Onsen
Hot spring baths and ryokan experiences
48 spots
Ureshino Onsen
Ureshino Onsen is called 'bijin no yu' (beautiful woman's water) — the sodium bicarbonate-rich water has a slippery, sil…
Takeo Onsen Motoyu
Motoyu, the central public bath of Takeo Onsen, occupies a building constructed in 1915 in the style of a Noh stage — a…
Saga Onsen Hizen Yumo
Located 20km south of Saga City in the Sefurisan mountain range, Hizen Yumo Onsen is a concentrated cluster of three ryo…
Ureshino Onsen Ryokan Night Walk
Ureshino's 30 ryokan are concentrated within 800 meters of riverside corridor — close enough that walking the onsen town…
Obama Onsen
Obama Onsen is a coastal hot spring town facing the Tachibana Bay, known for having the highest water temperature of any…
Yamaga Onsen & Lantern Festival
Yamaga Onsen is a 1,800-year-old hot spring town in northern Kumamoto with alkaline waters (pH 9.5) that leave skin feel…
Kurokawa Onsen
Kurokawa Onsen (黒川温泉) is a preserved onsen village in the mountains north of Mt. Aso, designed to look like an Edo-perio…
Yufuin
Yufuin is a highland hot spring resort (elevation 450m) set in a basin surrounded by mountains, most notably Mt. Yufu (1…
Beppu Sand Bath
Takegawara Onsen (竹瓦温泉), operating since 1879, offers Beppu's most accessible sand bath experience. Visitors wear yukata…
Hyotan Onsen
Hyotan Onsen (ひょうたん温泉) is a family-operated bathhouse in Kannawa that has won 'Best Onsen in Japan' rankings multiple ti…
Myoban Onsen
Myoban Onsen is a hot spring district on Beppu's western hillside famous for yunohana (湯の花, 'hot spring flowers') — crys…
Nagayu Onsen
Nagayu Onsen (長湯温泉) in Taketa City is one of Japan's few naturally carbonated hot springs (炭酸泉, tansan-sen). The water c…
Kirishima Onsen Village
The Kirishima volcanic plateau sits at 600–1,700 meters elevation, where two dozen active and dormant volcanoes have sha…
Ibusuki Sand Bath
Ibusuki is famous for sunamushi onsen (砂むし温泉) — hot sand baths where attendants bury visitors up to the neck in naturall…
Arima Onsen
Arima Onsen (有馬温泉) is Japan's oldest onsen resort, with 1,400-year bathing history documented since 631 CE. The town is…
Kinosaki Onsen
Kinosaki Onsen (城崎温泉) is a traditional hot spring town famous for its seven public bathhouses (外湯, sotoyu) — each with d…
Shirahama White Beach Resort
Shirahama (白浜, 'white beach') is Wakayama's premier beach resort town, famous for its 600-meter crescent of white quartz…
Shirahama Onsen
Shirahama Onsen (白浜温泉) is one of Japan's three oldest hot spring resorts (along with Arima and Dogo), with a recorded hi…
Kashikojima Island
Kashikojima (賢島) is a small resort island in Ago Bay, connected to the mainland by bridge and serving as the gateway to…
Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen
Echigo-Yuzawa is the onsen town that inspired Yasunari Kawabata's Nobel Prize-winning novel 'Snow Country' (雪国, 1948) —…
Unazuki Onsen
Unazuki Onsen (宇奈月温泉) is Toyama's premier hot spring resort town, nestled at the entrance to Kurobe Gorge where the Kuro…
Isawa Onsen
Isawa Onsen, located in the Fuefuki Valley surrounded by peach and grape orchards, is Yamanashi's largest hot spring res…
Awara Onsen
Awara Onsen (芦原温泉) is Fukui's premier hot spring resort, established in 1883 when a farmer accidentally discovered therm…
Noboribetsu Onsen
Noboribetsu Onsen (登別温泉) is Hokkaido's premier hot spring resort, fed by Jigokudani ('Hell Valley' — 地獄谷), a volcanic cr…
