Nyuto Onsen is a collection of onsen ryokans located in the foothills of Mt. Nyuto in Towada-Hanchmantai National Park about 50 minutes by bus from Tazawako Station. The area lies northeast of Lake Tazawa ( Tazawako )
Tazawako station has art depicting a local myth of a woman who transformed into a dragon.
The bus was full but a lot of people exited at Lake Tazawako which is a very beautiful and popular tourist spot. It is a caldera lake and also Japan's deepest lake at 423 metres
Accommodation in the area was difficult due to the size of the ryokan and I stayed for 3 days at Kyukamura Nyuto Onsenkyo which was a more modern hotel style. This provided easy access to all of the onsen in the area - two were closed during my visit.
The food at Kyukamura was delicious and the staff exceptionally helpful. I was travelling from Yachi Onsen so arrived a few hours early. The staff showed me the free coffee facilities on the second floor. and looked after my luggage. My room was made available in a very short time. They had both indoor and outdoor baths available which I used every day sometimes twice a day. All meals were buffet style. Had a delicious dessert made of kabocha.
On the day of arrival I just decided to relax at the hotel and use their baths.
The following day I took the onsen bus which was so cute and went to Tsurunoyu - I had been looking forward to this visit for a long time. And it did not disappoint. I would love to stay here in the future.
While waiting for the bus, the ladies asked me where I was from. Once we arrived at Tsurunoyu, they helped me with directions. The bath was wonderful but as soon as I entered the bath area, the conversation dulled completely. This had happened on our first trip to Japan in 2001 and the conversation did not start again until I left ( after 5 minutes as I was so embarrassed ). I heard Shidonī so I knew they were talking about me. Shortly after a lady came over and told me she had been to Australia several times and had visited Sydney Brisbane, Melbourne, Uluru, Monkey Mia and many other places.
I found that the ladies in the onsen enjoy a good conversation.
There was a bit of a long wait between bus times so decided to stop off at Ganiba Onsen before heading back to the hotel.
The onsen was nested in between trees and was very beautiful. It was quite hot and described as 3 red crabs which I found very funny.
The bus was waiting outside but the driver said he wouldn't be leaving for a while so I decided to walk to the next onsen - Ogama. This was quite modern on the outside. The onsen was a muddy colour and I decided to go to the outside onsen. I could feel the leaves on the bottom and I was the ony person there and got a little spooked with the bottom of the onsen so left without staying very long.
Continued to walk back to the hotel and walked passed Taenoyu and looking forward to trying this onsen.
The last onsen to visit in the area was Kuroyu. The pond was extremely hot ( boiling ). The black eggs are normal eggs cooked in the natural onsen water. The sulphur in the water turns the shell black but the inside remains white.
Unfortunately Taenoyu closed at 2pm so I missed visiting this onsen.
