By Isla Quinn
Snow on the bridges. Orange light on the water. Wooden balconies stacked three and four high above a narrow river. That is the picture people carry home from Ginzan Onsen, a hot-spring town in Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture, and it has a practical history behind it.
Silver first, springs second
The name means “silver mine hot spring”. A Japanese government publication says silver mining began in the 15th century and that, in the first half of the 17th century, the Tokugawa shogunate directly controlled development of the town, then called Nobesawa Ginzan. The hot springs, it says, were found while the mine was being developed. A Japan travel site says ore was found in the 16th century and that the area became one of Japan’s three largest silver mines before it was abandoned in the 18th century and grew into a hot-spring area. So the sources differ on when the silver began, the 15th century or the 16th. We do not choose between them.
Wikipedia says silver miners reportedly found the springs about 500 years ago, and that use of the springs fell when silver declined in the late 1600s. A tourism-trade guide says coal miners found the water bubbling up along the river. Our reading: who found the springs is a local tale told several ways, and none of these pages cites a document.
The flood and the rebuild
The government publication says flooding of the Ginzan River badly damaged the buildings in the 1910s, and that carpenters, plasterers and joiners rebuilt them as multi-storey, Western-style wooden structures. The inns on both banks date from about 1910 to the 1930s, it says, and the town has looked largely the same since. The trade guide gives a year, 1913, and says the rebuilding came in the early Showa era, which began in 1926. Wikipedia says most of the buildings date from the Taisho era (1912 to 1926), with bare timber framing and white plaster. Three sources, three slightly different windows. What they share is the shape: timber frames, plaster walls, gas lamps, cobbled lanes and bridges, all from one period of rebuilding.
The travel site adds that the larger inns are three or four layers of timber high, and that many walls and signboards carry plaster “trowel pictures”, which can show a shop name or a lucky object.
Why winter
The government publication says January and February are the busiest months for overseas visitors, and that the gas lamps cast a warm glow over snow-covered streets at night. The trade guide says snow typically starts in early December, is deepest from January to late March, and often exceeds one metre. The sources agree on the effect, and the guide supplies the dates.
The practical point is underfoot. The government publication says the streets are cobbled and advises winter boots or other non-slip footwear, even in snow. That is the single most useful line on the page.
The winter car rule
This is the part that catches day visitors out. The trade guide says that from mid-December to mid-March, private and rental cars driven by day visitors are restricted on the prefectural road that leads to the town. It says overnight guests are exempt, that visitors are directed to a car park about a kilometre away, and that a shuttle runs from there. It adds that the rule may also apply from late October to mid-November when it is crowded. This comes from a single page and may change, so check the current notice.
Getting there
A travel-information site says to take the JR Ou Main Line express from Yamagata Station to Oishida Station, about 40 minutes, and then a bus. Its total of about 55 minutes does not match its own spot listing, so treat it as rough. The trade guide says the 1999 Shinkansen extension made access easier.
Baths and a waterfall
The trade guide says the water is a sulphur spring with a slight salty taste, and that the town has one public bathhouse and a free footbath. Shirogane Falls drops 22 metres, according to both the guide and the travel site, which adds that the Nobesawa Ginzan mine ruins are a nationally designated historic site.
A television town
The government publication says Ginzan Onsen was a filming location for the NHK morning drama Oshin, shown from April 1983 to March 1984 and broadcast in more than 60 countries.
Dates in order
- 15th or 16th century: silver mining begins, according to the government publication and the travel site respectively.
- Late 1600s to 18th century: silver declines, according to Wikipedia and the travel site.
- 1910s (or 1913): flooding, according to the government publication and the trade guide.
- About 1910 to the 1930s: inns rebuilt, according to the government publication.
- 1999: Shinkansen extension eases access, according to the trade guide.
What kind of sources these are
A Japanese government publication; a travel-information site; a tourism-trade guide, which is promotional; and Wikipedia. We read no museum, no town or prefecture page and no heritage body.
What we left out
We left out prices, fares, opening times, inn names and owners, the architect credited with one redesign, and population.
Quick answers
When is the best time to see Ginzan Onsen in snow? The government publication says January and February are the busiest months for overseas visitors, and a tourism-trade guide says snow is usually deepest from January to late March.
Can I drive to Ginzan Onsen in winter? According to a tourism-trade guide, day visitors in private or rental cars are restricted from mid-December to mid-March, while overnight guests are exempt. Check the current notice.
Why is it called Ginzan Onsen? A Japanese government publication says the name means “silver mine hot spring”, because the springs were found during development of the silver mine.
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Roam first. Shop later.