Kusatsu Onsen Yubatake
Kusatsu Onsen (草津温泉) is Japan's most famous hot spring resort, renowned for its yubatake (湯畑, 'hot water field') — a ste…
Kusatsu Onsen Ryokan Stay
A night at a Kusatsu ryokan follows a ritual refined over centuries: check in around 15:00, change into the cotton yukat…
Minakami Onsen & Adventure
Minakami (みなかみ) is a mountain town in northern Gunma, famous for 18 distinct onsen areas and outdoor adventure sports. T…
Ikaho Onsen Stone Steps
Ikaho Onsen (伊香保温泉) is a hillside hot spring resort centered on 365 stone steps (石段街, ishidan-gai) lined with ryokan, so…
Misasa Onsen
Misasa Onsen, 20 minutes by bus from Kurayoshi, is one of Japan's most unique hot spring towns, famous for its radon-ric…
Tamatsukuri Onsen
Tamatsukuri Onsen (玉造温泉) is a 1,300-year-old hot spring resort famous for beautifying waters rich in sulfate and chlorid…
Ritsurin Garden
Ritsurin Garden stands as one of Japan's finest landscape gardens, a masterpiece of Edo-period design that rivals even t…
Konpira Onsen Hot Springs
At the base of the sacred Mount Zozu and Kotohira-gu Shrine, Konpira Onsen offers rejuvenating hot spring baths that hav…
Dogo Onsen Honkan
Dogo Onsen Honkan stands three stories tall in dark wood and white plaster, looking like a castle designed for bathing i…
Bessho Onsen (Ehime)
Bessho Onsen is a secluded hot spring resort nestled in the mountains near Mt. Ishizuchi, known for its milky-white sulf…
Iya Onsen Cliff Bath
The cable car drops you 170 meters down a cliff face in five minutes. Through the window, tree canopy gives way to rock…
Takegashima Hot Spring
Takegashima Onsen (竹ヶ島温泉) is a small hot spring resort on Tokushima's southern coast, featuring outdoor baths overlookin…
Aoni Onsen
Aoni Onsen (青荷温泉) is a remote mountain hot spring inn accessible only via narrow forest road (or on foot), where electri…
Hanamaki Onsen
Hanamaki Onsen is a collection of hot spring resort villages in the mountains west of Hanamaki City, including Hanamaki…
Naruko Onsen Hot Spring Town
Naruko Onsen has soothed travelers for over 1,000 years, a mountain hot spring town nestled in a volcanic valley where f…
Rinnoji Temple and Garden
Rinnoji Temple presents a serene sanctuary in northern Sendai, a Zen Buddhist temple renowned for its exceptional landsc…
Sakunami Onsen
Sakunami Onsen has welcomed travelers for over 1,500 years, a riverside hot spring town nestled in a forested mountain v…
Nyuto Onsen
Nyuto Onsen (乳頭温泉郷) is a cluster of seven secluded hot spring inns deep in the Towada-Hachimantai National Park, 50 kilo…
Ginzan Onsen
Ginzan Onsen is 300 meters of Taisho-period (1912-1926) wooden ryokan squeezed into a mountain valley, three and four st…
Zao Onsen
Zao Onsen is a high-altitude hot spring village at 880 meters elevation on the slopes of Mt. Zao, one of Japan's oldest…
Atsumi Onsen
Atsumi Onsen is a small hot spring village along the Atsumi River (a tributary of the Mogami River) about 40 minutes fro…
Higashiyama Onsen
Higashiyama Onsen (東山温泉) is a historic hot spring town nestled in a mountain valley 5km east of Aizu-Wakamatsu, where st…
Spa Resort Hawaiians
Spa Resort Hawaiians (スパリゾートハワイアンズ) is Japan's largest indoor water park, a surreal tropical complex featuring constant…
Iwaki Yumoto Onsen
Iwaki Yumoto Onsen (いわき湯本温泉) is one of Japan's oldest documented hot spring resorts, with written records dating to 556…