Oita

Oita has 63 onsen areas and 5,094 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024). It ranks first in Japan for both the number of springs and total flow (more than 293,000 litres a minute), with 3,878 springs at 42°C or hotter, and its 5.49 million overnight stays a year place it fifth. Steam rises all over Kannawa and Myoban in Beppu, Yufuin sits at the foot of Mt Yufu, and Nagayu bubbles with carbon dioxide: Oita is rich in both the volume and the variety of its water.

Main onsen areas

Beppu city holds the Beppu springs, with the steaming landscapes of Kannawa and Myoban. Yufu city has Yufuin and Yunohira, Taketa has Nagayu and the springs of the Kuju highlands, Kokonoe gathers mountain spas such as Sujiyu, Hosenji and Hossho, and Hita has Amagase.

Characteristic spring types

Simple and bicarbonate springs lead in our records, followed by sulfur, chloride and sulfate springs. Yufuin has 852 sources flowing at 38,600 litres a minute, mostly simple springs. Nagayu is a carbonated spring rich in free carbon dioxide, where a 32°C bath soon covers you in bubbles. Myoban is a sulfur spring, and Kannawa's typical water is sodium chloride.

Reachable by public transport

Yufuin is about 2 h 10 min from Hakata Station on the JR limited express Yufuin no Mori; Lake Kinrin is about 25 minutes' walk from Yufuin Station. Kannawa is 16 to 26 minutes by Kamenoi bus from JR Beppu, and Myoban about 25 minutes by Kamenoi bus from the same station. Nagayu is 40 to 50 minutes by Ono-Taketa bus from Bungo-Taketa on the JR Hohi Line.

For solo travellers

Kannawa still has kashima inns for self-catering long stays, and its public baths and steam cooking are easy to enjoy alone. Nagayu has 22 day-bath facilities, and Yufuin is walkable from the station, good for a day trip or a solo stroll.

Food & culture

Kannawa is the town of mushi-yu steam baths said to have been founded by the monk Ippen in 1276, where cooking in 98°C steam (jigoku-mushi) is part of daily life. The steam landscapes of Kannawa and Myoban were named an Important Cultural Landscape in 2012. At Myoban you can see yunohana bath-salt crystals made in thatched huts by a method dating from 1725, now an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Nagayu is twinned with the German spa of Bad Krozingen and has built its identity around drinking the water and soaking long. Yufuin turned down a post-war dam plan and chose to become a quiet resort that draws visitors with small museums, food and festivals.