Yamanaka Spa Plus

Yamanaka Spa Plus serves one of Japan's most poetically celebrated hot spring towns, whose Kakusenkei gorge — a ravine of remarkable scenic beauty carved by the Daishoji River through layers of volcanic rock — was visited by Matsuo Basho on his 1689 Oku no Hosomichi journey, prompting the haiku master to declare the Yamanaka waters so restorative that he felt no need for chrysanthemum wine, the traditional longevity tonic, for their reviving power alone. The Yamanaka-nuri lacquerware tradition, practiced in local workshops for over 400 years, produces items of exceptional quality distinguished by delicate woodturning and layered urushi lacquer finishes, making Yamanaka one of Japan's most important surviving centers of traditional Japanese craft alongside its distinguished onsen heritage. The onsen's siliceous mineral waters, flowing through the same volcanic geology that created the dramatic Kakusenkei gorge scenery, provide the restorative bathing that inspired one of Japan's greatest poets to compose some of his most tender and personal haiku about the pleasures of thermal waters.