Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 2
AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride
Water acidic enough to corrode a nail runs as an open river through the middle of town.
Japan Onsen Atlas
Search by season
Snow, fresh green, autumn colour, fireworks, seasonal food. Timing differs by region, so we do not set one national calendar. Recommended months and operating months are recorded separately.
"Recommended" and "open" are recorded separately. Check the season for seasonal springs.
Recommended in Jan
Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tokachigawa Onsen
十勝川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 6
ChlorideBicarbonate
Not volcanic heat but ancient plants: the brown, silky 'moor' spring that defines the type in Japan.
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Noboribetsu Onsen
登別温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 1
SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon
Ten thousand tonnes of water a day and nine kinds of spring, all boiling out of a single valley called Hell.
OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
Yunokawa Onsen
湯の川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 7
Chloride
Five minutes from the airport, at the end of the tram line: a spring of 4,861 litres a minute in the middle of a working port city.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Karurusu Onsen
カルルス温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 8
Simple
Named after a Bohemian spa, Karurusu was Hokkaido's first National Recuperation Hot Spring Area: a quiet, clear-water place for long stays.
Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Niseko Onsenkyō
ニセコ温泉郷
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 3
SulfurIronChlorideSimple
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types lie scattered across a single mountain range at Niseko.
ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY 4.0
Asamushi Onsen
浅虫温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 11
SulfateChloride
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Aomori, you step off the platform straight into a hot-spring town with Mutsu Bay at your feet.
掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ōsawa Onsen
大沢温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 17
Simple
A mixed open-air bath hanging over the Toyosawa River, and a self-catering wing where a night costs a little over 4,000 yen. The old toji way of life is still intact here.
らんで · CC BY-SA 4.0
Goshougake Onsen
後生掛温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 15
Sulfur
Mud bath, box steam bath, bubbling volcano bath, a natural-steam sauna: seven ways to take the waters under one roof.
lumoplank · CC0
Tsurunoyu Onsen
鶴の湯温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 14
SulfurChlorideBicarbonate
Below a thatched guardhouse, a milky-white pool bubbles up from the ground beneath your feet. This is the oldest inn in the Nyuto hot-spring valley.
lumoplank · CC0
Ginzan Onsen
銀山温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 20
SulfurChloride
Along both banks of the Ginzan River stand three- and four-storey wooden inns from the 1920s and 30s. On snowy nights the gas lamps come on.
663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
Zaō Onsen
蔵王温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 19
AcidicSulfurSulfateChloride
Strongly acidic sulfur water at pH 1.25–1.6. Three communal baths for 300 yen each, a vast riverside open-air bath, and in winter the snow monsters of Zao.
Recommended in Feb
Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 2
AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride
Water acidic enough to corrode a nail runs as an open river through the middle of town.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tokachigawa Onsen
十勝川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 6
ChlorideBicarbonate
Not volcanic heat but ancient plants: the brown, silky 'moor' spring that defines the type in Japan.
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Noboribetsu Onsen
登別温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 1
SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon
Ten thousand tonnes of water a day and nine kinds of spring, all boiling out of a single valley called Hell.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Marukoma Onsen
丸駒温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 4
ChlorideBicarbonateSulfate
The bath is exactly as deep as Lake Shikotsu is high that day: an open-air tub joined to the lake.
OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
Yunokawa Onsen
湯の川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 7
Chloride
Five minutes from the airport, at the end of the tram line: a spring of 4,861 litres a minute in the middle of a working port city.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Karurusu Onsen
カルルス温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 8
Simple
Named after a Bohemian spa, Karurusu was Hokkaido's first National Recuperation Hot Spring Area: a quiet, clear-water place for long stays.
Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Niseko Onsenkyō
ニセコ温泉郷
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 3
SulfurIronChlorideSimple
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types lie scattered across a single mountain range at Niseko.
ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY 4.0
Asamushi Onsen
浅虫温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 11
SulfateChloride
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Aomori, you step off the platform straight into a hot-spring town with Mutsu Bay at your feet.
