Takeo Onsen Saga Motoyu

Takeo Onsen Saga Motoyu is located in Takeo City in Saga Prefecture, home to one of Japan's most iconic public bath entrances — the magnificent Romon Gate of the public bathhouse, a registered National Important Cultural Property with its distinctive Chinese-influenced architectural style that has stood at the entrance to Takeo's communal baths since 1915. The chloride-rich sodium thermal waters of Takeo have been flowing continuously for over a millennium, used by feudal lords of the Takeo domain, the Dutch naturalist Siebold who documented Japanese culture in the early 19th century, and countless generations of Saga residents who regard communal bathing at Takeo as a fundamental expression of regional identity. Takeo's combination of its ancient gate, traditional machi-yu public bathhouses, and surrounding persimmon orchards and ceramic workshops makes it one of the most culturally layered onsen towns in all of Japan.