Search Hot Springs

Asama Onsen sits on a hillside above Matsumoto city in Nagano Prefecture, offering outdoor baths with open views toward the Northern Alps. The water is a strongly alkaline sodium bicarbonate spring that leaves a notably silky feeling on the skin. Across the hillside, dozens of individually operated ryokan and public bathhouses serve visitors throughout the year.

Kakeyu Onsen is a hot spring village in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture. Its name translates roughly as deer-guided hot spring, recalling a pilgrim who wandered through the mountains and was led to a steaming pool by a deer that was, in truth, the Bodhisattva Monju in animal form. The waters here have been flowing for roughly 1,200 years. The main public bathhouse, Monju no Yu, is supplied by five individual springs.

Kamisuwa Onsen sits on the northern shore of Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture, a lakeside resort built around one of the most productive thermal sources in the region. The springs here push out 26,000 liters of water per minute, the highest output of any onsen in Nagano Prefecture. The lake lies at the base of Suwa Taisha, one of the oldest Shinto shrine complexes in Japan. The surrounding area combines mountain views, a working geyser, and traces of a silk industry that once gave this valley a worldwide reputation.

Obama Onsen is a compact hot spring town on the Shimabara Peninsula in Nagasaki Prefecture, sitting at the base of Mount Unzen and looking out toward the Shimabara Straits. The waters here rank among the hottest in Japan, with temperatures reaching 105 degrees Celsius. Along the seafront, a 105-meter outdoor footbath stretches the full length of what is the longest such facility in the country, and it is open to all visitors at no cost.

Iwamuro Onsen is a traditional hot spring town in Niigata Prefecture that has served as a rest stop for travelers heading to the sacred Yahiko Shrine for centuries. The spring was discovered more than 300 years ago when a Buddhist priest named Shokai followed a wild goose that bathed its injured wings in the warm water until they healed. The waters carry a reputation for their smooth, skin-softening character. The town also sustains a living Echigo Geiko (Niigata geisha) entertainment culture.

Senami Onsen sits along the Sea of Japan coast in Murakami City, Niigata Prefecture, offering open-air baths with direct views of the water. The spring came to light in 1904, when petroleum drillers working in the coastal flats tapped into a hot water source at 95 degrees Celsius rather than the oil they were seeking. That pairing of oceanside scenery with thermal bathing, anchored by the sunsets over the Sea of Japan, has drawn visitors to the resort for more than a hundred years.

Tsubame Onsen is a hot spring resort located in Tsubame, Japan. The waters carry a high mineral content and have been sought out for their therapeutic properties by visitors across many generations. The setting is mountain forest, quiet and green, giving the onsen a natural character that complements the bathing experience. The site draws guests looking for physical relief as well as those interested in a form of cultural immersion rooted in Japan's long tradition of communal bathing.

Tsukioka Onsen is a traditional hot spring town within Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture, with origins dating to 1917, when petroleum drillers tapped into geothermal water rather than oil. The spring produces an emerald-green color owing to a sulfur concentration that ranks among the highest of any hot spring in Japan. Roughly 30 geisha continue to work in the town today, and they perform at the Tsukimidai theatre each Sunday from April through November.

Yuzawa Onsen sits in the Uonuma highlands of Niigata Prefecture, surrounded by snowfields that define the landscape. The town counts at least 27 onsen and ryokan within its bounds, with both public and private bathing options available. Kaikake Onsen is the oldest in the area, with written records going back to the 1400s. Smaller springs, including Akayu Onsen, can be reached on foot via mountain trails.

Kankaiji Onsen sits on wooded hillsides along the slopes of Mount Tsurumi at the southern end of Beppu, in Oita Prefecture. The district takes its name from Kankaiji Temple, a name that translates as the Temple Overlooking the Sea. The temple rises above the surrounding area and looks out over Beppu Bay. The springs here tap into the wider Beppu Hatto volcanic system, placing the district within one of the most geothermally active zones in Japan.

Nagayu Onsen is a compact hot spring settlement tucked into the mountains of Taketa City, in central Oita Prefecture. The springs hold the highest concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide found in any thermal spring in Japan. Bathers entering the water notice fine bubbles gathering across their skin almost immediately, and this carbonation defines the experience here more than anything else. The town maintains a sister-city partnership with Bad Krozingen in Germany, a spa community with a similarly long therapeutic tradition.

Atami Onsen sits on the Izu Peninsula with views across Sagami Bay, roughly 90 minutes by rail from Tokyo. The city contains around 500 geothermal springs that together discharge approximately 20,000 liters of water per minute. Its ocean scenery, mild climate, and plentiful spring water earned Atami a reputation as one of Japan's most celebrated resort towns in the postwar years.

Hokkawa Onsen sits on the eastern coast of the Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture, facing out across the Pacific Ocean. The water is sodium chloride and surfaces at temperatures reaching up to 85 degrees Celsius. The defining experience here is soaking in an outdoor bath while looking over open ocean. The town is quiet and small, and the ryokan are intimate in scale.

Kanzanji Onsen sits on the northwestern shore of Lake Hamana in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture. The lake is a large brackish body of water where seawater mingles with fresh water, and the thermal spring beneath its bed produces a sodium-calcium chloride water with one of the highest salt concentrations found at any onsen in Japan. The outdoor baths face the lake directly, and on clear days Mount Fuji is visible in the distance, making the view the central attraction of a stay here.

Shuzenji Onsen sits in the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture along the Katsura River, a small town built around its waters and known for an unhurried atmosphere. The most recognized feature is Tokko-no-yu, an outdoor bath placed directly in the river, which tradition holds was opened by the Buddhist monk Kobo Daishi in 807. The town itself offers comfortable ryokan, a relaxed tempo, and more than fourteen centuries of continuous history.

A hot spring resort town set along the Kinugawa River in Tochigi Prefecture, roughly two hours from Tokyo by express train. The river gorge puts on a striking display in autumn as the maple trees color. The town sits closer to Nikko than any other onsen destination and serves as a natural base for overnight visitors to the Toshogu shrine complex.

Unazuki Onsen sits at the gateway to Kurobe Gorge in Toyama Prefecture, a resort town known for its thickly wooded canyon and the narrow-gauge Kurobe Gorge Railway that runs through it. The thermal water serving Unazuki is piped in from Kuronagi Onsen through a 7-kilometer pipeline, an arrangement that stands out even among Japan's many onsen supply systems.

The village of Kawayu Onsen lies within Akan-Mashu National Park in eastern Hokkaido, where the active volcano Atosanupuri heats the Io River from below. The river moves through the village as a constantly steaming, acidic stream. Each winter, from late October to late February, workers excavate sections of the riverbed to form the Sennin-buro, a large seasonal open-air communal bath capable of holding dozens of bathers at one time.

Nanki-Katsuura Onsen sits along a jagged section of the Kii Peninsula coastline in Wakayama Prefecture, within the boundaries of Yoshino-Kumano National Park. More than 100 springs surface from the cliffs and headlands bordering Katsuura Bay. Among the area's most unusual bath facilities are those carved into sea caves and others perched on small islands that visitors reach by boat from the harbor.

Nanki-Shirahama is a coastal resort town on the Kii Peninsula where hot springs have drawn emperors since the seventh century. The geography is unusual for a resort: a broad white-sand beach fronts the Pacific, and hot spring hotels fill the ground behind it. The old outdoor rock baths of Saki-no-Yu are built directly above the ocean.