Dogo's three public baths and their water quality: Honkan, Tsubaki no Yu, and Asuka no Yu

Dogo's public baths are Dogo Onsen Honkan, Tsubaki no Yu, and Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka no Yu (also called Asuka no Yu). This article covers differences in prices, time limits, and amenities, access conditions for people who want to avoid steps and those traveling with young children, the water quality (alkaline simple hot spring), how water is distributed from the sources, and day-use bathing at lodgings.

First, the conclusion: differences among the three public baths

Dogo's public baths are Dogo Onsen Honkan, Tsubaki no Yu, and Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka no Yu (also called "Asuka no Yu"). All have the same water quality, an alkaline simple hot spring; they differ in price, time limits, rest facilities, and amenities.

Condition	Dogo Onsen Honkan	Tsubaki no Yu	Dogo Onsen Annex Asuka no Yu
Just want to bathe	Kami no Yu ground floor: 700 yen for adults, 350 yen for children (bathing only, 60 minutes, 6:00–23:00, last ticket sale 22:30)	500 yen for adults, 200 yen for children (up to 1 hour, 6:30–23:00, last ticket sale 22:30)	First-floor bathroom: 610 yen for adults, 300 yen for children (90 minutes, 6:00–23:00, last entry 22:30)
Want to rest	Kami no Yu second-floor seats: 1,300 yen for adults, 650 yen for children / Tama no Yu second-floor seats: 2,000 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for children / Tama no Yu third-floor private room: 2,500 yen for adults, 1,250 yen for children (bathing and rest courses)	The official price list covers bathing only and does not list a course with rest	Second-floor main hall: 1,280 yen for adults, 630 yen for children / second-floor private room: 1,690 yen for adults, 830 yen for children (6:00–22:00, last entry 21:00) / second-floor special bath: 2,040 yen per group plus 1,690 yen per adult and 830 yen per child (reservation required, 6:00–22:00, last entry 20:30)
Short on supplies	Rental towel 110 yen and rental bath towel 320 yen at the shop. Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, and hair dryers are provided	No shampoo supplies. Rental towel 110 yen and rental bath towel 320 yen at the shop; shampoo and conditioner 50 yen each. Hair dryers 10 yen for 3 minutes; changing-room lockers 10 yen	The first-floor bathroom provides shampoo supplies and hair dryers; rental towel 110 yen and rental bath towel 320 yen at the shop. The second-floor private room includes a rental towel; the second-floor special bath includes a rental towel and bath towel
Building	Wooden three-story building rebuilt in Meiji 27 (1894); nationally designated Important Cultural Property	Two-story reinforced-concrete building rebuilt in Showa 59 (1984)	Two-story reinforced-concrete building opened in Heisei 29 (2017), with an open-air bath

The Honkan's rental towel and rental bath towel are listed as 110 yen and 320 yen on the Honkan shop products page and as 100 yen and 300 yen on the FAQ page, so the official website gives different figures.

To visit all three with one ticket, there is the Dogo Onsen Three-Bath Circuit Ticket (1,440 yen for adults, 680 yen for children; it covers the Honkan's Kami no Yu ground floor, Tsubaki no Yu, and Asuka no Yu's first-floor bathroom, and is valid on the day of purchase and the following day). Route ideas are in Order and rest breaks for visiting the three public baths, and what to bring is in Packing checklist for visiting Dogo's public baths.

Want to avoid steps

	Dogo Onsen Honkan	Tsubaki no Yu	Asuka no Yu
To the entrance	Many steps; no handrail at the entrance	Slope available	Slope available
Inside	Many level changes such as stairs at the entrance, changing-room doorways, and bathtubs	Barrier-free	Barrier-free, with an elevator
Entering the bathtub	Kami no Yu has a step and handrail for both men and women. At Tama no Yu, the women's side has a handrail and the men's side does not	Handrails for both men and women	Handrails for both men and women
Restrooms	Inside the men's and women's changing rooms on the first floor and at the back of the first-floor central corridor. The ostomate-accessible barrier-free restroom is in the plaza east of the Honkan (outdoors, a 2-minute walk from the Honkan)	Two restrooms each for men and women accessible from the courtyard, plus an ostomate-accessible barrier-free restroom	Inside the changing rooms

There are 2 parking spaces for people with disabilities in the plaza east of the Honkan and 1 at Tsubaki no Yu. Parking is free for people with disabilities using the three public baths; call the toll-free number (0120-72-8924) before visiting. Next to Tsubaki no Yu is Ikoi no Ie, a fully barrier-free facility (under the Matsuyama City Disability Welfare Division; telephone 089-932-3115).

Traveling with young children

	Dogo Onsen Honkan	Tsubaki no Yu	Asuka no Yu
Child rate	Ages 2–11: 350 yen (Kami no Yu ground floor)	Ages 2–11: 200 yen	Ages 2 and older but under 12: 300 yen (first-floor bathroom)
Baby bed	Men's and women's changing rooms for Kami no Yu and Tama no Yu	Women's changing room	Not provided; ask staff for a movable one

The nursing room for visitors is on the first floor of Tsubaki no Yu, in a space accessible from the Asuka no Yu courtyard. It is available every day from 6:00 to 23:00; press the intercom beside the entrance and the facility manager will open the door.

