Chiba

Chiba has 95 onsen areas and 144 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024), a high count of onsen areas by national standards, with over 3.7 million overnight stays a year. There are no volcanoes, though: 104 of its 144 springs emerge below 25 °C and only three reach 42 °C, so nearly all baths are cool mineral springs that are heated. What defines Chiba is the pairing of seaside inns and onsen on the Boso Peninsula, surrounded by water on three sides.

Main onsen areas

Most onsen areas line the coast of the Boso Peninsula. In the south are Shirahama, Chikura, Iwai and the Tateyama group; on the outer Pacific coast, the Kamogawa group and Katsuura; Inubosaki at Choshi; and Shirako on Kujukuri Beach. Inland, Yoro-keikoku sits in a wooded gorge in the Boso hills, with Shichirigawa and Kameyama near Kimitsu.

Characteristic spring types

Chloride springs are the most common in our records, followed by bicarbonate and sulfur springs. Chiba has many iodine-bearing springs, among them Shirako on Kujukuri and Kameyama near Kimitsu. Yoro-keikoku is known for its dark brown 'black water'.

Reachable by public transport

For the Kamogawa group, the Wakashio limited express runs from Tokyo Station to Awa-Kamogawa on the JR Sotobo Line in about two hours; Katsuura Station is about 1 hour 27 minutes on the same train. Shirahama is about 30 minutes by bus from Tateyama on the JR Uchibo Line. Inubosaki is reached by the Choshi Electric Railway from Choshi to Inubo Station. Yoro-keikoku's gateway is Yoro-keikoku Station, about an hour from Goi on the Kominato Railway, with inn pick-ups from the station (booking required). Express buses also run from Tokyo's Yaesu area to Kamogawa and Katsuura.

For solo travellers

Yoro-keikoku can be visited by train and bus as a day trip, and the station has a footbath.

Food & culture

Katsuura's tantanmen, a soy-based noodle soup heavy with chilli oil, took hold as a warming meal for the town's ama divers and fishermen after cold work at sea. Kamogawa has the marine aquarium Kamogawa Sea World, and the Nojimazaki lighthouse stands in Shirahama, home of Shirahama Onsen.