Grey crater floor of Jigokudani with rising steam

100

100 Onsen to Know Japan

One hundred hot springs chosen by the editors to show the breadth of Japan's onsen culture. Our selection criteria are published. The 100 are not the limit of the database.

Photo information

Selection criteria

The 100 are an editorial selection, not the limit of the database. Chosen by the editors in October 2026; see each entry's check date for visiting information.

Advertising and partnerships: the 100 and the search order are decided by the editors independently of any advertising, sponsorship or booking links.

  1. Cover the whole country, from Hokkaido to Okinawa (at least 35 of the 47 prefectures)
  2. Together, the 100 let you experience all ten therapeutic spring types, including rare ones (radioactive, carbon-dioxide, iodine, iron)
  3. Show the differences in water colour (milky, blue, green, brown, black, clear) and feel (silky, light, fizzy)
  4. Include places where you can actually experience onsen-town, public-bathhouse (soto-yu) and toji (therapeutic stay) culture
  5. Vary the scenery: snow, sea, mountain, river, gorge, lake, highland
  6. Mix famous resorts with small, distinctive springs — chosen for what they teach about Japanese onsen, not for fame
  7. Every entry can be visited by the public (no closed or private springs; seasonal ones state the season)
  8. Offer solo-traveller and public-transport options in every region
  9. No copying of existing 'top 100' lists; where a famous spring appears, the reason is our own

Region

Hokkaido

Grey crater floor of Jigokudani with rising steam Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
01

Noboribetsu Onsen

登別温泉

Hokkaido

SulfurChlorideSulfateIronAcidicBicarbonateRadon

Nine spring types rise from Jigokudani into one small resort town, making Noboribetsu a living catalogue of Japanese hot-spring water. Sulfur, acidic and iron baths can all be compared in a single night.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A steaming river and footbath in snow Chatama (talk) · CC BY-SA 3.0
02

Kawayu Onsen

川湯温泉

Hokkaido

AcidicSulfurIronSulfateChloride

Strongly acidic sulfur water flows untreated through the town's river and footbaths. Kawayu has its own JR station, so in winter you can arrive by train and sit in the station footbath watching the snow.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Small spa buildings in a mountain saddle Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
03

Niseko Onsenkyō

ニセコ温泉郷

Hokkaido

SulfurIronChlorideSimple

Springs of different chemistry, from the milky sulfur baths of Goshiki and Yumoto to the clear waters of Konbu and the station bath, are dotted around the Niseko range and can be toured in a day. A designated National Recuperation Hot Spring Area.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A mountain rising beyond the lake Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
04

Marukoma Onsen

丸駒温泉

Hokkaido

ChlorideBicarbonateSulfate

An open-air bath fed from below by a spring rising at the edge of Lake Shikotsu, its depth rising and falling with the lake. A rare structure in which bath and lake are one body of water.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Exterior of a single-storey bathhouse 切干大根 · CC BY-SA 4.0
05

Toyotomi Onsen

豊富温泉

Hokkaido

IodineChlorideBicarbonate

An amber, oil-bearing spring to which people with skin conditions travel from across Japan for long-stay bathing. The smell of oil and the culture of toji are both alive in this northernmost spa.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Hotels along the Tokachi River 663highland · CC BY 2.5
06

Tokachigawa Onsen

十勝川温泉

Hokkaido

ChlorideBicarbonate

Japan's best-known 'moor' spring, rich in organic matter from ancient plants. Its dark, silky water shows that a hot spring can come from peat and plains rather than from a volcano.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
People sitting at a roofed footbath OraMAAG · CC BY 4.0
07

Yunokawa Onsen

湯の川温泉

Hokkaido

Chloride

A port-city hot spring you reach by Hakodate's streetcar. Close to the airport, it pairs with the harbour, the night view and the morning market as an easy first stop for solo travellers.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Entrance to a small spa village in the hills Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
08

Karurusu Onsen

カルルス温泉

Hokkaido

Simple

A quiet toji (long-stay bathing) village designated Hokkaido's first National Recuperation Hot Spring Area in 1957. Named after Karlovy Vary in Bohemia, it is a meeting point between Japanese and European spa traditions.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed

Region

Tohoku

A large wooden inn in the mountains ゆ^ω^び · CC BY-SA 2.1 jp
09

Sukayu Onsen

酸ヶ湯温泉

Aomori

AcidicSulfur

The all-cypress 'Thousand-Person Bath' is a mixed bath you can enter in a rented bathing garment. Acidic milky water, self-catering toji rooms and Japan's deepest snow all in one place.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A timber bath hall with a high ceiling 張振 · CC BY-SA 3.0
10

