ホテル浦島

Hotel Urashima

Useful Information

Location:	1165-2 Katsuura, Nachikatsuura, Higashimuro District, Wakayama 649-5334. (33.6248943, 135.9522889)
Open:	Bokido: All year daily 5-10, 13-23. Genbudo: All year daily 5-12, 16-23. [2023]
Fee:	Adults JPY 1,500, Children (3-10) JPY 750. [2023]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided, D=2 h.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Hotel Urashima, 1165-2 Katsuura, Nachikatsuura, Higashimuro District, Wakayama 649-5334, Tel: +81-735-52-1011.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1956	Hotel Urashima opened.

Description

ホテル浦島 (Hotel Urashima) is called an Onsen Hotel, which is translated "resort and spa". Located near the city Katsuura at the southern coast of Honshu island, it was built on a peninsula which protrudes southwards and thus protects the harbour of the city from the sea. The hotel complex is 750 m long and up to 250 m wide, and thus covers most of the peninsula, except for the tip. THe peninsula is also very steep, the hills are between 10 m and 40 m high, at the southern end is a viewpoint which is 70 m asl. Three buildings were built at the foot of the hills, the fourth is on the summit, it is reached with a long escalator. Underground tunnels are connecting the building on both sides of the peninsula. The access from land is called the "rear" entrance, a tunnel which is used by delivery men. The guests arrive by boat from the harbour, a small ferry which connects the hotel and the harbour and is free. Typical for Japan, it has the shape of a cartoon turtle. However, the car park of the hotel is far away and there is a free shuttle bus between the two. This bus stops at the harbour, so you may leave and take the ferry instead. Be careful with the times, the ferry operates only during certain time, the car park closes at 19:30 and the shuttle bus also. In other words it’s not possible to leave the hotel during the night.

However, the reason why we list a hotel is obviously a cave, in this case there are actually two caves and both are used as an onsen, a japanese bath. The peninsula has numerous sea caves on the eastern coast towards the sea. The two largest were transformed into baths, an underground tunnel connects them with the hotel, inside are huge pools with some infrastructure, the cave entrance is open. We guess the weather is warm enough most of the year, and actually the water in the bath is thermal water. This kind of bath is called rotenburo (open air bath). Both caves have a hot spring, Japan is located on an active plate rim, and most mountains are volcanoes. So hot springs are actually quite frequent, and the basis of the onsen culture in the country. And the springs are probably partly responsible for the formation of the caves, the hot water weakens the rock, and so it is easily eroded. The rock is mudstone which was deposited underwater and uplifted by tectonic movements. A zone of fractures in the rock is the path for the hot water from below.

The northern bath is called 玄武洞 (Genbudō, Basalt Cave). It is the smaller cave of the two, and it has a triangular, almost straight passage. In the center there is a wooden wall with a stone foundation, over the full length of the cave, which separates the women’s bath and the men’s bath. Most of the space is covered by the huge thermal pools. The opening on the far side is directly above the waves crashing on the rocks below. There is a smaller pool right in the portal which is so close to the sea that you can feel the sea breeze, and on days with bigger waves may be hit by a droplet of sea water.

The southern bath is named 忘帰洞 (Bōkidō, Forgetting To Go Home Cave) and it is bigger, the passage is 50 m long, 25 m wide and 15 m high. The passage is also mostly triangular. There are numerous pools, but no separation, so there are different times for men and women.

The cave and the pools are natural and were used for bathing for a long time. Originally the cave floor was the gravel beach which ascended slowly into the caves, later the floor was raised to keep the waves out. During the late Heian period the pilgrimage to the Kumano shrines was quite popular, and the aristocratic pilgrims came to this hot spring to relieve the fatigue of their journey. During the Nanboku-cho period, the Northern Court general Ishido Yoshihisa led his military ships to this place. He barricaded himself in the cave, which was called 将石洞 (Shosekido, General's Stone Cave). The name Boukido is from the Taisho period when the first inn was opened here. It was visited by Tokugawa Yorimichi of the Kishu Domain who praised it saying "so comfortable it made me forget to go home."

The baths are open from 5 to 23, both close for a few hours over noon for cleaning, but at different times. The access is possible for hotel guests as well as for the public. There is infrastructure for many visitors, but if there are more guests, there are at least two more onzen, which are not located in caves. They are mostly in artificial tunnels, or even in one of the buildings.