Onsen
Hot spring baths and ryokan experiences
48 spots
Ureshino Onsen — Skin-Softening Miracle Waters
Ureshino Onsen is called 'bijin no yu' (beautiful woman's water) — the sodium bicarbonate-rich water has a slippery, sil…
Takeo Onsen Motoyu — Japan's Oldest Public Bath
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 — Scenic Mineral Spring Spa
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 — Longest Hot Spring Footbath in Japan
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 — Rustic Mountain Hot Spring Village
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 — Mountain Onsen Town with Mt. Yufu View
Yufuin is a highland hot spring resort (elevation 450m) set in a basin surrounded by mountains, most notably Mt. Yufu (1…
Beppu Sand Bath — Buried on the Beach
Takegawara Onsen (竹瓦温泉), operating since 1879, offers Beppu's most accessible sand bath experience. Visitors wear yukata…
Hyotan Onsen — Family-Run Traditional Bath
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 — Yunohana Sulfur Huts
Myoban Onsen is a hot spring district on Beppu's western hillside famous for yunohana (湯の花, 'hot spring flowers') — crys…
Nagayu Onsen — Carbonated Hot Spring Soak
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 — Buried Alive on the Beach
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 — Gold & Silver Hot Springs Since 631 CE
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 — Seven Public Bath Pilgrimage
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 — Onsen & Panda Paradise
Shirahama (白浜, 'white beach') is Wakayama's premier beach resort town, famous for its 600-meter crescent of white quartz…
Shirahama Onsen — Seaside Rotenburo Hot Springs
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 — Scenic Resort Island & Bay Cruises
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 — Snow Country Hot Spring Town
Echigo-Yuzawa is the onsen town that inspired Yasunari Kawabata's Nobel Prize-winning novel 'Snow Country' (雪国, 1948) —…
Unazuki Onsen — Gateway Hot Spring to Kurobe Gorge
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 — Fruit Valley Hot Springs
Isawa Onsen, located in the Fuefuki Valley surrounded by peach and grape orchards, is Yamanashi's largest hot spring res…
Awara Onsen — Historic Hot Spring Resort Town
Awara Onsen (芦原温泉) is Fukui's premier hot spring resort, established in 1883 when a farmer accidentally discovered therm…
Noboribetsu Onsen — Hell Valley Hot Springs
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 — Healing Hot Spring Field
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 — Traditional Inn Experience
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 — Hot Springs & Rafting
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 — Historic Spa Town
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 — Radium Hot Springs in River Gorge
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 — 1,300-Year Beauty Hot Spring
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 — Japan's Oldest Hot Spring Bathhouse
Dogo Onsen Honkan stands three stories tall in dark wood and white plaster, looking like a castle designed for bathing i…
Bessho Onsen — Mountain Hot Spring Resort
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 — Riverside Rotenburo via Cable Car
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 — Seaside Onsen with Pacific Views
Takegashima Onsen (竹ヶ島温泉) is a small hot spring resort on Tokushima's southern coast, featuring outdoor baths overlookin…
Aoni Onsen — Lamp-Lit Mountain Retreat
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 — Hot Spring Resort Town
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 — Rustic Mountain Hot Springs Village
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 — Taisho-Era Hot Spring Romance
Ginzan Onsen is 300 meters of Taisho-period (1912-1926) wooden ryokan squeezed into a mountain valley, three and four st…
Zao Onsen — Sulfur Springs and Ski Resort Village
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 — Mogami River Hot Springs and Ryokan Tradition
Atsumi Onsen is a small hot spring village along the Atsumi River (a tributary of the Mogami River) about 40 minutes fro…
Higashiyama Onsen — Samurai Retreat Hot Spring Town
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 — Indoor Tropical Water Park & Hula Shows
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 — 1,600-Year-Old Coastal Hot Springs
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…