up as three matching marks you trade the card in for an original bath towel.

The valley has five onsen areas in all, each with its own water and feel: Hirayu (平湯), Fukuji (福地), Shin-Hirayu (新平湯), Tochio (栃尾), and Shin-Hotaka (新穂高). The member inns reach across all five, from the gateway baths of Hirayu up to the riverside open-air baths of Shin-Hotaka, the last stop before the ropeway to the high Alps.

How it works

1. Buy a 湯けむり達人 (yukemuri tatsujin) tegata, 1,200 yen, at any member inn, a tourist information centre, or one of the local shops that sell it. One pass per person.
2. At a member inn, show your tegata at the front desk and hand over the number of bathing seals that inn's bath asks for (the leaflet lists how many each one needs). Soaking with the pass is cheaper than paying the usual day-use rate.
3. Each seal you peel off uncovers an 奥飛騨温泉郷 (Okuhida Onsengo) mark hidden on the card beneath it. You aren't collecting a stamp at each inn; the marks are already printed under the seals you spend. The catch: the marks come up in more than one kind, and you win the prize only if the three you uncover turn out to match.
4. If your three marks match, hand the card in at the Okuhida Onsengo Tourism Association office or a tourist information centre for the prize, an original bath towel. A mix of different marks doesn't win, so the towel comes with a bit of luck.

The tegata is valid for one year from the day it's issued, so you can spread your soaking across more than one trip. Bring your own towel for the baths, since the prize towel comes at the end. The pass can't be combined with other coupons, and a busy inn may turn day-trippers away, so it's worth a quick call ahead.

Where to buy, redeem, and ask

The tegata is sold at member inns and at the tourist information centres below, which are also where you trade in a winning card (three matching marks) for the towel. They're the people to call for the current member list, seal counts, or whether a given bath is open that day.

• Okuhida Onsengo Tourism Association (奥飛騨温泉郷観光協会), the organizer: Murakami, Okuhida Onsengo, Takayama, Gifu 506-1431. Tel 0578-89-2614, open 8:30 to 17:00 (closed over Golden Week and the New Year holidays).
• Hirayu Onsen Tourist Information (平湯温泉観光案内所), inside the Okuhida Visitor Center: Hirayu, Okuhida Onsengo, Takayama, Gifu 506-1433. Tel 0578-89-3030, open 9:00 to 17:00 (closed Wednesdays, daily in peak season).
• Okuhida Onsengo Tourist Information, Shinhotaka (奥飛騨温泉郷観光案内所): Shinhotaka, Okuhida Onsengo, Takayama, Gifu 506-1421. Tel 0578-89-2458, open 10:00 to 17:00 from April to October and 10:00 to 16:00 from November to March (irregular closures).

The onsen areas

• Hirayu (平湯): the valley's front door, where the bus from Takayama and Matsumoto pulls in. Older ryokan with sulfur and simple springs.
• Fukuji (福地): a small, old-fashioned hamlet known for its carbonate (bicarbonate) springs that leave the skin smooth.
• Shin-Hirayu (新平湯): a quieter spread of family-run inns, several with rock open-air baths.
• Tochio (栃尾): a small, low-key stretch along the Gamata river between Shin-Hirayu and Shin-Hotaka. Its couple of member inns are currently not taking the tegata, so check before you go.
• Shin-Hotaka (新穂高): the deepest and wildest stretch, riverside open-air baths and famous mixed baths under the Alps, by the Shinhotaka Ropeway.

Earning the Onsen Oni badge

The Okuhida Yukemuri Tatsujin badge is awarded by Onsen Oni moderators once you've worked your way through the member inns and spent your tegata's bathing seals. Winning the towel takes luck (you need three matching marks), so the badge isn't tied to the prize: the simplest proof is a photo of your used tegata, seals peeled and marks showing, sent through the feedback channel. If you did win the towel, a photo of that works too. There's no separate time limit on the badge.