ゆ＾ω＾び · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
Sukayu Onsen
酸ヶ湯
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 9
AcidicSulfur
A 160-tatami bathhouse of hiba cypress without a single pillar, where men and women share acidic water under Japan's deepest snow.
掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ōsawa Onsen
大沢温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 17
Simple
A mixed open-air bath hanging over the Toyosawa River, and a self-catering wing where a night costs a little over 4,000 yen. The old toji way of life is still intact here.
らんで · CC BY-SA 4.0
Goshougake Onsen
後生掛温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 15
Sulfur
Mud bath, box steam bath, bubbling volcano bath, a natural-steam sauna: seven ways to take the waters under one roof.
lumoplank · CC0
Tsurunoyu Onsen
鶴の湯温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 14
SulfurChlorideBicarbonate
Below a thatched guardhouse, a milky-white pool bubbles up from the ground beneath your feet. This is the oldest inn in the Nyuto hot-spring valley.
Recommended in Mar
ゆ＾ω＾び · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
Sukayu Onsen
酸ヶ湯
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 9
AcidicSulfur
A 160-tatami bathhouse of hiba cypress without a single pillar, where men and women share acidic water under Japan's deepest snow.
SpringField1967 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Manza Onsen
万座温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 29
SulfurAcidic
At 1,800 metres, 5.4 million litres of sulfur water a day. Thin air, deep snow, and a milky bath in the middle of it.
Quercus acuta · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hakone Onsen
箱根温泉
Kanagawa · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 33
Simple
About 85 minutes by train from Shinjuku, and you step off into the gateway of a mountain with seventeen hot-spring villages.
NY066 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yugawara Onsen
湯河原温泉
Kanagawa · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 34
SimpleChlorideSulfate
A spring sung about in the eighth-century Manyoshu still rises in the Fujiki valley, sixty minutes by train from Yokohama.
Syced · CC0
Echigo Yuzawa Onsen
越後湯沢温泉
Niigata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 39
SimpleSulfurChloride
A bullet-train station where, without leaving the building, you can taste sake from every brewery in Niigata and then bathe in hot-spring water laced with it.
Kelly Drewett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jigokudani Onsen
地獄谷温泉
Nagano · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 49
SulfateChlorideSulfur
In 1961 a young monkey followed a dropped apple into the inn's open-air bath, the first monkey anywhere known to bathe in a hot spring. There is still only one inn.
小石川人晃 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nozawa Onsen
野沢温泉
Nagano · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 47
Sulfur
All 13 public baths are kept by village 'yu-nakama' bath guilds; you drop a donation in the box and go in. At the Ogama source, villagers still boil vegetables in 90 °C water.
VinayaMoto · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kitsu Onsen
木津温泉
Kyoto · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 72
Simple
Kyoto Prefecture's oldest spring, by tradition, lies on the Sea of Japan side of the Tango peninsula, a long rail ride from Kyoto city, and it even bubbles up on the station platform.
Mti · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yunohana Onsen
湯の花温泉
Kyoto · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 70
Radon
About an hour from Kyoto Station by train and bus: a quiet valley spa called 'Kyoto's inner parlour', with radon-bearing water where wounded samurai are said to have healed.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Nanki-Shirahama Onsen
南紀白浜温泉
Wakayama · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 65
ChlorideSulfur
Saki-no-yu has been in use since the Manyoshu era, and its tubs sit at the edge of the Pacific. No soap allowed: the water runs straight into the sea.
Nekosuki · CC BY-SA 4.0
Yunomine Onsen
湯の峰温泉
Wakayama · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 66
SulfurBicarbonate
You can bathe in a World Heritage site, thirty minutes at a time. The Tsuboyu, a pool hollowed from rock, is where Kumano pilgrims purified themselves.
㭍月例祭 · Public domain
Iwai Onsen
岩井温泉
Tottori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 75
Sulfate
A towel on your head, a ladle in hand, a song on your lips as you pour water over yourself: Inaba's oldest spring keeps a strange ritual for staying in the bath longer.
