Sakazuki Onsen Chokaso

The room had a bit of cigarette smell, so if that doesn't bother you, it has the feel of an old-fashioned Japanese inn. Cars in the parking area and people arriving interrupted the view from the room, though I really liked the nighttime view. The staff were kind, and the meals were healthy. Tomari village means “quiet village” in Ainu, and I could feel that quietness in its distinctive atmosphere.

I didn't come for the hotel side of the place, and the onsen itself is fairly standard. I'd recommend it to locals. If you can drive, there are other onsens nearby, including the 998 by Kamoenai. I like both.

The room was basic but clean. The onsen had a good view, and dinner was delicious, especially the seafood.

I went for a day visit to Sakazuki Onsen "Shiokaso" at 2 PM on Sunday, November 23, 2025. The facility sits on a slight hill, and the outdoor bath looks out over Sakazuki Fishing Port toward the sea. The view is lovely, though an opaque partition unfortunately blocks it from the bath itself. The spring water felt clean and refreshing, and I was able to relax completely. It wasn't especially busy when I arrived, but the parking lot was full when I left. The hours are 10 AM to 7 PM, and admission for adults is 600 yen, cash only. There are 100-yen coin lockers for valuables behind reception and free shoe lockers by the changing room entrance. Inside the changing room, there are only baskets, no lockers. Amenities include Lion body soap and rinse-in shampoo, a Koizumi HUGE hairdryer, a Tanita scale, and a cold water dispenser. The bathing area has 8+3 separate shower and hot-water taps, one standing shower, an indoor bath at 40°C, a cold bath at 15°C, and a dry stone sauna with two tiers for five people and 15-minute hourglasses. The open-air bath is 37°C. Records from previous visitors say the place began around 1948, shortly after the war, as an inn made by renovating a fisherman's hut. The source was drilled in 1962, and the inn moved to its current hillside location in 1974. A 2016 analysis describes the water as a hypotonic, weakly alkaline, high-temperature spring, with a flow rate of 96 liters, temperature of 43.9°C, pH 7.9, and 1377 mg. It's a calcium-sodium sulfate spring, also called a Glauber's salt-containing gypsum spring, and is almost colorless, clear, tasteless, and odorless. With 59.5 mg of metasilicic acid, it's somewhat unusual for a coastal hot spring.