I Looked Into Seibu-Chichibu Ekimae Onsen Matsuri no Yu

The last spot I'm covering in my series looking into the Chichibu and Nagatoro area is "Seibu-Chichibu Ekimae Onsen Matsuri no Yu."

As the name suggests, it's a hot spring facility right in front of the station, so as someone who doesn't drive, it's a place I was pretty curious about.

What kind of place is Matsuri no Yu?

It's a day-use hot spring facility located in Nozaka-cho, Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, and it's apparently directly connected to "Seibu-Chichibu" Station on the Seibu Railway Chichibu Line. It's also said to be about a 5-minute walk from "Ohanabatake" Station on the Chichibu Railway. From Ikebukuro Station, it takes as little as 77 minutes by the "Laview" limited express, and by car, it's apparently about 31km and 45 minutes from the Hanazono IC on the Kan-etsu Expressway via National Route 140.
Business hours for the baths are 10:00 to 22:00 (last entry 21:30), and apparently there's also a morning bath (6:00 to 9:00) on weekends and holidays.

Admission is reportedly 1,100 yen for adults and 700 yen for children on weekdays, and 1,380 yen for adults and 800 yen for children on weekends and holidays. A private sauna room (90 minutes) is 3,000 yen on weekdays and 5,000 yen on weekends and holidays, and the premium lounge (2 hours) is 550 yen on weekdays and 770 yen on weekends and holidays.
Regular admission apparently doesn't require a reservation, but the private sauna rooms need advance booking online or at the front desk.

A space designed around the theme of festivals

When I checked the official site for the origin of the facility's name, it apparently reflects both the design concept of "festival" and the idea of a reborn "station front area," which is how the name came about. There are said to be over 300 festivals a year in the Chichibu area, and the fact that the "Chichibu Yomatsuri float event and Kagura" is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage was also mentioned as background for this theme.

The building is apparently made up of three areas—the hot spring area, food court, and souvenir area—and it seems each one reflects Chichibu's culture in its own way. There are also apparently eight character mascots called "Chichihuku," modeled after lucky charms associated with Chichibu, which serve as the facility's symbols.

Checking out the facilities that interest me as an indoor type

The baths reportedly come in a wide variety, including an open-air rock bath (natural hot spring), a cherry-blossom-viewing bath, jar baths, a lie-down bath, a high-concentration artificial carbonated bath, a silk bath, jet baths, and a cold bath. There also seem to be two types of saunas: a far-infrared sauna (with automatic loyly) and a salt sauna (women's bath only).

There are apparently two private sauna rooms available for rent ("Tsuki," capacity 6, and "Taki," capacity 8), along with a sub-zero ice room. For resting, besides the free relaxation and lie-down areas, there also seems to be a paid premium lounge (semi-private, for middle schoolers and up) with a TV and outlets.

• Wi-Fi: Free (SEIBU FREE Wi-Fi)
• Food court "Nomikuidokoro Matsuri no Utage": deep-fried pork cutlet on rice (waraji katsu), miso potatoes, Chichibu soba and Musashino udon, grilled offal, ramen, sweets, and more
• Restaurant "Chichibu Yudokoro": Japanese and local cuisine
• Parking: 39 dedicated spaces (100 yen per 30 minutes, with discounts based on spending) plus affiliated parking lots

The official site also introduces signature menu items from each shop in the food court. The waraji katsu specialty shop offers a rice bowl topped with cutlets made from Saitama's branded pork, the pork miso rice bowl shop offers a seared pork rice bowl using Chichibu's famous miso-marinated pork, and the Chinese food stall offers a Chichibu offal miso ramen using Chichibu's famous pork offal—it sounds like there's a solid lineup of Chichibu-specific menu items. The "Chichibu Yudokoro" restaurant inside the hot spring area also apparently serves Chichibu specialties like waraji katsu rice bowls and mori soba, plus draft beer, sours, and a good number of other alcoholic drinks and side dishes.

Since there are apparently outlets in the premium lounge, charging shouldn't be much of a worry even on days when you want to relax for a long stretch.

The souvenirs are all about Chichibu too

The retail area apparently has a full lineup of Chichibu-specific souvenirs. The local sake corner reportedly carries sake from local breweries, along with regional craft beer, wine, and whisky.

For snacks to enjoy while walking around, there are items like miso potatoes, waraji-shaped snacks, and festival dango, and it seems they also carry Chichibu Meisen fabric goods, along with local specialties like Chichibu mochi, shakushina pickles, and miso-marinated pork, as well as goods featuring Chichibu City's local mascot character "Potekuma-kun."

Rakuten Mobile Signal Conditions

When I checked this facility's address using the official "My Area Network Simulation" tool, the overall rating came out as "AAA." That's a pretty solid rating among all the areas I've checked so far.

Given its location right in front of the station, it left me with the impression that both mobile signal and Wi-Fi should be easy to confirm at this facility.

I normally use Rakuten Mobile myself, so I often check things like this signal info. If you haven't signed up yet, it might be worth checking the official site once when you're thinking about a contract.

Nearby spots worth visiting while you're out checking this place

• Banba-dori Street (5-10 minute walk)
• Chichibu Shrine (10-15 minute walk)
• Chichibu Matsuri Kaikan Museum (15 minute walk)
• Hitsujiyama Park (Shibazakura Hill) (15-20 minute walk)
• Chichibu Distillery: its whisky is served at nearby izakayas and bars

Since the tourist spots are all clustered within walking distance of the station, this looked like an area that would be easy to enjoy even without a car.

Wrapping Up

To sum it all up again, Matsuri no Yu left me with the impression of being directly connected to Seibu-Chichibu Station, making it the easiest facility for me to get to as someone who doesn't drive. With such a wide variety of baths and even a food court on site, it seems like a comfortable place to spend a day-trip.

The Rakuten Mobile signal here also came back with an "AAA" rating from the official tool, one of the best results I've found so far, so it stuck with me as a candidate that's easy to check on both the bathing and connectivity fronts.

I've now looked into campsites and lodging throughout the Chichibu and Nagatoro area, and since Rakuten Mobile provides an official tool for checking signal conditions, it might be worth a look if you're thinking about signing up for a contract.

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Related Links

• Official Site