Tsuta Onsen

蔦温泉

Aomori

SulfateBicarbonateChloride

The spring rises untouched through gaps in the bath's floorboards — a true foot-sourced bath. A single inn surrounded by beech forest, where you can feel the water welling up around you.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Aerial photo of hot-spring hotels lining a bay, with a small wooded island offshore ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY 4.0
11

Asamushi Onsen

浅虫温泉

Aomori

SulfateChloride

A little over 20 minutes by train from Aomori, the onsen town begins at the station and the sea is right there. For a solo traveller riding the rails, it is the easiest gateway to a seaside hot spring in Tohoku.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
An open-air hot-spring pool set among rocks on the shore at dusk おにく · CC0
12

Furofushi Onsen

不老ふ死温泉

Aomori

ChlorideIron

An open-air bath at the edge of the Sea of Japan, its water turned rust-brown as dissolved iron meets the air. You can watch that chemistry and the sun sinking into the sea at the same time.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
A steaming barren valley with inn buildings and lingering snow あおもりくま · CC BY-SA 3.0
13

Tamagawa Hot Spring

玉川温泉

Akita

AcidicChloride

With a pH of 1.2 and about 9,000 litres a minute from one vent, this is Japan's strongest acidic spring. Lying on the warm hokutolite bedrock and cooking for yourself in the self-catering wing is the Japanese tradition of toji, using a hot spring as a cure, in its purest surviving form.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
A wooden gate with a long thatched-roof building beyond lumoplank · CC0
14

Tsurunoyu Onsen

鶴の湯温泉

Akita

SulfurChlorideBicarbonate

The oldest inn in the Nyuto valley. Its thatched Honjin and milky mixed open-air bath preserve what an Edo-period cure spa actually looked like.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Entrance of a wooden mountain hot-spring inn らんで · CC BY-SA 4.0
15

Goshougake Onsen

後生掛温泉

Akita

Sulfur

Seven kinds of bathing, from mud to box steam to the bubbling volcano bath, in a single cure spa. This is the toji culture of Hachimantai, where people once said you arrived on horseback and walked home in clogs.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
A large milky-white outdoor pool ringed by rocks Yas Nakano · CC BY-SA 3.0
16

Sukawa Onsen

須川高原温泉

Iwate

IronSulfurSulfateChlorideAcidic

Halfway up Mt Kurikoma at 1,126 m, a strongly acidic spring yields 6,000 litres a minute and feeds the huge Dainichi-yu outdoor bath. Open only from late spring to autumn, it is the archetype of a high-mountain onsen.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Exterior of an old wooden long-stay inn 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
17

Ōsawa Onsen

大沢温泉

Iwate

Simple

The mixed outdoor bath Osawa-no-yu facing the Toyosawa River, and a self-catering toji wing with a pricing system built for one person to stay a long time. Here you can live the toji life rather than read about it.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Entrance of a wooden communal bathhouse Zhaitengli · CC BY 4.0
18

Naruko Onsen

鳴子温泉

Miyagi

SulfurSulfateBicarbonateChlorideSimpleIronAcidic

Famous for the sheer variety of its waters: most of Japan's official spring types rise within one valley (the association counts seven in Naruko Onsenkyo). With kokeshi dolls lining the streets and the communal Takinoyu bath, it is also a town made for walking.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A street in a mountain onsen town 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
19

Zaō Onsen

蔵王温泉

Yamagata

AcidicSulfurSulfateChloride

Three communal baths of strongly acidic sulfur water, a great open-air bath and the juhyo ice monsters. Here you can feel the sharp, skin-tightening grip of acid water and the winter mountain in the same day.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Three- and four-storey wooden inns along a river lumoplank · CC0
20

Ginzan Onsen

銀山温泉

Yamagata

SulfurChloride

Multi-storey wooden inns from the 1920s and 30s line the river; the whole street is a heritage townscape. Under snow and gaslight at night, it is as beautiful as a Japanese onsen town gets.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Snow-covered ryokan street in Hijiori Onsen Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0
21

Hijiori Onsen

肘折温泉

Yamagata

ChlorideBicarbonate

A 1,200-year-old toji (therapeutic long-stay) village where the morning market still runs. Winters with up to four metres of snow and inns built for week-long stays show what hot springs meant when they were part of daily life, not a holiday.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Attaka-yu bathhouse in snow Purplepumpkins · CC BY-SA 3.0
22

