- The bath of Mearai-Jizou is temporarily unavailable because the bathtub was broken by being used for a long time. I will let you know when it’s restarted again on this blog.
There are many legends in Sado Island, and “Mearai-jizou” is one of them.
Healing water of the folk tale “Anju and Zushio”
The story of “Sansho-Dayu” is famous for the tale of Anju and Zushio. In it, the grown-up Zushio and his blind mother are reunited, and rejoice over finding the other in good health (“tassha” in Japanese) at Tassha Coast in Sado. Water still bubbles up at the place where the mother washed her eyes, and Mearai Jizo is enshrined there. Anju Jizo Hall stands nearby, where a bath with the spring water has been set up by locals and is available for use.
Mearai-jizou is located in Tassha, northwest of Sado Island.
The water there is believed to have power to recover your eyesight and improve your skin condition such as atopy.
The water directly comes from nearby mountain, and it’s always fresh and clear.
How to get there?
When you come from Ryotsu port, drive in the direction of Aikawa and take Route 45 to Tassha.
It’s about 60mins from the port.
After passing Ogawa area, you will have a big curvy road down to Tassha.
And just before passing through the last curve, you will find the notice of “Mearai-jizou” with a red flag on your right side.
Experience of Mearai-jizou
When you walk uphill, you can see a little stream on your right feet.
The sound of running water got rid of my tiredness from the trip.
It’s Sep and I saw dragonfly flying freely here and there.
The air is fresh and I found myself naturally breathing slowly and deeply.
This might be one of the secrets here to make people healthy again.
And when you walk up a little more, you can see a house in front of you and steps on your right side.
Well, let’s check the right side first along the course of the stream!
At the end of the steps, you can see the stone statues of buddha, which is the ancient guardian deity of the area.
And you can see crystal stream at your feet.
The water is fresh and cold and tastes so mild.
I washed my eyes and face, and I felt it has washed away all waste inside of me. 🙂
After praying for my eyes and skin, I came down to the house.
At the entrance, a bell with a heart-shaped hole welcomed me.
There are also many statues and a picture of an old lady who used to take care of this place.
Local people and some visitors also created some arts and decorated the wall with them.
It shows that people love this place as if it’s their own.
There is also a little kitchen, and people use here to put water into their bottle.
On the left side, you have toilet and bath.
The toilet here is Japanese style like this, so it might be a good experience for you.
The bath is quite simple, but the water here comes from the stream.
So it’s actually a natural SPA!
And it’s for FREE!!
Now a woman who lives in this town comes to this place every morning, puts water in the bathtub, and burns wood to make it hot for everyone.
She continues this over 25 years as a volunteer to make people happy.
That’s a genuine hospitality, isn’t it?
In summer, you can wash away your sweat.
In winter, it warms up deeply till your body core in the most suitable time.
While you are in the bathtub, you can hear the rustling of bamboo leaves outside of the window.
Hot bath of crystal stream, smell of firewood and the rustling of bamboo leaves.
You cannot get happier than this!
The old ladies there who came to take a bath said, “I often forgot my eye glasses here because my eyes get so clear after washing my eyes.”
Another said, “Oh, yeah, the same thing happened to me too. I forgot my cane here because I felt much better after taking a bath here.”
I’ve heard other stories about effect of this water from others too:
* Recover eyesight
* Improve dynamic vision
* Improve atopic dermatitis
* Get rid of back problem
* Cure cancer of liver
The water has such a great power and we can have it for FREE!!
That’s awesome!
It’s nothing but Buddha’s love!
I want this place to last long, so I threw in some money as an offering before leaving.
I will come back here for sure. 🙂
Access : Approx 60mins by carfrom Ryotsu Port
Bus stop : Senkakuwan Tassha on Kaifu Line and 3mins walk from the bus stop
Parking : There is a little space to park in the neighborhood
