Onsen areas
The named onsenchi of Japan — each with its own water, its own districts, its own way of using the heat.
Hokkaido
10
Sōunkyō Onsen
Gorge onsen at the entrance to Daisetsuzan, Hokkaido's largest national park. Sodium chloride springs at the foot of 100-meter columnar cliffs and the Ginga + Ryūsei waterfalls.
Utoro Onsen
Gateway onsen to Shiretoko, the easternmost UNESCO World Heritage site in Japan. Sodium chloride springs on the Okhotsk coast, with sea ice drifting past hotel windows in winter.
Niseko Onsen-kyo
World-famous ski-and-onsen region in southwest Hokkaido, with deep powder snow, Mount Yōtei views, and a string of onsen (Niseko-Konbu, Yumoto, Goshiki, Hirafu) tucked into the foothills.
Tokachigawa Onsen
Central Hokkaido onsen by the Tokachi River, famous for its rare 'moor' springs — humic-acid waters drawn from ancient peat-bog deposits, prized for their skin-softening properties.
Kawayu Onsen
Strongly acidic sulfur onsen in eastern Hokkaido, in Akan-Mashū National Park near Mount Iō. Hot enough at the source to flow through open canals in the town center.
Akanko Onsen
Eastern Hokkaido lakeside onsen on Lake Akan, in Akan-Mashū National Park. Ainu culture village (Akan-kotan) and the famous marimo algae of the lake.
Noboribetsu Onsen
Hokkaido's biggest onsen town, fed by the steaming Jigokudani ('Hell Valley') crater. Nine different spring chemistries within walking distance.
Jōzankei Onsen
Sapporo's mountain onsen, an hour from the city in the Toyohira river gorge. Sodium chloride springs and 60+ ryokan along a wooded canyon.
Tōyako Onsen
Caldera-lake onsen at the foot of the still-active Mount Usu, inside the Tōya-Usu UNESCO Geopark. Nightly summer fireworks over the lake.
Yunokawa Onsen
Hakodate's beachside onsen quarter, fed by 350-year-old sodium chloride springs. Famous for ryokan facing the Tsugaru Strait.
Tohoku
10
Tamagawa Onsen
Akita mountain onsen with the most acidic natural spring in Japan (pH 1.05) and the highest single-source discharge. Famous for the Hokutolite radon stones.
Sukayu Onsen
Sole-inn onsen high in the Hakkōda mountains, famous for the 'Hiba sennin-buro' — a 160-畳 cypress-wood mixed bath fed by strong acidic sulfur springs.
Nyūtō Onsen-kyo
Cluster of seven beech-forest hot springs around Mount Nyūtō in Akita. Tsurunoyu's milky open-air bath is its most photographed feature.
Ginzan Onsen
Iconic Taishō-era street of wooden inns lit by gas lamps in the snow. Tucked into a narrow gorge in Yamagata.
Higashiyama Onsen
Aizu-Wakamatsu's traditional onsen quarter, founded in the 8th century. Ryokan packed along the Yukawa river gorge below Tsurugajo castle.
Akiu Onsen
Sendai's century-old onsen valley along the Natori River — 'one of Japan's three Imperial Springs' (御湯) and known for its 60m Akiu Otaki waterfall.
Hanamaki Onsen-kyo
Iwate onsen group along the Toyosawa River, famously associated with the poet Miyazawa Kenji. Twelve onsen districts within a few kilometers.
Iizaka Onsen
Historic Fukushima onsen town with nine free public bathhouses along the Surikami River — one of Tōhoku's three great hot springs (Ōshū sanmeisen).
Zaō Onsen
Sulfur springs at 880m on Mount Zaō. Ski-and-onsen pairing in winter; famous frost-covered 'snow monsters' in late January.
Naruko Onsen-kyo
Five-area onsen group in the Naruko Gorge of Miyagi, famed for a wide range of spring chemistries within a few kilometers and for Naruko kokeshi dolls.
Kanto
13
Manza Onsen
Japan's highest onsenchi, at 1,800 m on the slopes of Mt. Shirane in Gunma. Strongly acidic milky-white sulfur waters (pH 2.5) from one of the country's most active geothermal fields, with rotenburo open to alpine views year-round.
Kawaji Onsen
Quiet gorge onsen at the confluence of the Kinu and Kawaji rivers in Tochigi, just upstream of bustling Kinugawa. The local saying "Kawaji for cuts, Kinugawa for ailments" nods to its gentle alkaline waters and traditional yutoji feel.
Kamogawa Onsen
Pacific-coast onsen on the outer side of the Bōsō Peninsula. Sodium chloride springs flowing right by the surf, paired with the famous Kamogawa Sea World.
Oku-Nikkō Yumoto Onsen
Mountain onsen at the headwaters of Lake Yunoko inside Nikkō National Park, 1500 m above the temples of Nikkō. Cloudy sulfur springs in a primeval beech forest.
Kinugawa Onsen
Tochigi resort town in the Kinugawa River gorge — gateway to Nikko and a long-time family destination, with cliff-top rotenburo overlooking the canyon.
Shima Onsen
Quiet Gunma valley onsen designated 国民保養温泉地 #1 in 1954. The 'forty-thousand cures' name nods to its medicinal reputation.
Ikaho Onsen
Gunma hillside onsen built around a 365-step stone staircase. Famous 'gold' (iron-bearing) and 'white' (sulfate) waters.
Shiobara Onsen-kyo
Eleven onsen districts strung along a 9-km gorge of the Hoki River in Tochigi. Wide range of spring chemistries within a tight valley.
