Yamanaka - One of the Three Famed Hot Springs
Yamanaka - One of the Three Famed Hot Springs
| According to The
History of Yamanaka Onsen Hot Spring of Kaga, in the possession of
Ioji Temple, Yamanaka was founded 1300 years ago. A priest named Gyoki,
while visiting the Sugo Shrine in Enuma, was enchanted by the purple clouds
in the distance and set out in their direction. On his way, Gyoki met
an old priest who told him of the existence of a hot spring. There Gyoki
built a hermitage. One night he dreamed of the old priest who said that
he was really Yakushi-nyorai (the Apothecary Tathagata) and that
the hot spring was an efficacious mineral bath. Gyoki built a provincial
temple at the spring in honor of the Apothecary Tathagata. Because of the civil wars, the hot spring was abandoned for several decades. During the Bunji Period (1185-1190), Hasebe Nobutsura, the lord of a manor in Noto, found a white heron soaking its injured leg in the hot spring. This experience led Nobutsura to develop the mineral baths. He dug a statue of the Apothecary Tathagata, probably carved by Gyoki, out of the reedy marshes where it was buried and built the Ioji Temple. Nobutsura also founded a resort of twelve inns for all ranks of people. The great haiku poet Matsuo Basho honored the three best hot springs in Japan - Yamanaka, Arima, and Kusatsu - in his work entitled Hot Springs. Yamanaka's acclaim continues to grow. Today, Yamanaka Hot Spring Resort lures visitors from all over Japan who come for its refreshing and invigorating waters and its harmony of the traditional and the modern. Both Japanese ryokan and western-style hotels surround Kikunoyu, the public Tempyo-style "Chrysanthemum Bath." |
 Kikunoyu (Chrysanthemum Bath) |
 Kikunoyu lounge |
