Hot spa resort Yufuin refining itself as relaxing, healing spot

March 31、2013

Hot spa resort Yufuin refining itself as relaxing, healing spot

Yufuin is one of the most successful hot spa resorts surviving the low growth years in Japan, but it is making further efforts to refine its feature as a relaxing and healing spot.
Unlike many other hot spa towns in Japan, Yufuin has no pleasure-oriented amusement area. This is why it is loved by many female tourists. Located in a basin in Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, Yufuin used to be a small retreat-like health spot. A few projects emerged to develop the Yufuin hot spa as a major resort town early in the 20th century, but Yufuin residents resisted these projects, because they hoped to continue their business in the town while preserving its calm rural landscape. Their policy was maintained even when Japan underwent a speculation-driven development boom from the 1980s. This helped Yufuin to win a public image as a healthy hot spa resort, where people can relax and heal themselves in a beautiful natural environment.

Dozens of hotels with hot spring baths are situated on streets and alleys extending toward the foot of Mt. Yufu, a landmark for Yufuin, which currently attracts 4 million tourists a year. The 1,584-meter active volcano can be viewed to the north from open-air baths at many Japanese-style hotels.

“Yufuin Floral Village,” a miniature theme park, is a brand-new tourist spot in the town. Opened in November, the park is designed as a copy of the English countryside, particularly Cotswolds which is said to be the world’s most beautiful village. Visiitors are welcomed at the entrance by a duck named after Jemima Puddle-Duck, a character in the Peter Rabbit series children’s novels by Beatrix Potter. Visitors can enjoy strolling around pretty dry stone houses and shops. The facility also has a hotel with a hot spa and a restaurant, as its catch copy says: "You can fiind something truly healing to you here." The Yufuin Floral Village project was initiated by a local businessman “in an effort to activate this town,” said a village staffer.

Yufuin organizes new, unconventional events such as music and film festivals from time to time. A horse-drawn wagon service for tourists has been available since 1975. Some people are concerned that too ambitious a tourist project will run the risk of undermining the town’s brand image as a healthy, calm resort, but others believe that Yufuin has many tourist assets to demonstrate, at a time when Japanese people are becoming more aware of the importance of the nature.