Fukui

Fukui has 38 onsen areas and 158 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024), with about 1.21 million overnight stays a year. Its best-known resort is Awara, a cluster of inns among the rice fields of the north. Since the Hokuriku Shinkansen was extended to Tsuruga in March 2024, trains stop at Awara-Onsen Station, putting it within easy reach of the Kanto region too. There are also seaside springs at Mikuni near the Tojinbo cliffs, along the Echizen coast, and in the mountains of Okuetsu.

Main onsen areas

Most onsen areas are in the northern Reihoku region: Awara, Tojinbo-Mikuni in Sakai, and Echizen-Kuriya and Echizen-Tamagawa on the Echizen coast. In Okuetsu, Ono has Kuzuryu and Hatogayu, and Katsuyama has Rokuroshi. In the southern Reinan region are Kogashima by the Mikata Five Lakes and Tsuruga Tunnel.

Characteristic spring types

Chloride and simple springs are the most common in our records, followed by bicarbonate. At Awara each inn has its own source, mostly chloride water but with several variations. Kogashima on the Mikata Five Lakes is a radon spring.

Reachable by public transport

Awara-Yunomachi Station on the Echizen Railway opens straight onto the Awara spa town, and from Awara-Onsen Station on the Hokuriku Shinkansen it is about 10 minutes by bus or taxi. At Tojinbo-Mikuni, the Mikuni Onsen Yuapoto day bath is about 5 minutes' walk from Mikuni-Minato Station on the Echizen Railway, or about 35 minutes by Keifuku bus from Awara-Onsen Station.

For solo travellers

Awara clusters a free footbath, a public bathhouse and food stalls by the station, well suited to a solo day trip or a stopover.

Food & culture

Winter Echizen crab, Echizen grated-radish soba, and Wakasa mackerel cured as heshiko or narezushi are Fukui's flavours. Awara is said to have begun in the Meiji era when hot water rose from a well in a rice field, and it flourished as a retreat for the Kansai region. Trips can easily include the dinosaur museum at Katsuyama or the workshops of Echizen washi paper and lacquerware.