An Inn That Kept the Lords' Bath
Fubokaku (不忘閣, also written Fubōkaku) is the group of seven buildings belonging to the hot-spring inn Yumoto Fubokaku at Aone Onsen in Kawasaki Town, Miyagi Prefecture; three storehouses of 1896, the Main Building of 1907 and the Palace Building of 1932 are among them, and all seven were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 19 December 2014.
Aone Onsen rises on the eastern flank of the Zao range. Kawasaki Town says the spring was found in 1528 and was used from then on by the Date family, rulers of the Sendai domain, as a place to rest and take the waters. Fubokaku is remembered as the inn that looked after the lords' own bath, the goten-yu, and the town adds that detailed bathing diaries survive for every ruler from the fifth lord, Date Yoshimura, onward.
The Sato family, who still run the inn, served the Date as yu-betto, stewards of the domain's hot spring. The Agency for Cultural Affairs mentions that lineage in its entry for the gate, and Miyagi Prefecture's registration notes say the same. As for the name, which means "not forgetting", the inn says Date Masamune chose it so that the pleasure of his stay would not be forgotten. Treat that as house tradition; no document confirms it.
The Fire of 1906, and What It Spared
Fire decided what stands here today. According to Miyagi Prefecture, a great fire in 1906 damaged much of Aone Onsen. At Fubokaku the three earthen storehouses of 1896, on the northern side of the site, came through. The Archive Storehouse is dated by its ridge tablet, which also names the master carpenter, Yoshimura Kamesue.
The Main Building is said to have gone up the next year, 1907. In the Taisho era an annex was added to the south and joined by a covered corridor; the Palace Building followed in 1932, reached from the annex's north-west corner; and in the early Showa period a roofed gate was set on the eastern edge of the site. The seven registered structures fall into two families: Meiji storehouses that outlived the fire, and timber guest buildings raised in stages after it.
All seven were registered under the same criterion, contribution to the historic landscape of the nation, with consecutive registration numbers 04-0097 to 04-0103. The Agency describes the Main Building as giving the place the feel of an old cure resort, and the annex as a survivor showing how such resorts looked in this region. The individual buildings count, but so does the way one family's spa inn grew into a complete compound over half a century.
How the Buildings Fit Together
The Main Building stands in the middle of the site, ridge running north to south, with a carriage porch under an irimoya (hip-and-gable) roof projecting from the centre of its front. A covered corridor runs south to the annex, whose two wings bend into a shallow chevron. From the annex's north-west corner a second corridor leads to the Palace Building, the structure most people know as Aone Goten, the Aone Palace.
The storehouses line up north to south on the northern side of the site: the Archive Storehouse at the south end, the Zashiki Storehouse in the middle, the Grain Storehouse at the north. One continuous detached roof, an okiyane, rides over all three. Each has its door on the east, and all wear white Shikkui plaster above a base of Namako-kabe tilework. The Grain Storehouse has since been fitted out as a bathroom fed with spring water. The gate, a Munamon with an opening 2.7 metres wide, faces east; it is the only one of the seven classed as a structure other than a building.
Writers are part of the site's history too. Miyagi Prefecture lists Yosano Tekkan and Akiko, Tayama Katai and Akutagawa Ryunosuke among the inn's literary guests, and the inn says a storehouse where Akutagawa stayed still stands in the grounds. Kawasaki Town points out that Aone Onsen appears in Yamamoto Shugoro's novel The Fir Tree Remains (Momi no Ki wa Nokotta).
Visiting and Getting There
Fubokaku is a working ryokan, and the interiors of all seven buildings are guest space. The official website does not advertise day visits, so seeing the rooms means booking a night. The inn keeps calligraphy, paintings and heirlooms associated with the Date family and says it shows them to interested guests at set times. Arrangements can change; confirm by telephone (0224-87-2011) when you reserve.
For anyone not staying, the structure easiest to see from outside is the gate on the eastern edge of the site. This is not a public attraction: if you are not a guest, keep off the grounds and avoid photographing people who are.
By car, Fubokaku is about 10 kilometres from Miyagi-Kawasaki Interchange on the Yamagata Expressway, and Kawasaki Town puts the drive from Sendai to the interchange at around 30 minutes. Without a car, the route usually given is the Tohoku Shinkansen to Shiroishi-Zao Station, a local bus of about 50 minutes toward Zao, then the inn's pickup from the bus stop, which must be booked in advance. Bus routes and stops change, so check with the inn before you travel.
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010247
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Annex
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010248
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Palace Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010249
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Archive Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010250
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Zashiki Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010251
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Grain Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010252
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Fubokaku Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010253
- Miyagi Prefecture: registration of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, 19 December 2014 (Japanese)
- https://www.pref.miyagi.jp/soshiki/bunkazai/touroku-toushin.html
- Kawasaki Town: historic sites, Aone Goten (Japanese)
- https://www.town.kawasaki.miyagi.jp/soshiki/shogaigakushu/531.html
- Kawasaki Town: hot springs and lodging, Yumoto Fubokaku (Japanese)
- https://www.town.kawasaki.miyagi.jp/soshiki/chishin/524.html
- Kawasaki Town: access to Kawasaki Town (Japanese)
- https://www.town.kawasaki.miyagi.jp/soshiki/chishin/525.html
- Yumoto Fubokaku official website: history (Japanese)
- https://www.fubokaku.com/history.html
- Yumoto Fubokaku official website: greeting (Japanese)
- https://www.fubokaku.com/info.html
- Tabiyomi, Yomiuri Travel: Yumoto Fubokaku, access details (Japanese)
- https://tabiyomi.yomiuri-ryokou.co.jp/article/003908.html
Last verified: 2026.09.25
Basic Information
| Name | Fubokaku |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1 Aone Onsen, Kawasaki-machi, Shibata-gun, Miyagi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (7) |
| Coordinates | 38.14452, 140.53473 |