The character of the Honkan, Tsubaki no Yu, and Asuka no Yu

The Dogo Onsen Honkan is a building whose wooden three-story structure, rebuilt in Meiji 27, is still used as a bathhouse. In Heisei 6, it became the first public bathhouse to be designated a national Important Cultural Property.

Tsubaki no Yu is a public bath in the center of the Dogo shopping arcade, and the building as a whole is L-shaped. It was rebuilt in Showa 59 and renovated in December Heisei 29. It has a storehouse-style exterior, and the bathroom uses granite and contains the hot water kettle characteristic of Dogo Onsen.

Asuka no Yu is a public bath that opened in September Heisei 29. Its architecture draws on the Asuka period, after legends such as Prince Shotoku bathing here. It has an open-air bath not found at the Honkan, and the large bathroom has a ceramic tile mural in Tobe ware.

The second-floor special bath is a family bath that recreates the Honkan's Yushinden, the bath reserved for the imperial family. The price is 2,040 yen per group plus 1,690 yen per adult (830 yen per child), and the combined time for the special bath and the first-floor large bathroom is 90 minutes. Reservations are accepted from 90 days before the visit by the reservation system or by telephone (089-932-1126, Dogo Onsen Consortium, 6:00–23:00). Soap cannot be used in the special bath, so wash your body in the first-floor large bathroom.

Water quality: alkaline simple hot spring, a free-flowing source with no heating or added water

Dogo Onsen's water quality is alkaline simple hot spring. Source temperatures range from about 20 to about 55 degrees, and at the distribution stations sources of different temperatures are mixed to adjust the water to about 42 degrees. It is "source free-flowing" water, with neither heating nor added water.

How the three public baths work

Under the Hot Spring Act, "hot spring" refers to hot water or other fluids emerging from underground that are at least 25 degrees when extracted, or that contain at least a set amount of a substance listed in the law's appended table (such as lithium ions or hydrogen ions). Sento is a term for a form of public bathhouse business and does not indicate whether hot spring water is used.

The three public baths in Dogo are facilities introduced by the Dogo Onsen Office of Matsuyama City and are operated by the designated manager, the Dogo Onsen Consortium. The sources are managed and distributed together at the distribution stations and sent to the three baths and nearby hotels and ryokan.

Seeing how the water arrives at the Fourth Distribution Station

At Dogo Onsen, 29 sources have been developed so far, and 19 are currently registered with Ehime Prefecture. One of these is out of service because its facility has deteriorated, and water is drawn from the remaining 18. The sources are collected through underground hot water pipes at 4 distribution stations.

A distribution station collects the pumped source water and sends it to each facility and inn. The Fourth Distribution Station receives 6 sources: 4 on the site and 2 a short distance away. In the viewing room, you can see water falling from 5 pipes into the storage tank. Because the amount pumped is adjusted according to the season, weather, and number of bathers, some pipes are not flowing.

Hand bath and viewing room

Item	Details
Address	7-28 Dogo Yunomachi, Matsuyama City (a 1-minute walk west from Dogo Onsen Station)
Viewing room	9:00–20:00, free, open year-round (may close temporarily for major cleaning and other reasons)
Hand bath	On the right side of the building's front. Water from a source with no temperature adjustment, around 50 degrees
Parking	None

The viewing room has thermometers showing the temperature of each source.
The Fourth Distribution Station was rebuilt in November Heisei 29 (2017).
The road from Dogo Onsen Station is also used by large buses.

Which public bath to choose

If you want to bathe inside an Important Cultural Property building, choose the Honkan. If you want to keep the bathing fee low, choose Tsubaki no Yu at 500 yen for adults. If you want an open-air bath, choose Asuka no Yu.

Public bath or the bath at your lodging

Public baths have set time limits (Honkan 60 minutes, Tsubaki no Yu up to 1 hour, Asuka no Yu 90 minutes), and you bring a towel or rent one at the shop.

Day-use bathing at lodgings

Even if you are not staying overnight, the following lodgings accept day-use bathers in their large bathrooms (confirmed on each lodging's official website on October 23, 2026).

Lodging	Hours	Price	Notes
Yamatoya Honten	15:00–21:00 (last reception 20:00)	Adults 2,000 yen; children (ages 3 to elementary school) 1,000 yen; under 3 free	Irregular holidays. May close without notice for cleaning or busy periods
Funaya	Large bathroom 11:30–22:00 (last entry), 5:30–9:30	1,800 yen (bathing fee 1,650 yen + bathing tax 150 yen)	Face towel and bath towel rental and amenities are free. May refuse entry on days when crowding is expected
Dogo Prince Hotel	90 minutes between 15:00 and 23:30 (last reception 22:00)	Adults (junior high school and older) 1,650 yen; children (ages 2 and older) 825 yen	No regular holidays. Unavailable on reserved or closed days. Private open-air bath 5,500 yen for 45 minutes per use; no advance reservations
Hotel Katsuragi	15:00–21:00	Adults 1,500 yen; children 800 yen	May refuse entry on busy days such as before holidays. Visitors are asked to avoid arriving by car

Sources:

Last confirmed: October 23, 2026