Nishikawa Onsen Tsuki no Kura
- Location
- Nishikawa, Yamagata (Tohoku), Japan
- Water type
- bicarbonate
- Temperature
- 42 °C
- pH
- 8
Water profile
Relaxing — deep, immediate muscle release.
Loaded with major ions — the essential minerals (Ca, Mg).
Soft water — natural, classic buoyancy.
Nishikawa Onsen Tsuki no Kura, meaning Storehouse of the Moon, is a hot spring establishment in Nishikawa Town, Yamagata Prefecture, set at the foot of Gassan, one of the three sacred mountains of the Dewa Sanzan trio that have drawn mountain ascetics, Buddhist pilgrims, and Shinto worshippers to the Yamagata highlands for over 1,400 years in one of Japan's most profound and enduring traditions of sacred mountain pilgrimage. Gassan's summit snowfields support late-season skiing well into early summer, making Nishikawa a destination for both outdoor winter sports enthusiasts and spiritual seekers who follow the ancient ridgeline trail connecting the three sacred peaks of Hagurosan, Gassan, and Yudonosan in a purification pilgrimage still practiced by white-robed yamabushi mountain ascetics using the same trails and rituals maintained since the early medieval period. The bicarbonate thermal waters here restore and warm pilgrims and skiers in equal measure, offering the classic Japanese combination of outdoor physical challenge and hot spring recovery in a setting charged with the layered spiritual energy of Yamagata's most sacred mountain terrain.