Yugawara Onsen
Quiet Kanagawa onsen in the foothills of the Hakone outer rim, on the Manyōshū-era list of historic baths. Plum blossoms in February.
Minakami Onsen-kyo
Group of 18 onsen along the upper Tone River in northern Gunma, surrounded by Tanigawa-dake. Big snow country with skiing, rafting, and rotenburo.
Nasu Onsen-kyo
Onsen group along the foothills of Mount Chausu, with Nasu-Yumoto's milky sulfur waters at its heart.
Kusatsu Onsen
One of the three great onsen of Japan (Sanmeisen). Famously hot, acidic waters; the wooden yubatake in the town center funnels source water into cooling channels.
Hakone Onsen
Mountain resort town in Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, with Hakone-Yumoto, Miyanoshita, Gora, Sengokuhara and a dozen more sub-areas spread across the caldera.
Chubu
14
Unazuki Onsen
Gateway to the Kurobe Gorge in Toyama — alkaline simple springs piped 7 km from the head of the gorge.
Shuzenji Onsen
1200-year-old onsen at the head of the Katsura River in central Izu. Bamboo grove, red bridges, the historic Shuzenji temple complex.
Shimoda Onsen
Port town at the southern tip of the Izu Peninsula, famous as the site of Commodore Perry's 1854 landing. Sulfate springs and Pacific-coast ryokan with views of the Izu islands.
Minamichita Onsen-go
Cluster of seaside onsen on the Chita Peninsula south of Nagoya, with fresh-tuna ryokan, Ise Bay sunsets, and the chloride springs of Utsumi, Toyohama, and Yamami.
Wakura Onsen
Sea-side onsen on the Noto Peninsula coast (Ishikawa) with 1200 years of history. Strong sodium chloride springs feeding luxury ryokan, including the famed Kagaya inn.
Nozawa Onsen
Snow-country ski resort village with 13 free public bathhouses (sotoyu) maintained by the residents themselves.
Hakuba-Happō Onsen
Ski-resort onsen at the base of the Hakuba Happō-One slopes, in the Northern Japanese Alps.
Gero Onsen
One of Japan's three great onsen (Sanmeisen). Alkaline springs along the Hida River, with a free outdoor bath in the riverbed.
Itō Onsen
Coastal Izu resort with a long Edo-period bathing history. Famous for the wooden Tokaikan inn, sodium chloride springs, and fresh sashimi at the morning market.
Kaga Onsen-go
Group of four historic spa towns in southern Ishikawa: Yamashiro, Yamanaka, Awazu, and Katayamazu. Each has its own character but shares the Kaga lacquerware tradition.
Echigo-Yuzawa Onsen-kyo
Ski-and-onsen town on the Joetsu Shinkansen, immortalized by Kawabata's 'Snow Country'. Cluster of 10+ onsen along the Uono Valley.
Atami Onsen
Seaside city on the Izu Peninsula, an hour from Tokyo by Shinkansen. Coastal sodium chloride springs; fireworks over Sagami Bay in summer.
Okuhida Onsen-go
Five mountain hamlets (Hirayu, Fukuji, Shin-Hirayu, Tochio, Shin-Hotaka) in the northern Japanese Alps. Famous for outdoor baths with views of the Hotaka range.
Yudanaka–Shibu Onsen-kyo
Nine-area onsen group along the Yokoyu River. Shibu's nine outer baths, Edo-period townscape, and proximity to the snow monkeys of Jigokudani are the draws.
Kansai
3
Arima Onsen
One of Japan's three ancient onsen (Sankōyu), tucked behind the Mount Rokkō ridge from Kobe. Gold (iron-bearing) and silver (carbonated/radon) springs.
Nanki-Shirahama Onsen
White-sand beach resort on the southern Kii Peninsula. Saki-no-yu's open-air bath sits directly on the rocks above the Pacific.
Kinosaki Onsen
Seven public bathhouses strung along a willow-lined canal. Guests walk between them in yukata, geta clacking — the canonical 'onsen town as one big inn' experience.
Chugoku
3
Tamatsukuri Onsen
Shimane onsen with 1300 years of recorded history. Mentioned in the Izumo Fudoki (733 CE) as 'the bath of the gods'.
Misasa Onsen
Tottori river-town famous for radon-rich waters that are among the most active in the world.
Yuda Onsen
Central Yamaguchi-city onsen with a famed 'white fox' founding legend. Alkaline simple spring, one of Japan's three big onsen towns built right inside a prefectural capital.
Shikoku
1
Kyushu & Okinawa
5
Unzen Onsen
Nagasaki highland onsen inside Unzen-Amakusa National Park (Japan's first, 1934). Steam vents of the Unzen Jigoku spread through the town center.
Ibusuki Onsen
Southern-Kyushu beach onsen famous for natural sand baths — bathers are buried in geothermally-warmed sand by the ocean.
Kurokawa Onsen
Aso-region onsen village treated as a single inn — a wooden bath-hopping pass (nyūtō tegata) opens three rotenburo of your choice across the participating ryokan.
Yufuin Onsen
Pastoral basin under Mount Yufu, famous for ryokan with private rotenburo, craft shops along Yunotsubo Street, and the morning mist over Lake Kinrin.
Beppu Onsen
Eight distinct onsen districts (Beppu Hatto) — Kannawa, Myoban, Kankaiji, Hamawaki, Kamegawa, Horita, Shibaseki, central Beppu — and more spring sources than any other city in Japan.