Takayu Onsen

高湯温泉

Fukushima

Sulfur

A milky sulfur spring where every facility has publicly declared pure free-flow bathing. The gap between source and tub temperature is closed not by stirring the water (yumomi) but by letting it cool naturally as it flows downhill, a textbook example of kakenagashi done properly.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Wooden exterior of Sabako-yu bathhouse Higa4 · CC0
23

Iizaka Onsen

飯坂温泉

Fukushima

Simple

A 25-minute private-railway ride from Fukushima Station, with nine public bathhouses scattered through town. The scalding water of Sabako-yu, and the way locals handle it, is a living lesson in Japan's communal-bath culture.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Inns in the mountain valley of Futamata Onsen 東北線 · CC BY-SA 3.0
24

Futamata Onsen

二岐温泉

Fukushima

Sulfate

A remote riverside inn whose rock bath is fed from below, the water bubbling up through the floor of the tub itself. It teaches two Japanese luxuries at once: deep-mountain quiet, and ashimoto-yushutsu, bathing directly on top of the source.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed

Region

Kanto

Steaming Yubatake with wooden channels Aspere · CC0
25

Kusatsu Onsen

草津温泉

Gunma

AcidicSulfurSulfateChloride

One of the largest natural flows in Japan, over 32,000 litres a minute. The culture of cooling pH 2 acid water by yumomi (beating it with boards) and bathing to the strict timetable of jikan-yu exists nowhere else. There are also free public baths.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Red bridge and Sekizenkan main building pentaboxes · CC BY-SA 2.0
26

Shima Onsen

四万温泉

Gunma

ChlorideSulfate

The very first National Health Resort (1954). With public drinking fountains, the Edo-period Sekizenkan inn and clear, gentle water, Shima teaches two sides of the onsen at once: therapy and architecture.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Interior of Hoshi-no-yu bathhouse C.K. Tse · CC BY-SA 2.0
27

Hōshi Onsen

法師温泉

Gunma

Sulfate

Water rises through the floor of Hoshi-no-yu, a Meiji-era bathhouse in the Western-influenced Rokumeikan style. Set hours for mixed bathing and for women only make it a gentle introduction to the etiquette of konyoku.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Stone steps of Ikaho Onsen ShuichiNakayama · CC BY 4.0
28

Ikaho Onsen

伊香保温泉

Gunma

SulfateBicarbonateChloride

A 365-step stone staircase lined with inns, and 'golden water' turned rust-brown by its iron. Nowhere else shows the anatomy of a spa town so clearly: the source at the top, the water channelled downhill, the inns stepped along it.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Milky open-air bath surrounded by snow SpringField1967 · CC BY-SA 3.0
29

Manza Onsen

万座温泉

Gunma

SulfurAcidic

At 1,800 m, milky water with one of the highest sulfur contents in Japan. Open-air baths in thin mountain air, and in winter you sit in sulfur water surrounded by snow.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Wooden Shika-no-yu bathhouse by the river Miyuki Meinaka · CC BY-SA 4.0
30

Nasu Onsenkyō

那須湯本温泉

Tochigi

SulfurAcidic

The Shika-no-yu public bath is divided into six tubs from 41 to 48 °C, with a ritual of pouring water over the head before entering. Here you can experience bathing rules that have been handed down for 1,300 years.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
The Hokigawa river running through the Shiobara gorge Kanohara (talk) · Public domain
31

Shiobara Onsen

塩原温泉郷

Tochigi

SulfurAcidicSulfateChlorideBicarbonateSimple

Eleven hot-spring villages stand along the Hokigawa gorge, each with its own water type and colour. Nowhere else explains so clearly, along one river, what a Japanese onsen-kyo (hot-spring district) actually is.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Spring huts standing in a snowy marsh Σ64 · CC BY 3.0
32

Nikkō Yumoto Onsen

奥日光湯元温泉

Tochigi

Sulfur

A milky sulfur spring at 1,500 metres on the shore of Lake Yunoko. The spring huts and boardwalks of the source field let you see with your own eyes what a 'source' actually is. One of Japan's first three designated National Recreation Hot Springs (1954).

