Traditional Japanese Remedy at Hot Springs, "Touji (Hot-Spring Cure)"

"Touji (Hot-Spring Cure)" is a well known folk remedy in Japan since old times. Old-days people found that taking hot-spring bath everyday was good for recuperating after injuries, healing sicknesses, joint problems, skin problems and so on by experiences.

Although there are hot-springs everywhere in Japan, some of the hot-springs are especially famous for "Touji" and in these hot springs people would come across stories such as "a historical lord such as such stayed here for Touji". Since medical circumstances have changed it's probably becoming less common, but we can still see some people staying long at a hot-spring for "Touji". 

Actually even now most Japanese believe in the medicinal benefit of hot-springs to some extent though they usually can't put "Touji" into practice. It would be difficult for most people to take such a long vacation and also it would cost a lot. Even when they travel to a hot-spring for just a weekend, many people care about chemical characteristics of the hot-spring water and if the water is really drawn from a natural hot-spring source. Also people tend to make sure if the hot-spring water is not recycled in the bath when they choose a hotel/Ryokan(Japanese style hotel).

You might be skeptical about the benefits of hot-springs. If so please visit a hot-spring which is famous for "Touji". It would be really different from taking a bath filled with hot tap water!

The photo above was taken at Tamago-Yu Ryokan (Tamago-Yu Hotel) in Takayu hot-spring, Fukushima prefecture. The small thatched house in the photo is their main hot-spring bath house. It is said that the house has been maintained for 140 years. Apparently this place is very popular for those who expect medical benefits of hot-springs.