Yukawa Onsen; Kiyomon Yu

Insider tip — Kiyomon Yu, the pure gate spring, serves the Yukawa valley of Nachikatsuura-cho where tributary streams from the sacred Nachi highlands carry mineral-rich water to the coastal terraces above the Pacific. The Nachikatsuura coastline between the Nachi River and the town harbor was historically a center of the Kii ama diving tradition — female breath-hold divers who collected abalone and sea cucumber from submerged rocks using only lung capacity — a practice still maintained by a handful of hereditary ama households in the narrow coves south of Nachi.