Recommended in Apr
ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY 4.0
Asamushi Onsen
浅虫温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 11
SulfateChloride
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Aomori, you step off the platform straight into a hot-spring town with Mutsu Bay at your feet.
Zhaitengli · CC BY 4.0
Naruko Onsen
鳴子温泉
Miyagi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 18
SulfurSulfateBicarbonateChlorideSimpleIronAcidic
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types in one valley. The communal Takinoyu by the station costs 300 yen, and the town lends you wooden geta to clatter from bath to bath.
Higa4 · CC0
Iizaka Onsen
飯坂温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 23
Simple
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Fukushima Station, a town with nine public bathhouses where you sit in very hot water next to the people who live there.
ShuichiNakayama · CC BY 4.0
Ikaho Onsen
伊香保温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 28
SulfateBicarbonateChloride
The spring runs beneath 365 stone steps and is tapped off to the inns tier by tier. A town built around the iron-browned 'golden water'.
pentaboxes · CC BY-SA 2.0
Shima Onsen
四万温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 26
ChlorideSulfate
A wooden bath-inn built in 1691 still takes guests, and you can drink the water at fountains by the river. A clear spring named for 'curing forty thousand ills'.
白蛇の騎士 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yōrō-keikoku Onsen
養老渓谷温泉
Chiba · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 36
ChlorideBicarbonate
Dark-brown water in a Boso gorge where there are no volcanoes: the spring comes up cold, around 20°C, and is heated for the bath.
Quercus acuta · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hakone Onsen
箱根温泉
Kanagawa · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 33
Simple
About 85 minutes by train from Shinjuku, and you step off into the gateway of a mountain with seventeen hot-spring villages.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tsukioka Onsen
月岡温泉
Niigata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 38
SulfurChloride
A green so vivid people think it is bath salts: the sulfur in the water shows itself as colour in the tub.
663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
Yamanaka Onsen
山中温泉
Ishikawa · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 41
SimpleSulfate
In the gorge town where Basho praised a scent of hot water that needed no chrysanthemums, the Kiku-no-yu public bath still sits at the town's navel.
Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
Awara Onsen
芦原温泉
Fukui · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 43
Chloride
A spa town in the rice fields where 74 separate sources are owned inn by inn. At the free Ashiyu foot bath by the station you can compare two different waters with your feet.
ほっきー · CC0
Bessho Onsen
別所温泉
Nagano · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 51
Sulfur
Step off a one-line country railway and three 300-yen public baths and Japan's only surviving octagonal pagoda are all within walking distance.
Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gero Onsen
下呂温泉
Gifu · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 53
Simple
Alkaline water above pH 9 is piped at 55 °C to inns across town, and nine free foot baths within walking distance of the station let you feel the 'slippery' water without even undressing.
Recommended in May
OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
Yunokawa Onsen
湯の川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 7
Chloride
Five minutes from the airport, at the end of the tram line: a spring of 4,861 litres a minute in the middle of a working port city.
おにく · CC0
Furofushi Onsen
黄金崎不老不死温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 12
ChlorideIron
A rust-brown pool cut into the rocks at the very edge of the Sea of Japan, with nothing between you and the sunset.
張振 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tsuta Onsen
蔦温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 10
SulfateBicarbonateChloride
The spring bubbles up between the floorboards of the bath itself: a thousand-year-old hot spring at a lone inn in a beech forest.
掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ōsawa Onsen
大沢温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 17
Simple
A mixed open-air bath hanging over the Toyosawa River, and a self-catering wing where a night costs a little over 4,000 yen. The old toji way of life is still intact here.
Zhaitengli · CC BY 4.0
Naruko Onsen
鳴子温泉
Miyagi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 18
SulfurSulfateBicarbonateChlorideSimpleIronAcidic
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types in one valley. The communal Takinoyu by the station costs 300 yen, and the town lends you wooden geta to clatter from bath to bath.
