Onagawa Onsen Topo'po

Lovely Onsen at the Station

When we first saw that there was supposed to be a Hot spring inside of Onagawa station, we were excited and wanted to try it but unfortunately this was during covid and the whole thing was shut down at that time. As a special mother to stay treat, my husband drove us there so that my daughter and I could partake of the facilities. I can't imagine how lovely it would be to take a train ride up to this area to stay at the hotel across the parking lot and take along luxurious bath before or after a pleasant dinner across the street. Even for us, midday on a weekend, it was quite lovely. The facilities were clean and well maintained. One thing that was surprising to us was that when you take off your shoes at the entrance, the key to the shoe locker is a small wooden fish with the locker number on it. When you exchange the ticket that you buy at the paying machine for access to the facilities, the staff takes your shoe locker key from you and gives you a different locker key on the spiral rubber wrist band so commonly used in Onsen. That key belongs to the locker number that you will find in the changing room. This means there's no wondering if a locker will be available or where that locker might be, as can happen sometimes in busy onsen. I'm sure this is also a safety measure to ensure that no one takes off with something from someone else's belongings and can make it to the station and onto a train before they're stopped. There's literally no way to do that easily. The bath is lovely with many shower stalls, a small warm bath, and a larger hotter bath near a pleasant tile mural. Another surprise was that unlike a lot of modern Onsen, the separation between the men's and women's sides does does not extend to the ceiling. It is nice, high, and thick, so there's no wondering if one might be seen by members of the opposite sex or accidentally see something on that side either, but surprisingly, knowing that they are likely to be overheard by members of the opposite sex seems to keep the old ladies who might chatter at the bath house from doing so, creating a much more peaceful dynamic than I would have assumed. I will absolutely come back to this place and enjoy it. And there's also a space upstairs to sit on the tatami and relax after your bath as well as massage chairs and other places to recline. Several vending machines exist along the hallways and there's also a small area to buy drinks or snacks downstairs.