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Hakone-Yumoto onsen town along the river Quercus acuta · CC BY-SA 4.0
33

Hakone Onsen

箱根湯本温泉

Kanagawa

Simple

Ninety minutes by train from Tokyo and the gateway to the 'twenty springs of Hakone'. Nowhere shows better how big a Japanese hot-spring region can be, or how tightly tourism and bathing have grown together.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Kogome-no-yu bathhouse NY066 · CC BY-SA 3.0
34

Yugawara Onsen

湯河原温泉

Kanagawa

SimpleChlorideSulfate

Praised in the Manyoshu and, from the Meiji era, a place where writers came to recover. It is close to the station, so you can walk between the town bath and the places where literature and hot water met.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
35

Kamata Onsen

蒲田温泉

Tokyo

BicarbonateChloride

The 'black water' of Ota ward, Tokyo. An amber-to-black spring from beneath the city, at the price of a public bathhouse. Proof that hot springs are not only found in the mountains.

Getting thereYesSolo stayNo
Kawa-no-ie inn at Yoro-keikoku Onsen 白蛇の騎士 · CC BY-SA 3.0
36

Yōrō-keikoku Onsen

養老渓谷温泉

Chiba

ChlorideBicarbonate

Black water rising in a Boso gorge. In Chiba, a prefecture of iodine-rich springs, it prompts the question of how seawater-born hot springs differ from volcanic ones.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed

Region

Hokuriku & Koshinetsu

Taka-no-yu bathhouse in snow KQuhen · CC BY-SA 4.0
37

Matsunoyama Onsen

松之山温泉

Niigata

Chloride

A 'fossil seawater' spring, twelve million years old and heated underground. Dense with salt and boric acid, in a heavy-snow village where the toji culture of long therapeutic stays survives.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Streetscape of Tsukioka Onsen 663highland · CC BY 2.5
38

Tsukioka Onsen

月岡温泉

Niigata

SulfurChloride

A sulfur spring that looks emerald green. A clear example of mineral content showing up as colour, with a drinking fountain and footbath in a walkable town.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Hot-spring distribution facility at Echigo-Yuzawa Syced · CC0
39

Echigo Yuzawa Onsen

越後湯沢温泉

Niigata

SimpleSulfurChloride

A shinkansen station with sake tasting and a sake bath inside it, the closest railway and hot spring ever get. The snow country's water is within reach of a day trip.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Yumedokoro Unazuki bathhouse 掬茶 · CC BY-SA 4.0
40

Unazuki Onsen

宇奈月温泉

Toyama

Simple

The starting point of the Kurobe Gorge Railway. Clear water piped from Kuronagi, 7 km upstream, makes this the best place to understand how a source and its spa town can be far apart.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Exterior of the Kiku-no-yu bathhouse 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
41

Yamanaka Onsen

山中温泉

Ishikawa

SimpleSulfate

The Kakusenkei gorge walk, the Kiku-no-yu public bath, Yamanaka lacquerware and Basho. Kaga's version of 'soyu culture', where a communal bath stands at the very centre of the spa town.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Wakura Onsen town along the shore Totti · CC BY-SA 4.0
42

Wakura Onsen

和倉温泉

Ishikawa

Chloride

A very hot chloride spring facing Nanao Bay, where you can feel what a salt-rich seaside spring does to the skin. For post-earthquake recovery (Noto, January 2024), check each facility's status and its confirmation date.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Exterior of the wooden Ashiyu foot-bath pavilion Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
43

Awara Onsen

あわら温泉

Fukui

Chloride

A spa town set in farmland, with the free Ashiyu foot bath by the station. Because each inn draws on its own source, changing inns means changing water, a rare pleasure.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
44

Masutomi Onsen

増富温泉

Yamanashi

Radon

A cool mineral spring (around 30 °C) famous for its radium content, bathed in long and lukewarm in the toji tradition of therapeutic stays. The place to understand with your body what a 'radioactive spring' is. A designated National Health Resort.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Inns along the river at Shimobe Onsen 浅野ます道 · CC BY 3.0
45

Shimobe Spa

下部温泉

Yamanashi

SimpleSulfur

Both the roughly 30 °C cool water said to be Shingen's hidden spring and a newer hot source. The place to learn the toji way of long, lukewarm soaking, and close to a Minobu Line station.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
View down over the Kofu basin Σ64 · CC BY 3.0
46

Hottarakashi Onsen

ほったらかし温泉

Yamanashi

Simple

A day-use open-air bath looking across the Kofu basin to Mt Fuji. Open from before dawn, it is the model of a modern pleasure: going to a hot spring for the view.

