Hirayu Onsen

Hirayu is the first of Okuhida's five onsen villages you reach from Takayama, and its bus terminal is where people change for Kamikochi, Norikura and Shin-Hotaka. Local legend says the spring was found when Takeda Shingen's army came into Hida and met an old monkey soaking its wounds in a pool. Okuhida as a whole has more than 140 sources and over 110 outdoor baths, which Nohi Bus says may be the most of any onsen area in Japan.

Hirayu no Mori is the big day bath. Its 16 outdoor pools spread through a forest, seven for men and nine for women, and two sources at 67°C feed them straight with no circulation or chlorine. It opens 10:00 to 21:00 for ¥700. Hirayu no Yu, beside the thatched Hirayu Folk Museum, asks a donation of about ¥300 for an outdoor pool of brown water, and you rinse off before getting in because it has no washing area.

Private cars cannot drive to Kamikochi, so drivers park at Akandana for ¥600 a day and take the bus, which runs from late April to 15 November. In winter the small Hirayu Onsen ski area opens from mid to late December until late March, and Takayama's tourism site lists a weekend day ticket at ¥3,900. Yakedake is an active volcano that stands above Okuhida, so check the Japan Meteorological Agency's Yakedake page before any hike.