あおもりくま · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tamagawa Hot Spring
玉川温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 13
AcidicChloride
At pH 1.2 and roughly 9,000 litres a minute from a single vent, Japan's most acidic hot spring pours out of a steaming valley.
lumoplank · CC0
Tsurunoyu Onsen
鶴の湯温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 14
SulfurChlorideBicarbonate
Below a thatched guardhouse, a milky-white pool bubbles up from the ground beneath your feet. This is the oldest inn in the Nyuto hot-spring valley.
lumoplank · CC0
Ginzan Onsen
銀山温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 20
SulfurChloride
Along both banks of the Ginzan River stand three- and four-storey wooden inns from the 1920s and 30s. On snowy nights the gas lamps come on.
Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hijiori Onsen
肘折温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 21
ChlorideBicarbonate
At five in the morning a market opens under the eaves of a snow-country spa village that has been in business since 807.
Higa4 · CC0
Iizaka Onsen
飯坂温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 23
Simple
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Fukushima Station, a town with nine public bathhouses where you sit in very hot water next to the people who live there.
Purplepumpkins · CC BY-SA 3.0
Takayu Onsen
高湯温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 22
Sulfur
Nine sources, 2,589 litres a minute, and not a drop of tap water or a single boiler: the milky water is cooled only by gravity on its way down the hill.
東北線 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Futamata Onsen
二岐温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 24
Sulfate
The water rises straight out of the rock beneath your feet, in a riverside valley whose spring was reputedly found in 969.
Recommended in Jun
Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 2
AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride
Water acidic enough to corrode a nail runs as an open river through the middle of town.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tokachigawa Onsen
十勝川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 6
ChlorideBicarbonate
Not volcanic heat but ancient plants: the brown, silky 'moor' spring that defines the type in Japan.
切干大根 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Toyotomi Onsen
豊富温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 5
IodineChlorideBicarbonate
They drilled for oil and struck hot water: an amber, petrol-scented spring that draws long-stay bathers from all over Japan.
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Noboribetsu Onsen
登別温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 1
SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon
Ten thousand tonnes of water a day and nine kinds of spring, all boiling out of a single valley called Hell.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Marukoma Onsen
丸駒温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 4
ChlorideBicarbonateSulfate
The bath is exactly as deep as Lake Shikotsu is high that day: an open-air tub joined to the lake.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Karurusu Onsen
カルルス温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 8
Simple
Named after a Bohemian spa, Karurusu was Hokkaido's first National Recuperation Hot Spring Area: a quiet, clear-water place for long stays.
おにく · CC0
Furofushi Onsen
黄金崎不老不死温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 12
ChlorideIron
A rust-brown pool cut into the rocks at the very edge of the Sea of Japan, with nothing between you and the sunset.
張振 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tsuta Onsen
蔦温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 10
SulfateBicarbonateChloride
The spring bubbles up between the floorboards of the bath itself: a thousand-year-old hot spring at a lone inn in a beech forest.
Yas Nakano · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sukawa Onsen
須川温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 16
IronSulfurSulfateChlorideAcidic
At 1,126 metres on the flank of Mt Kurikoma, 6,000 litres a minute of strongly acidic water pour into Dainichi-yu, an open-air bath big enough for fifty.
らんで · CC BY-SA 4.0
Goshougake Onsen
後生掛温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 15
Sulfur
Mud bath, box steam bath, bubbling volcano bath, a natural-steam sauna: seven ways to take the waters under one roof.
あおもりくま · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tamagawa Hot Spring
玉川温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 13
AcidicChloride
At pH 1.2 and roughly 9,000 litres a minute from a single vent, Japan's most acidic hot spring pours out of a steaming valley.
lumoplank · CC0
Tsurunoyu Onsen
鶴の湯温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 14
SulfurChlorideBicarbonate
Below a thatched guardhouse, a milky-white pool bubbles up from the ground beneath your feet. This is the oldest inn in the Nyuto hot-spring valley.
Recommended in Jul
Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 2
AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride
Water acidic enough to corrode a nail runs as an open river through the middle of town.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tokachigawa Onsen
十勝川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 6
ChlorideBicarbonate
Not volcanic heat but ancient plants: the brown, silky 'moor' spring that defines the type in Japan.