Getting thereNoSolo stayNo
Exterior of the wooden Oyu bathhouse 小石川人晃 · CC BY-SA 4.0
47

Nozawa Onsen

野沢温泉

Nagano

Sulfur

The leading example of communal-bath culture: 13 public baths maintained by villagers' 'yu-nakama' guilds. At the Ogama source, daily life still includes boiling vegetables in near-boiling spring water.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Stone street and wooden inns Lsattayamas · CC BY-SA 4.0
48

Shibu Onsen

渋温泉

Nagano

SulfateChlorideSulfurSimple

Nine public baths along a stone-paved street, visited on the 'kuyu-meguri' circuit with a key borrowed from your inn. You learn in your body how the baths and the inns depend on each other.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Macaques bathing in a hot pool Kelly Drewett · CC BY-SA 4.0
49

Jigokudani Onsen

地獄谷温泉

Nagano

SulfateChlorideSulfur

The only place where wild Japanese macaques bathe in a hot spring. The human bath, the inn Korakukan, stands right beside it, so you see the bond between animals and hot water first hand. A 30-minute mountain walk.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Shirahone public open-air bath Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
50

Shirahone Onsen

白骨温泉

Nagano

SulfurBicarbonate

The 'white bone' water, clouded white by precipitating calcium carbonate. A rare lesson that milky water does not always mean sulfur. A designated National Health Resort.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
The O-yu bathhouse building in Bessho Onsen ほっきー · CC0
51

Bessho Onsen

別所温泉

Nagano

Sulfur

Said to be the oldest hot spring in Shinshu, with three public bathhouses and a National Treasure octagonal pagoda. At the end of a small private railway, it shows how hot springs and temples grew up together as a place of faith.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
The public bathhouse building in Kakeyu Onsen 岡田奈良 · CC BY-SA 3.0
52

Kakeyu Onsen

鹿教湯温泉

Nagano

Simple

The heart of the Maruko hot-spring group, where a hospital that uses the spring and traditional cure inns exist side by side: a nationally designated health resort where you can see what toji looks like today.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes

Region

Tokai

Hida River with the town of Gero Onsen Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
53

Gero Onsen

下呂温泉

Gifu

Simple

One of the 'three famous springs of Japan' alongside Arima and Kusatsu. Anyone can test the slippery feel of its alkaline simple spring in the foot baths that start right outside the station.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Riverside open-air bath Shinhotaka-no-yu Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
54

Shinhotaka Onsen

新穂高温泉

Gifu

SimpleChlorideBicarbonateSulfur

A cluster of open-air baths looking up at the 3,000-metre peaks of the Northern Alps. At the innermost end of the Okuhida hot-spring group, it shows at a glance how mountains and hot springs belong together.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Hirayu Onsen village surrounded by mountains Alpsdake · CC BY-SA 4.0
55

Hirayu Onsen

平湯温泉

Gifu

BicarbonateChlorideSimpleSulfur

The oldest of the Okuhida hot springs and a transport hub whose bus terminal links Takayama, Matsumoto and Kamikochi: the base for exploring mountain hot springs by public transport.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Steaming Oyu Geyser in Atami 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
56

Atami Onsen

熱海温泉

Shizuoka

ChlorideSulfate

Forty-five minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen. Ever since Tokugawa Ieyasu had its water carried to Edo as 'okumiyu', Atami has been shaping the relationship between the city and the hot spring for 400 years.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Tokko-no-yu in the river with the hot-spring town behind Richie Johns · CC BY 2.0
57

Shuzenji Onsen

修善寺温泉

Shizuoka

Simple

Tokko-no-yu rising in the middle of the Katsura River, and a bamboo-lined path. Izu's oldest hot spring, where Kamakura-era history and modern literature overlap on a walk through town.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Tatami great hall inside Tokaikan PekePON · CC BY-SA 4.0
58

Itō Onsen

伊東温泉

Shizuoka

SimpleChloride

A seaside resort with one of the largest flows on Honshu. In the three-storey wooden Tokaikan and the neighbourhood baths around town you can see what a pre-war hot-spring inn looked like.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Dream Bridge spanning an emerald-green lake Tetsuji Sakakibara from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0
59

Sumatakyō Onsen

寸又峡温泉

Shizuoka

Sulfur

A slippery sulfur spring known as 'the beauty-making bath', reached by bus into a gorge at the gateway to the Southern Alps, where the Dream Bridge hangs over a dam lake.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Rock riverbed with Yuya Onsen inns Bariston · CC BY-SA 4.0
60

Yuya Onsen

湯谷温泉

Aichi

ChlorideSimple

A small hot-spring village along the Ure River's Horai Gorge, walkable from a station on the Iida Line and well suited to solo travellers. There is also a spring-water stand (currently suspended).

