Zao Onsen Travel Guide: A Mountain Resort Where You Can Enjoy Nature and Outdoor Activities

With over 1,900 years since its discovery, “Zao Onsen” is the oldest hot spring in Yamagata Prefecture.
Its history is said to have begun around 110 AD, when it was discovered during a military expedition east led by the Japanese royal figure Yamato Takeru (Yamato Takeru no Mikoto).
Legend says that one of his retainers, injured by an arrow, bathed in the waters and recovered in just a few days.
During the Edo period (1603–1868), it flourished as a gateway for climbing the Zao mountain range and developed into a hot spring town lined with inns.
In the Taisho period (1912–1926), various facilities such as roads and town infrastructure were developed.
Starting with the opening of the ski resort in the Showa period (1926–1989), it became a popular destination known as one of the largest resorts in Tohoku.

With ryokan and hotels lining the streets, the hot spring town—filled with a sulfur scent and classic onsen atmosphere—is fun to explore just by walking around.
Along with visiting hot springs and footbaths, sampling food as you go is also recommended.
There are plenty of places to try Yamagata specialties, including soba and jingisukan (grilled mutton), as well as great street snacks like “tama-konnyaku.”
There are also many souvenir shops—pick up items like bath salts concentrated with “Zao Onsen” minerals, or local specialties such as traditional kokeshi dolls (wooden dolls) to take home.

If you’re visiting “Zao Onsen” in winter, we hope you’ll enjoy not only the hot springs but also skiing to the fullest.
“Yamagata Zao Onsen Ski Resort” is one of Japan’s largest snow resorts, with 26 courses and 34 lifts.
This big ski area takes advantage of the complex terrain and is made up of six main areas, offering a wide variety of courses from beginner to advanced.
It’s also known for excellent snow quality, drawing skiers and snowboarders from across Japan in search of fluffy powder snow.
The top-area Juhyo Plateau Course is world-famous for its artistic Snow Monsters.
The combination of sweeping views over the Zao mountains and the majestic Zao Snow Monsters is breathtakingly beautiful.

Using “Zao Onsen” as your base, enjoy sightseeing and trekking in the Zao mountain range.
If you visit in summer, try trekking for an easy way to enjoy breathtaking natural views and observe alpine plants and rare insects.
You can also be guided by a mountain instructor, so you can enjoy the mountains with peace of mind.
There’s plenty more to do in nature as well, from camping in grassy fields and feeling the refreshing breeze on terrain-based sliders to trying a paintball shooting experience.
In winter, don’t miss “Zao Snow Monsters,” the Zao mountain range’s biggest highlight.
Snow Monsters are ice formations that appear when fog or clouds cooled below freezing blow onto trees, causing ice to stick to their surfaces.
These uniquely shaped, massive clusters are also called “snow monsters,” and can only be seen in Japan.
Enjoy the Zao mountain range’s magnificent nature and winter-only scenery.
If you want to learn more about Zao Snow Monsters, please also refer to the article below.

This popular drop-in bath is a great way to casually enjoy Zao’s waters, known as one of Japan’s strongest acidic springs and also called “the hot spring for beautiful women,” as it removes oil even without scrubbing and is said to whiten the skin.
Pass through the charming gate and head down the stairs, and you’ll find an open-air bath built from natural stones along the stream.
The bath is large enough to hold around 200 people at once, and bathing while listening to the babbling river and birdsong feels wonderfully open and freeing.
In summer you can soak while viewing fresh greenery, and in autumn, colorful fall leaves.

Along with 100% free-flowing water straight from the source that lets you feel Zao Onsen’s benefits directly, there are also baths such as the Shi-Roku no Yu and Kame Yu that even those with more sensitive skin can enjoy. Relax in the outdoor bath wrapped in greenery or the indoor bath.
There’s also an on-site dining area and souvenir space for after your bath. At the restaurant, you can enjoy Yamagata staples such as 100% buckwheat juwari soba and a sukiyaki set made with Zao’s local brand beef, “Zao-gyu,” while the souvenir area is lined with Yamagata Prefecture specialties.

A casual day-use bathing facility. Zao Onsen’s spring water is a strongly acidic sulfur spring.
Sulfur springs are said to rejuvenate the skin and blood vessels, provide antibacterial effects on the skin’s surface, and strengthen the skin, and have long been loved as “the hot spring for beautiful skin.”
The baths are set right next to the property’s own abundant hot spring source, so fresh water is supplied at all times. The continuously flowing water can be enjoyed in an open-air bath with a great sense of openness surrounded by nature, and is also luxuriously used in the indoor bath where the refined scent of hinoki cypress gently fills the air.

This is “Waka no Yado Wakamatsuya,” a ryokan in Zao Onsen known as a place associated with Mokichi Saito.
Wakamatsuya’s hot springs come from its own source, producing 72 liters per minute. You can enjoy this highly regarded hot spring—popular as “the hot spring for beautiful skin”—as free-flowing water in an open-air bath carved from an 18-ton boulder, as well as in private family baths. Both dinner and breakfast feature plenty of seasonal ingredients from Yamagata, and the Japanese-style kaiseki dinner, “Yamagata Shuntsuzuri Zen,” especially praised for its delicate flavors, lets you enjoy items such as Yamagata beef. Located on a hill, the ryokan offers an excellent location with spectacular views of the Zao mountain range from the windows. Relax and unwind in calming traditional Japanese rooms or modern Japanese-Western style rooms.

A long-established ryokan founded in 1716. As if telling its history, the purely Japanese-style building allows you to see traditional Japanese beauty in many places throughout the property.
One of this ryokan’s highlights is its hot springs. It has three private hot spring sources in Zao Onsen, the oldest hot spring in Yamagata, so you can enjoy pure, free-flowing water straight from the source. Experience its essence in open-air baths where you can feel the babbling river, and in an open-air barrel bath crafted by traditional artisans. Cuisine centers on mountain flavors and the local brand beef “Zao-gyu,” served as kaiseki dishes that bring out the full taste of the ingredients.