切干大根 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Toyotomi Onsen
豊富温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 5
IodineChlorideBicarbonate
They drilled for oil and struck hot water: an amber, petrol-scented spring that draws long-stay bathers from all over Japan.
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Noboribetsu Onsen
登別温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 1
SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon
Ten thousand tonnes of water a day and nine kinds of spring, all boiling out of a single valley called Hell.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Marukoma Onsen
丸駒温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 4
ChlorideBicarbonateSulfate
The bath is exactly as deep as Lake Shikotsu is high that day: an open-air tub joined to the lake.
OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
Yunokawa Onsen
湯の川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 7
Chloride
Five minutes from the airport, at the end of the tram line: a spring of 4,861 litres a minute in the middle of a working port city.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Karurusu Onsen
カルルス温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 8
Simple
Named after a Bohemian spa, Karurusu was Hokkaido's first National Recuperation Hot Spring Area: a quiet, clear-water place for long stays.
Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Niseko Onsenkyō
ニセコ温泉郷
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 3
SulfurIronChlorideSimple
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types lie scattered across a single mountain range at Niseko.
ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY 4.0
Asamushi Onsen
浅虫温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 11
SulfateChloride
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Aomori, you step off the platform straight into a hot-spring town with Mutsu Bay at your feet.
おにく · CC0
Furofushi Onsen
黄金崎不老不死温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 12
ChlorideIron
A rust-brown pool cut into the rocks at the very edge of the Sea of Japan, with nothing between you and the sunset.
ゆ＾ω＾び · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
Sukayu Onsen
酸ヶ湯
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 9
AcidicSulfur
A 160-tatami bathhouse of hiba cypress without a single pillar, where men and women share acidic water under Japan's deepest snow.
張振 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tsuta Onsen
蔦温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 10
SulfateBicarbonateChloride
The spring bubbles up between the floorboards of the bath itself: a thousand-year-old hot spring at a lone inn in a beech forest.
Recommended in Aug
切干大根 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Toyotomi Onsen
豊富温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 5
IodineChlorideBicarbonate
They drilled for oil and struck hot water: an amber, petrol-scented spring that draws long-stay bathers from all over Japan.
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Noboribetsu Onsen
登別温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 1
SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon
Ten thousand tonnes of water a day and nine kinds of spring, all boiling out of a single valley called Hell.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Marukoma Onsen
丸駒温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 4
ChlorideBicarbonateSulfate
The bath is exactly as deep as Lake Shikotsu is high that day: an open-air tub joined to the lake.
OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
Yunokawa Onsen
湯の川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 7
Chloride
Five minutes from the airport, at the end of the tram line: a spring of 4,861 litres a minute in the middle of a working port city.
Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Niseko Onsenkyō
ニセコ温泉郷
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 3
SulfurIronChlorideSimple
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types lie scattered across a single mountain range at Niseko.
ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY 4.0
Asamushi Onsen
浅虫温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 11
SulfateChloride
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Aomori, you step off the platform straight into a hot-spring town with Mutsu Bay at your feet.
ゆ＾ω＾び · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
Sukayu Onsen
酸ヶ湯
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 9
AcidicSulfur
A 160-tatami bathhouse of hiba cypress without a single pillar, where men and women share acidic water under Japan's deepest snow.
Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hijiori Onsen
肘折温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 21
ChlorideBicarbonate
At five in the morning a market opens under the eaves of a snow-country spa village that has been in business since 807.
Σ64 · CC BY 3.0
Nikkō Yumoto Onsen
日光湯元温泉
Tochigi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 32
Sulfur
At 1,500 metres beside a lake, spring huts stand in a marsh where clear water turns milky white the moment it meets the air.
SpringField1967 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Manza Onsen
万座温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 29
SulfurAcidic
At 1,800 metres, 5.4 million litres of sulfur water a day. Thin air, deep snow, and a milky bath in the middle of it.
