Shiobara Green Village: Fukunoyu

For nature lovers like myself who enjoy auto-campsites that have onsen, Shiobara Green Village offers just that and more. The name of the onsen in this picture is called Fuku-no-yu, and it's famous for having an open-air bath with a stone Maneki-Neko, a beckoning cat which is thought to be a symbol of good luck in Japan.

There are some Japanese who will journey far and wide just to say they had a chance to snap a photo sitting in an open air bath next to this maneki neko. I am not really into the legends and stuff like that. Our original purpose for stopping over here was to enjoy the quality of the water and the nice winter chill. The hot spring itself is a natural rich mix of sodium calcium chloride, carbonic acid hydrogen salt, and sulphate. The temperature at the fountainhead is 49 centigrades andPH is 6.6

I highly recommend this water if you want something with good emollient properties.

[The photo has been copyrighted, so please do not use without my permission]