(491) Yugama 湯釜

(491) Yugama 湯釜

1. English translations for YUGAMA
Do you know what yugama is?
There are a few English translations for YUGAMA.

 2. Today’s yugama
I’ll show you today’s yugama.
These ugama are used now at Dogo Spa main building. 

Pic. Tamanoyu Men’s bath 

Pic. Kaminoyu Men’s bath 

3. The Meiji era’s yugama
Also in Hojoen is an ashiyu (hot footbath) that uses a yugama (cauldron), which was itself once used in Dogo Hot Spring during the Meiji era (1868 – 1912) 

Pic. Footbath beside the Bochan mechanical clock
These ugama have holes on their sides, from which the hot water comes out. 

4. Oldest yugama
A stone caldron placed in the Dogo Kouen Park is called “Yugama Yakushi (healing caldron). 

Pic. Ugama Yakushi
We cannot find any holes on its side. This ugama had been used at Dogo bath untill 1894.

 Question: Where did the hot water flow from the oldest yugama? 

With our group members I looked for any opening on the Yakushi ugama.

Pic. Yakushi Ugama 2

Answer: The hot water welled up from the top hole on the Ugama Yakushi.

Pic. Sacred gem stone (宝珠) yu-gama-yakushi 3

Pic. A hole under the sacred gem stone yu-gama-yakushi 4 

5. Old time the hot water gushed out the source of hot spring.

（湯釜とは源泉の上に置かれ湯の量や温度の調節をしていたもの。) They say that yugama was placed on the hot spring and controlled its flow and temperature. I am still wondering how yugama did these things in the old days.

Old time the hot water gushed out the source of hot spring. But now the hot water is pumped up from several hot spring wells in Dogo area.

Dogo Spa has a history spanning more than 3000 years, but its supply of hot water per day is 1970 tons. It is greatly different from other famous Spas in Japan, such as 137,000 tons at Beppu Spa, 39,000 tons at Kusatsu Spa and 26,000 tons at Atami Spa.

I am afraid that Dogo’s hot water supply is decreasing gradually these years.Average trend of pumping volume of Dogo

Pic. Bar graph
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