浅野ます道 · CC BY 3.0
Shimobe Spa
下部温泉
Yamanashi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 45
SimpleSulfur
Water at 30 °C rises from the rock beneath your feet in 'Shingen's hidden spring'. An hour in the cool bath, then a warm-up in the new hot source: a toji village with two kinds of water.
Masutomi Onsen
Masutomi Onsen
増富温泉
Yamanashi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 44
Radon
Thirty quiet minutes in water around 30 °C. A therapeutic village where one of Japan's most radon-rich springs is bathed in unheated, exactly as it comes.
Recommended in Sep
Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 2
AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride
Water acidic enough to corrode a nail runs as an open river through the middle of town.
切干大根 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Toyotomi Onsen
豊富温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 5
IodineChlorideBicarbonate
They drilled for oil and struck hot water: an amber, petrol-scented spring that draws long-stay bathers from all over Japan.
Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Niseko Onsenkyō
ニセコ温泉郷
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 3
SulfurIronChlorideSimple
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types lie scattered across a single mountain range at Niseko.
おにく · CC0
Furofushi Onsen
黄金崎不老不死温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 12
ChlorideIron
A rust-brown pool cut into the rocks at the very edge of the Sea of Japan, with nothing between you and the sunset.
Yas Nakano · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sukawa Onsen
須川温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 16
IronSulfurSulfateChlorideAcidic
At 1,126 metres on the flank of Mt Kurikoma, 6,000 litres a minute of strongly acidic water pour into Dainichi-yu, an open-air bath big enough for fifty.
Zhaitengli · CC BY 4.0
Naruko Onsen
鳴子温泉
Miyagi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 18
SulfurSulfateBicarbonateChlorideSimpleIronAcidic
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types in one valley. The communal Takinoyu by the station costs 300 yen, and the town lends you wooden geta to clatter from bath to bath.
らんで · CC BY-SA 4.0
Goshougake Onsen
後生掛温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 15
Sulfur
Mud bath, box steam bath, bubbling volcano bath, a natural-steam sauna: seven ways to take the waters under one roof.
あおもりくま · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tamagawa Hot Spring
玉川温泉
Akita · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 13
AcidicChloride
At pH 1.2 and roughly 9,000 litres a minute from a single vent, Japan's most acidic hot spring pours out of a steaming valley.
Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hijiori Onsen
肘折温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 21
ChlorideBicarbonate
At five in the morning a market opens under the eaves of a snow-country spa village that has been in business since 807.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tsukioka Onsen
月岡温泉
Niigata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 38
SulfurChloride
A green so vivid people think it is bath salts: the sulfur in the water shows itself as colour in the tub.
Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wakura Onsen
和倉温泉
Ishikawa · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 42
Chloride
An 82.7 °C salt spring on the shore of Nanao Bay. The New Year's Day earthquake of 2024 shut all 21 inns; now the lights are coming back one by one.
浅野ます道 · CC BY 3.0
Shimobe Spa
下部温泉
Yamanashi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 45
SimpleSulfur
Water at 30 °C rises from the rock beneath your feet in 'Shingen's hidden spring'. An hour in the cool bath, then a warm-up in the new hot source: a toji village with two kinds of water.
Recommended in Oct
Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Kawayu Onsen
川湯温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 2
AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride
Water acidic enough to corrode a nail runs as an open river through the middle of town.
663highland · CC BY 2.5
Tokachigawa Onsen
十勝川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 6
ChlorideBicarbonate
Not volcanic heat but ancient plants: the brown, silky 'moor' spring that defines the type in Japan.
Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Noboribetsu Onsen
登別温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 1
SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon
Ten thousand tonnes of water a day and nine kinds of spring, all boiling out of a single valley called Hell.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Marukoma Onsen
丸駒温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 4
ChlorideBicarbonateSulfate
The bath is exactly as deep as Lake Shikotsu is high that day: an open-air tub joined to the lake.
OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
Yunokawa Onsen
湯の川温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 7
Chloride
Five minutes from the airport, at the end of the tram line: a spring of 4,861 litres a minute in the middle of a working port city.
Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
Karurusu Onsen
カルルス温泉
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 8
Simple
Named after a Bohemian spa, Karurusu was Hokkaido's first National Recuperation Hot Spring Area: a quiet, clear-water place for long stays.
Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Niseko Onsenkyō
ニセコ温泉郷
Hokkaido · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 3
SulfurIronChlorideSimple
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types lie scattered across a single mountain range at Niseko.
おにく · CC0
Furofushi Onsen
黄金崎不老不死温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 12
ChlorideIron
A rust-brown pool cut into the rocks at the very edge of the Sea of Japan, with nothing between you and the sunset.
ゆ＾ω＾び · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
Sukayu Onsen
酸ヶ湯
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 9
AcidicSulfur
A 160-tatami bathhouse of hiba cypress without a single pillar, where men and women share acidic water under Japan's deepest snow.
張振 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Tsuta Onsen
蔦温泉
Aomori · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 10
SulfateBicarbonateChloride
The spring bubbles up between the floorboards of the bath itself: a thousand-year-old hot spring at a lone inn in a beech forest.
掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ōsawa Onsen
大沢温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 17
Simple
A mixed open-air bath hanging over the Toyosawa River, and a self-catering wing where a night costs a little over 4,000 yen. The old toji way of life is still intact here.
Yas Nakano · CC BY-SA 3.0
Sukawa Onsen
須川温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 16
IronSulfurSulfateChlorideAcidic
At 1,126 metres on the flank of Mt Kurikoma, 6,000 litres a minute of strongly acidic water pour into Dainichi-yu, an open-air bath big enough for fifty.
Recommended in Nov
掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ōsawa Onsen
大沢温泉
Iwate · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 17
Simple
A mixed open-air bath hanging over the Toyosawa River, and a self-catering wing where a night costs a little over 4,000 yen. The old toji way of life is still intact here.
Zhaitengli · CC BY 4.0
Naruko Onsen
鳴子温泉
Miyagi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 18
SulfurSulfateBicarbonateChlorideSimpleIronAcidic
Seven of Japan's ten official spring types in one valley. The communal Takinoyu by the station costs 300 yen, and the town lends you wooden geta to clatter from bath to bath.
lumoplank · CC0
Ginzan Onsen
銀山温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 20
SulfurChloride
Along both banks of the Ginzan River stand three- and four-storey wooden inns from the 1920s and 30s. On snowy nights the gas lamps come on.
Higa4 · CC0
Iizaka Onsen
飯坂温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 23
Simple
Twenty-five minutes by local train from Fukushima Station, a town with nine public bathhouses where you sit in very hot water next to the people who live there.
Purplepumpkins · CC BY-SA 3.0
Takayu Onsen
高湯温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 22
Sulfur
Nine sources, 2,589 litres a minute, and not a drop of tap water or a single boiler: the milky water is cooled only by gravity on its way down the hill.
東北線 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Futamata Onsen
二岐温泉
Fukushima · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 24
Sulfate
The water rises straight out of the rock beneath your feet, in a riverside valley whose spring was reputedly found in 969.
Kanohara (talk) · Public domain
Shiobara Onsen
塩原温泉郷
Tochigi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 31
SulfurAcidicSulfateChlorideBicarbonateSimple
Eleven hot-spring villages line a single river, and the water changes colour and chemistry with every bend as you climb the valley.
Miyuki Meinaka · CC BY-SA 4.0
Nasu Onsenkyō
那須温泉郷
Tochigi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 30
SulfurAcidic
Six tubs from 41 to 48 °C, and before you get in you pour 200 ladles of hot water over your head. The rules of Shika-no-yu in Nasu-Yumoto, a bath in use since 630.
ShuichiNakayama · CC BY 4.0
Ikaho Onsen
伊香保温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 28
SulfateBicarbonateChloride
The spring runs beneath 365 stone steps and is tapped off to the inns tier by tier. A town built around the iron-browned 'golden water'.
pentaboxes · CC BY-SA 2.0
Shima Onsen
四万温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 26
ChlorideSulfate
A wooden bath-inn built in 1691 still takes guests, and you can drink the water at fountains by the river. A clear spring named for 'curing forty thousand ills'.
