About Takeo Hot Springs

Takeo Hot Springs is known for the transparency and pleasant softness of its waters. The hot spring is rich in history, since the “Hizen Fudoki,” written 1,300 years ago, makes mention of it, writing, “on the west side of the district lies a crag from which there issues a hot spring,” and it is said that even Empress Jingu once bathed here. Also, at the time of the Bunroku and Keicho Campaigns, the large numbers of soldiers who were assembled at Nagoya Castle would visit Takeo Hot Springs, and there is preserved to this day a red-sealed document, entitled “Rules for Bathing,” that Hideyoshi Toyotomi issued to keep the soldiers from disturbing the other bathers. During the Edo period, Takeo Hot Springs flourished as a station on the Nagasaki Kaido road, and such famous historical personages as Musashi Miyamoto, Philipp Franz von Siebold, Masamune Date, and Tadataka Ino are recorded to have bathed here. Takeo Hot Springs is a simple thermal hot spring, mildly alkaline, that contains a variety of mineral elements in just the right proportions. The waters have excellent heat retention, and are famous for making skin beautiful.