Hiroshima

Hiroshima has 56 onsen areas and 374 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024). Almost all of them are cool: 334 of the 374 are below 25°C, and only one reaches 42°C. Radon springs are common, and the best known spas are Yuki and Yunoyama in the hills behind Hiroshima city, and Miyahama, the onsen village closest to Miyajima.

Main onsen areas

Yuki and Yunoyama lie in the hills of Saeki ward in Hiroshima city, and Miyahama on the Inland Sea coast at Hatsukaichi. In the north, Akiota has Sandankyo; Fuchu has Yano, Onomichi has Yoro and Fukuyama has Tomonoura, while Kinoe sits on the island of Osakikamijima.

Characteristic spring types

Radon springs dominate our records: Miyahama, Yuki, Yunoyama, Yano and Tomonoura are all radon springs. Yuki, a weakly radioactive simple spring, claims one of the highest radon contents in Japan. Sandankyo and Yoro are cold mineral springs.

Reachable by public transport

For Yuki, take the train from JR Hiroshima to Itsukaichi (about 15 minutes), then a local bus for about 70 minutes. Yunoyama is reached by bus from the same station (about 60 minutes) to the Ohashi stop, then about 20 minutes on foot.

For solo travellers

Yunoyama has the Yunoyama Onsen-kan with its signature waterfall bath, and Kurhaus Yunoyama with a hot-spring pool and lie-down baths, both open to day visitors.

Food & culture

Yuki is said to have been found about 1,500 years ago when villagers saw a wounded white heron healing itself beside the stream, and in the early 17th century it flourished as the only spa in the Aki region. Yunoyama is said to have burst from the rocks about 1,200 years ago and was a cure spa for the Asano lords in the Edo period; its roughly 250-year-old bathhouse survives as a nationally designated Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property.