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Aerial view of Sakakibara Onsen 国土地理院 · CC BY 4.0
61

Sakakibara Onsen

榊原温泉

Mie

Simple

Named 'Nanakuri' in the Pillow Book and used by Ise pilgrims for purifying baths. A place to see how an alkaline simple spring, the so-called 'beauty bath', is tied to the Grand Shrine of Ise.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes

Region

Kansai

Brown, cloudy open-air bath 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
62

Arima Onsen

有馬温泉

Hyogo

IronChlorideCO₂Radon

Iron- and salt-rich 'gold' water and carbon-dioxide/radon 'silver' water. In one of Japan's three oldest spa towns you can compare two completely different springs a few minutes apart, and it is reachable by train from Kobe and Osaka.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Snowy river and willows Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
63

Kinosaki Onsen

城崎温泉

Hyogo

Chloride

The archetype of soto-yu culture: seven public baths visited in yukata and geta. The willow-lined streets from the station and winter snow crab show that a spa town is also about food.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Steaming source and foot bath by a river Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0
64

Yumura Onsen

湯村温泉

Hyogo

ChlorideSulfateBicarbonate

Boil eggs in the 98°C Arayu, then sit in the foot bath. The gap between source temperature and bath temperature becomes obvious in the steam along the river.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Open-air bath on rocks by the sea 663highland · CC BY 2.5
65

Nanki-Shirahama Onsen

白浜温泉

Wakayama

ChlorideSulfur

One of Japan's three oldest springs. The shoreline bath Saki-no-yu has been used since the Manyoshu era, and Pacific spray lands in the tubs.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Small hot-spring hamlet in a valley Nekosuki · CC BY-SA 4.0
66

Yunomine Onsen

湯の峰温泉

Wakayama

SulfurBicarbonate

The Tsuboyu, the only hot spring bath inscribed as World Heritage that you can actually enter. The purification bath of the Kumano pilgrimage, said to change colour seven times a day.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Open-air pool made by damming a river in winter Nekosuki · CC BY-SA 4.0
67

Kawayu onsen

川湯温泉

Wakayama

BicarbonateChloride

Hot water rises when you dig the riverbed, and in winter the river is dammed into the giant Sennin-buro. The most elemental way to experience that hot springs come out of the ground.

Getting thereYesSolo stayYes
Mountain stream with inns along the bank Snap55 (Commons uploader) · CC BY 3.0
68

Ryūjin Onsen

龍神温泉

Wakayama

Bicarbonate

One of Japan's three 'beauty baths'. You can feel the silky bicarbonate water at each inn along the Hidaka River gorge, and you can reach this mountain spa by bus from Koyasan.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Mountain hot-spring town seen across a lake Soica2001 (talk) · Public domain
69

Totsukawa Onsen

十津川温泉

Nara

BicarbonateChloride

The hub of a hot-spring district where the whole village declared itself 100% free-flowing in 2004. You arrive on Japan's longest scheduled bus route, and you come to understand why kakenagashi (water flowing straight from the source) matters.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Inn buildings in a wooded mountain valley Mti · CC BY-SA 3.0
70

Yunohana Onsen

湯の花温泉

Kyoto

Radon

Kyoto's 'inner parlour' spa in Kameoka, about half an hour by train from the city. Its simple, radon-bearing water is close enough to pair with a geiko and Japanese dance evening in Kyoto on a one-night trip.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Exterior of the Fufu-no-yu bathhouse 経済特区 · CC0
71

Arashiyama Onsen

嵐山温泉

Kyoto

Simple

A hot spring inside Kyoto city, right by the Togetsukyo bridge. The water is a modest simple spring and the flow is small, but nowhere else lets you combine Kyoto's cultural sights and an onsen soak on the same day so easily.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A roofed foot bath on a railway platform VinayaMoto · CC BY-SA 4.0
72

Kitsu Onsen

木津温泉

Kyoto

Simple

Said to be the oldest spring in Tango. A small spa within walking distance of a Kyoto Tango Railway station, well suited to solo travel, and a lesson in how far 'the same prefecture' can be: roughly two and a half hours from Kyoto city.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A roofed foot bath あばさー · Public domain
73

Ogoto Onsen

おごと温泉

Shiga

Simple

Baths with a view of Lake Biwa. About 20 minutes by train from Kyoto Station, at the foot of Mt Hiei and its Enryaku-ji temple: a near-city hot spring that makes an easy first solo onsen trip.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed

Region

Chugoku

An open-air bath and changing hut beside a river 三塚 · CC BY-SA 4.0
74

Misasa Onsen

三朝温泉

Tottori

RadonChlorideSimple

A radioactive spring said to have one of the highest radon contents in the world. Drinking fountains, inhalation (radon hot-air baths), public baths and a riverside open-air pool are all here, and medical research has gone on for a century. If you want to understand radon springs, start here.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A street of wooden inns 㭍月例祭 · Public domain
75

Iwai Onsen

岩井温泉

Tottori

Sulfate

A spring of some 1,200 years where a unique ritual survives: 'yukamuri', pouring hot water over a towel-covered head with a ladle. You can try it yourself at the public bath Yukamuri Onsen.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A spa town along a river 663highland · CC BY 2.5
76

Tamatsukuri Onsen

玉造温泉

Shimane

SulfateChloride

One of Japan's oldest recorded springs, called 'the hot water of the gods' in the Izumo Fudoki and famed as a beautifying bath. It ties the moisturising feel of sulfate–chloride water to the mythic landscape of Izumo.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A street of old wooden houses 663highland · CC BY-SA 4.0
77

Yunotsu Onsen

温泉津温泉

Shimane

Chloride

The hot-spring port of the Iwami silver mine, inside a World Heritage zone. The mineral flakes and brown crust in the two public baths, Motoyu and Yakushi-yu, show what spring water looks like when nothing is done to it.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A riverside open-air bath below a dam Phronimoi · CC BY-SA 3.0
78

Yubara Onsen

湯原温泉

Okayama

Simple

Sunayu: a free mixed open-air bath fed from the bed of the Asahi river directly below a dam, open around the clock. The place to see how mixed bathing works in Japan today, including the introduction of bathing garments.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
A stone laundry basin beside a river Phronimoi · CC BY-SA 3.0
79

Okutsu Onsen

奥津温泉

Okayama

Simple

A spa that keeps the tradition of 'foot-treading laundry' in the river's hot water, the floor-fed 'Kagi-yu' bath where water rises beneath the bathers, and the quiet of a National Recuperation Spa.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Inns along a narrow street Bsx · Public domain
80

Tawarayama Onsen

俵山温泉

Yamaguchi

Simple

The archetype of a toji spa: inns almost without baths of their own, whose guests walk to the public Machi-no-yu and Hakuen-no-yu. Many small inns take solo guests for long stays. A National Recuperation Spa.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
The former Onto building Bsx · Public domain
81

Nagato Yumoto Onsen

長門湯本温泉

Yamaguchi

Simple

Yamaguchi's oldest spring, whose town was redesigned in 2020 around the rebuilt Onto bathhouse. A walkable riverside resort on the Otozure that shows what a Japanese onsen town can look like today.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed

Region

Shikoku

Dogo Onsen Honkan at night Takuya Matsuyama · CC BY 3.0
82

Dōgo Onsen

道後温泉

Ehime

Simple

Said to be Japan's oldest spring. The Honkan, a public bathhouse that is also a national cultural treasure, combines architecture, literature and a tram ride from the city centre in one place.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Iya Onsen open-air bath As6022014 · Public domain
83

Iya Onsen

祖谷温泉

Tokushima

SulfurSimple

An open-air bath reached by a 170-metre cable-car descent into the Iya Gorge. The 38 °C source flows through untouched, and fine bubbles cling to your skin in the tepid water.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Entrance to Shionoe Onsen Psjk2106 · CC BY-SA 4.0
84

Shionoe Onsen

塩江温泉

Kagawa

SimpleSulfur

Takamatsu's mountain retreat: a nationally designated health resort reachable by city bus, and an easy solo stop to pair with Sanuki udon noodles.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Nibukawa Onsen inns As6022014 · CC BY-SA 3.0
85

Nibukawa Onsen

鈍川温泉

Ehime

Simple

One of the three historic baths of Iyo: smooth alkaline water with radon, in the hills behind Imabari. The onsen to visit in Ehime after Dogo.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed

Region

Kyushu & Okinawa

Exterior of Kannawa Mushi-yu STA3816 · CC BY-SA 3.0
86

Kannawa Onsen

鉄輪温泉

Oita

Chloride

The heart of Beppu's eight hot-spring districts. Jigoku-mushi steam cooking, the mushi-yu steam bath and self-catering kashima inns for long cures add up to a culture that puts geothermal heat to use in daily life.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Thatched yunohana huts Belle Equipe · CC BY-SA 3.0
87

