Hirayu Onsen — photo: 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Hirayu onsen: the 90 °C water, the bus hub for Kamikochi, and getting there from Takayama or Matsumoto
Hirayu is a village of inns high in the mountains east of Takayama, the largest of the five 奥飛騨温泉郷 (Okuhida onsen-gō) villages in Gifu. Most visitors meet it as a bus stop: every bus between Takayama, Matsumoto, Kamikochi and the Shinhotaka Ropeway passes through its bus terminal. Most guides cover the terminal, the big day bath and their favourite inn. This one is about what they leave out: how hot and how plentiful the water is, how Hirayu differs from the other Okuhida villages and from Gero, and how to use it as a base for Kamikochi without a car.
What the numbers say
Hirayu is recorded in our database at 90 °C, with its sources putting out about 13,000 litres a minute, and two water types: chloride and bicarbonate. Its Japanese Wikipedia article lists 26 inns.
- Of the 1,167 towns we hold a source temperature for, 51 reach 90 °C.
- Of the 425 towns with a flow on record, Hirayu is in the top ten.
- 401 towns have both a temperature and a flow on record. Only three of them reach 90 °C and also put out 13,000 litres a minute or more: Kusatsu (94.5 °C, 32,300), Obama in Nagasaki (105 °C, 15,000) and Hirayu.
- Gifu has 55 onsen towns in our records. Of the 40 with a temperature on record, only 6 reach 42 °C, and Hirayu is the hottest of them except for one small spring at Shirakawa-gō.
- Hirayu's Wikipedia article is read more often than any other in Gifu except Gero's (684 in our count against Gero's 2,959), and it ranks 99th of 1,538 towns nationwide.
So Hirayu is a small village with the water of a much bigger town. The usual problem in the mountains, that the spring is too cool and has to be heated, does not arise here.
What the water is like
Chloride is the most common water type in Japan: 689 of the 1,468 towns with a water type on record have it. It is mildly salty, and the salt leaves a thin film on the skin, so you stay warm for a while after getting out. Bicarbonate water is smoother and slightly slippery. 228 towns have both, so the mix is not rare. What is unusual at Hirayu is the heat and the volume, not the chemistry.
Water that surfaces at 90 °C has to lose a lot of heat before anyone can sit in it. The baths are cooled, not heated, and tubs are often hottest near the inlet. Get in slowly and keep the first soak short, especially after a long day of walking in Kamikochi. Depending on the source, the water in some baths is clear and in others slightly cloudy or tinted; inns here often draw from different sources. The sign in the changing room tells you which; see reading the water sign.
We do not record a pH for Hirayu, so we say nothing more about it.
Day baths
You do not need to stay the night to bathe in Hirayu.
- Hirayu no Mori. ひらゆの森 is a large day-bath facility on the edge of the village, with many outdoor tubs spread through the woods, separate for men and women, and a restaurant and rest area. It is a few minutes' walk from the bus terminal, and the usual choice for a soak between buses.
- The folk museum bath. In the grounds of the 平湯民俗館 (Hirayu Minzokukan), a group of old thatched houses in the village, there is a small, simple bath run on donations. There is no soap and no towel. Check whether it is open before you go.
- Inns. Some inns take visitors for a bath in the daytime. Each sets its own hours, and most stop in the afternoon before the overnight guests arrive.
The rules are the same as at any onsen; see our etiquette guide. A few Okuhida inns have mixed outdoor baths. If that matters to you, check before you book, or look for a private bath.
Using Hirayu as a base for Kamikochi
Kamikochi, the alpine valley 8.9 km east of Hirayu in a straight line, is closed to private cars. Everyone goes in by bus or taxi, and from the Gifu side the buses leave from Hirayu. That is why the village is busy in summer and autumn.
- The bus from Hirayu to Kamikochi takes about 25 minutes and runs only while the Kamikochi road is open, roughly from mid-April to mid-November.
- Drivers leave their cars at the large car park near Hirayu and take the bus or a taxi in.
- Staying in Hirayu lets you be in Kamikochi early in the morning, before the day buses from Takayama and Matsumoto arrive, and back in a hot bath in the evening. Kamikochi itself has only a few inns, and they book up early.
- The Shinhotaka Ropeway at the head of the next valley is about 30 minutes from Hirayu by bus. Kamikochi and the ropeway can be done on separate days from the same inn.