C.K. Tse · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hōshi Onsen
法師温泉
Gunma · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 27
Sulfate
In a bathhouse of 1895 with arched windows, the water rises between pebbles on the floor. One inn, one bath, and the old etiquette of mixed bathing still in use.
白蛇の騎士 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yōrō-keikoku Onsen
養老渓谷温泉
Chiba · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 36
ChlorideBicarbonate
Dark-brown water in a Boso gorge where there are no volcanoes: the spring comes up cold, around 20°C, and is heated for the bath.
Recommended in Dec
lumoplank · CC0
Ginzan Onsen
銀山温泉
Yamagata · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 20
SulfurChloride
Along both banks of the Ginzan River stand three- and four-storey wooden inns from the 1920s and 30s. On snowy nights the gas lamps come on.
白蛇の騎士 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yōrō-keikoku Onsen
養老渓谷温泉
Chiba · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 36
ChlorideBicarbonate
Dark-brown water in a Boso gorge where there are no volcanoes: the spring comes up cold, around 20°C, and is heated for the bath.
Kamata Onsen
Kamata Onsen
蒲田温泉
Tokyo · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 35
BicarbonateChloride
Water so black your hand disappears in it, in a neighbourhood bathhouse in Tokyo, for 600 yen.
NY066 · CC BY-SA 3.0
Yugawara Onsen
湯河原温泉
Kanagawa · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 34
SimpleChlorideSulfate
A spring sung about in the eighth-century Manyoshu still rises in the Fujiki valley, sixty minutes by train from Yokohama.
Σ64 · CC BY 3.0
Hottarakashi Onsen
ほったらかし温泉
Yamanashi · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 46
Simple
It opens an hour before sunrise. From the open-air bath you watch the lights of the Kofu basin go out and Mt Fuji turn white.
Kelly Drewett · CC BY-SA 4.0
Jigokudani Onsen
地獄谷温泉
Nagano · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 49
SulfateChlorideSulfur
In 1961 a young monkey followed a dropped apple into the inn's open-air bath, the first monkey anywhere known to bathe in a hot spring. There is still only one inn.
Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gero Onsen
下呂温泉
Gifu · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 53
Simple
Alkaline water above pH 9 is piped at 55 °C to inns across town, and nine free foot baths within walking distance of the station let you feel the 'slippery' water without even undressing.
663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
Atami Onsen
熱海温泉
Shizuoka · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 56
ChlorideSulfate
More than 500 sources give about 20,000 litres a minute at an average of 63 °C; from the foot bath outside the station to the geyser up the hill, the whole town is built on hot water.
Richie Johns · CC BY 2.0
Shuzenji Onsen
修善寺温泉
Shizuoka · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 57
Simple
Look at a spring rising in the middle of the river, bathe in a public bath named for the one where a shogun was murdered, and walk through bamboo to the temple. Izu's oldest hot spring is a history book you read on foot.
あばさー · Public domain
Ogoto Onsen
雄琴温泉
Shiga · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 73
Simple
A few stops from Kyoto on the Kosei line, pH 9.0 alkaline water overlooking Lake Biwa, in a spa whose inns spent twenty years rewriting its red-light reputation.
経済特区 · CC0
Arashiyama Onsen
嵐山温泉
Kyoto · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 71
Simple
A few minutes' walk from the Togetsukyo bridge, faintly milky water drawn from 1,200 m underground waits at the end of a Kyoto sightseeing day.
VinayaMoto · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kitsu Onsen
木津温泉
Kyoto · 100 Onsen to Know Japan — No. 72
Simple
Kyoto Prefecture's oldest spring, by tradition, lies on the Sea of Japan side of the Tango peninsula, a long rail ride from Kyoto city, and it even bubbles up on the station platform.