Myōban Onsen

明礬温泉

Oita

SulfurAcidic

Thatched 'yunohana huts' have produced hot-spring mineral crystals here since the Edo period. The only place to see milky-blue sulfur water and how bath salts are grown, side by side.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Lake Kinrin in morning mist Tzu-hsun, Hsu · CC BY-SA 4.0
88

Yufuin Onsen

由布院温泉

Oita

Simple

Japan's second-largest hot-spring flow. Morning mist on Lake Kinrin, and a town that reinvented what a resort could be through art museums and food. Reachable by train.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Exterior of Lamune Onsen NY066 · Public domain
89

Nagayu Onsen

長湯温泉

Oita

BicarbonateCO₂

One of Japan's great carbonated springs. In the 32 °C pool at Lamune Onsen bubbles coat your whole body, and drinking fountains are everywhere. The first place to learn with your own skin what a carbon-dioxide spring is.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Kurokawa Onsen village hiroooooki from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0
90

Kurokawa Onsen

黒川温泉

Kumamoto

Sulfur

A bathing pass that lets you hop between three inns' open-air baths, and a landscape unified by native woodland planting. A model of how a whole resort can create value together.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Inns along a gorge river with plumes of steam KUPS39M · CC BY-SA 4.0
91

Tsuetate Onsen

杖立温泉

Kumamoto

Chloride

Steam from mushi-yu (natural steam baths) rises along a riverside spa town. Narrow back alleys called Sedoya, and in spring, carp streamers that fill the whole valley.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Hillside hamlet and rice terraces below a cone-shaped mountain おぉたむすねィく探検隊 · CC BY-SA 2.5
92

Waitasenkyō

わいた温泉郷

Kumamoto

ChlorideSimpleSulfur

A small spa district, Hagenoyu, Takenoyu and more, where geothermal steam rises everywhere. Private family baths are the norm, so even a solo traveller can have a bath to themselves: a very Kyushu way of bathing.

Getting thereUnconfirmedSolo stayUnconfirmed
Western-style wooden building with an orange roof STA3816 · CC BY-SA 4.0
93

Ureshino Onsen

嬉野温泉

Saga

BicarbonateChloride

A silky bicarbonate spring counted among Japan's three great skin-beautifying baths. Onsen yudofu, tofu simmered in the spring water, is the classic example of hot spring and food becoming one.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Two-storey vermilion gate on a white base Viy4092 · CC BY-SA 4.0
94

Takeo Onsen

武雄温泉

Saga

Simple

Public bathhouses behind a vermilion gate that is an Important Cultural Property: 1,300 years of history and a public-bath culture within walking distance of a shinkansen station.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Boardwalk through clouds of volcanic steam Barry Silver · CC BY 2.0
95

Unzen Onsen

雲仙温泉

Nagasaki

Sulfur

A spa town set inside the steaming Unzen Hells. It lies in one of Japan's first national parks, and its history as a summer retreat for foreign residents from the Meiji era makes it a meeting point between Japanese and international hot spring culture.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Steam rising from spring equipment Ray_go · CC BY-SA 3.0
96

Kirishima Onsen

霧島温泉郷

Kagoshima

SulfurSulfateIronChloride

A cluster of milky sulfur springs scattered across the slopes of the Kirishima volcanoes. Sakamoto Ryoma came here on what is called Japan's first honeymoon, and the volcanic ground gives an unusual variety of waters.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Beach with steam rising from the sand BirdsEyeLV · CC BY-SA 3.0
97

Ibusuki Onsen

指宿温泉

Kagoshima

ChlorideSulfate

Sunamushi: being buried in beach sand heated by the hot springs. It uses geothermal heat outside the bathtub, a way of 'bathing' that is rare anywhere in the world.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
98

Myōken Onsen

妙見温泉

Kagoshima

Bicarbonate

Naturally flowing springs line the Amori River, and every facility runs its water straight from the source. It is a toji village (long-stay therapeutic bathing) where you can feel how fresh the carbonated water is on your skin, with self-catering wings where you can stay on your own.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Sloping lane lined with wooden buildings Sakaori (talk) · CC BY 3.0
99

Unagi Onsen

鰻温泉

Kagoshima

Sulfur

A hamlet on the shore of Lake Unagi where homes have steam ovens called sume. Here you can see daily meals cooked with nothing but hot spring vapour.

Getting thereYesSolo stayUnconfirmed
Naka no Yu えぬ · Public domain
100

Naka no Yu

中乃湯

Okinawa

IronIodineBicarbonateChloride
Getting thereUnconfirmedSolo stayUnconfirmed