The bus terminal is the centre of the village, with ticket counters and a shop. If you are going up to Kamikochi for the day, ask at the counter about leaving bags.
Hirayu, Shinhotaka or the other Okuhida villages?
The five Okuhida villages are close together but not the same. Our records list:
- Hirayu: chloride and bicarbonate, 26 inns, the bus terminal. The most convenient without a car.
- Shinhotaka, 8.2 km north-east, at the end of the road under the ropeway: 52 inns, and sulfur water as well as chloride and bicarbonate. Large riverside outdoor baths. Choose it for the ropeway and the high peaks.
- Fukuji, 4.1 km north-west, a small, quiet hamlet with simple and bicarbonate water.
- Shin-Hirayu, 5.4 km north-west, chloride and bicarbonate like Hirayu, spread along the road.
- Tochio, 7.1 km north-west, a small village with simple water.
All four are reached by the buses that run between Takayama and Shinhotaka, but they are less frequent than the buses to Hirayu. Without a car, Hirayu is the easy choice. With one, the smaller villages are quieter.
Across the ridge on the Nagano side, Nakanoyu (4.5 km east, iron and sulfur water) and Shirahone (8.1 km south-east, bicarbonate and sulfur, known for milky water) are close in a straight line but on different roads. Our Japanese Alps guide covers them.
Hirayu or Gero?
Both are in Gifu, both are often combined with Takayama, and they are different trips.
- Gero is a full onsen town on the railway, with clear, slippery alkaline water at 84 °C. Choose it for an easy night from Nagoya by train.
- Hirayu is a mountain village about 1,250 metres up, reached only by bus or car, with hotter water and much more of it. Choose it for the mountains, Kamikochi, or a night between Takayama and Matsumoto.
Hirayu is 50.9 km north-east of Gero in a straight line. A route that uses both: Nagoya, a night in Gero, Takayama, a night in Hirayu, then on to Kamikochi or Matsumoto.
Getting there
There is no railway. Hirayu is about 27.6 km east of Takayama Station and 37.2 km west of Matsumoto Station in a straight line, and buses run from both.
- From Takayama. The Nohi Bus from the Takayama bus centre, next to the station, takes about an hour. This is the main way in.
- From Matsumoto. Buses run through the Abo Tunnel under the ridge in about an hour and a half. Some are direct and some need a change; fewer run in winter.
- From Tokyo. Highway buses run from Shinjuku to Hirayu and Takayama, and take most of a day. By train, the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Toyama or the limited express to Matsumoto, then a bus, are other options.
- From Nagoya, Kyoto or Osaka. Take the train to Takayama (the Limited Express Hida from Nagoya, the same line as Gero) and the bus from there.
- From Kanazawa. Highway buses run from Kanazawa to Takayama, some by way of Shirakawa-gō; change to the Hirayu bus in Takayama.
The Japan Rail Pass does not cover the buses. It does cover the train to Takayama or Matsumoto. Bus seats on the main routes can be reserved, and in summer and autumn it is worth doing. Check current timetables before you go; services change with the seasons.
Seasons
Summer and autumn are the busy seasons, because of Kamikochi and the autumn leaves; inns fill on weekends.
Winter is quiet. The Kamikochi bus stops, but the buses from Takayama keep running, and Hirayu is under deep snow. There is a small ski area on the hill above the village. In February the Hirayu Falls, a short walk from the village, freeze, and on some evenings they are lit up; the dates change each year. Hot water and snow is the reason to come in winter. See onsen through the seasons.
If you drive in winter, you need winter tyres or chains. Most visitors without experience of snow are better off on the bus.
Things not to do
Do not plan to drive to Kamikochi. Leave the car near Hirayu and take the bus.
Do not plan a Kamikochi trip between mid-November and mid-April. The road is closed.
Do not miss the last bus. Hirayu is a small village, and the last buses to Takayama and Matsumoto leave in the evening; there is little else here after dark.
Do not count on finding everything you need in the village. Shops are few and close early; bring what you need from Takayama or Matsumoto, including cash.
Do not assume tattoos are fine. Policies vary by inn and day bath. See going to an onsen with tattoos, or book a private bath.
New to this? Start with how an onsen stay actually works and onsen etiquette. For the rest of the region, see our Japanese Alps guide, Gero, and the 3 best onsen towns near Nagoya. For other towns with very hot water, see Kusatsu and Beppu.