Enjoying The Sensation Of Soaking Hot Water While Explore 99 Japanese Flavors

Onsen di Jepang (Soranews24)

JAKARTA - More and more foreign tourists choose to travel to rural Japan when visiting big cities. However, there is the discovery of a hidden hot bath that is not yet crowded with tourists and is a challenge in itself.

The hot water is in Saitama Prefecture, which is next door to Tokyo, where there is an onsen that is still rarely known to tourists, but with all its charm, this place will not long be a secret.

Reported by VOI from the Soranews24 page on Monday, January 20, 2025, Ofuro Cafe Hakuju no Yu is the name of this onsen facility. This onsen has the highest concentration of natural hot water in the Kanto area.

As the name implies, this place prioritizes two main things, namely heat baths and cafes serving fermented foods to refresh the body after enjoying hot water that nourishes the skin.

At a cafe called Restaurant Tawarya, visitors can enjoy dishes that contain Koji, useful mushrooms that are added to seeds such as rice, wheat, and soybeans. One of the main attractions is the artistic soy sauce bar, a place to taste 99 types of soy sauce for free.

The number 99 has a deep meaning related to the name onsen, Hakuju no Yu. In Japanese, 'hakuju' means 99 years old. Ethimologically, this figure comes from wordplay in Japanese kanji.

In addition, the word 'yu' can mean 'hot water' or 'oil', thus giving additional meaning to "shoyu" or soy sauce.

The hot water in this onsen also has a color that resembles soy sauce, although the color actually comes from natural minerals contained in water flowing from the Paleozoikum layer 750 meters deep underground.

After being renovated in June, this facility now has a new area, including a relaxing room where you can read comfortably in a tub that resembles a giant soy sauce fermented barrel.

For those of you who want to take home memories, the shop in this place sells a small bottle of soy sauce measuring 100 milliliters from a cafe soy sauce bar. Its practical size makes it easy to carry as a souvenir.

If you are a soy sauce lover and onsen fan, this place must be included in the travel list. And if you want to bring your love of soy sauce to the next level, don't miss unique products such as soy sauce-based hand creams available here.